Chicago Bulls: 2 studs, 1 dud, from win over Pels in home opener
Chicago Bulls dud: Nikola Vucevic*
Before I go any deeper into detailing the game that the former Orlando Magic star center Nikola Vucevic had in this nice double-digit win over the Pelicans in the home opener, I want to say that this should come with an asterisk. There weren’t really any duds on this Bulls team.
It really fell between the two-time All-Star big man Vucevic and the former San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan for who was the Bulls’ dud in this game. You could also name second-year forward Patrick Williams still not playing with all that much confidence on offense as the dud in this game.
But Williams otherwise had an efficient game on both ends of the floor, despite the limited usage for the second game out of two tries this season.
This leaves Vucevic getting this spot on the list, largely thanks to his performance on offense. Don’t get me wrong, Vucevic was surprisingly tremendous for the Bulls on defense. He came up with four steals and two blocks (both tied for a game-high) as he hung tough in the paint on defense for the Bulls.
But Vucevic did struggle on offense for most of the game. He ranked second on the Bulls in turnovers in this game behind Lavine with four. Vucevic also registered 10 points, four rebounds, and five assists. And he shot 4-of-11 from the field, 1-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
In case you were wondering, the last time that Vucevic posted less than five rebounds in a regular season game was back on Jan. 5, 2020, in a Magic win over the Los Angeles Lakers. And the last time that Vucevic played in more than 20 minutes in a game where he started, while registering less than five rebounds, and more assists than rebounds, was back on Oct. 27, 2017 in a Magic win over the Spurs.
This was a truly unusual game for Vucevic. And it gets you to think whether we will see a different version of Vucevic this season than in any prior campaign with the Bulls or Magic.