To everyone’s surprise, the Chicago Bulls are back and looking better than ever. This team looks reinvigorated and ready to play ahead of the 2023-24 season, leaving fans desperately hoping they can carry this positive momentum into the regular season.
On the second leg of a back-to-back set of games against the Denver Nuggets, the Bulls may look to rest their core players after a grueling preseason battle. The Bulls defeated the Nuggets 133-124 in a game that went to a second overtime period, granting several end-of-the-bench players a chance to shine that they would not have otherwise had.
Will the Bulls starters play against the Nuggets?
Now that the Bulls have had some time to shake the offseason rust off, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them take things easy tonight in Denver. Resting and recuperating on the road in a notoriously difficult city to play in seems like the logical decision to make here, as the Bulls’ final two preseason games are set to take place in the United Center.
At least, that’s what Billy Donovan indicated to reporters following Saturday’s afternoon practice.
“I think if there’s one that we would probably look to rest them, the conversation would be for tomorrow, quite honestly. Now, whether or not we get there, we’ll see. But that’s the one,” Donovan said, “Tomorrow could be one of those days where they get a day and then they got two games to kind of ramp up. We practiced pretty hard today in terms of the conditioning stuff, I’m not worried about that at all. But tomorrow would be the day.”
After #Bulls practice this afternoon, Billy Donovan hinted he might rest his starters against the Nuggets Sunday.#ItsUs pic.twitter.com/m38W2KyAZA
— Drew Stevens (@lookwhatdrewdid) October 14, 2023
As we receive further updates throughout the day, we’ll update you here.
Full Bulls injury report vs. Nuggets
It remains to be seen if the Bulls will rest the starting unit tonight, but Chicago’s injury report is otherwise very clean. Lonzo Ball will be the lone player deactivated for tonight’s game, as he’s set to miss the entirety of the 2023-24 season following his offseason knee surgery.
Update: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic will all be deactivated for tonight’s game, per coach’s decision. Alex Caruso will rest due to a right ankle sprain.
Full Nuggets injury report vs. Bulls
Denver, on the other hand, hasn’t been quite as lucky as Chicago in that regard. Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun were both ruled out of Thursday’s double-overtime game due to an ankle and calf injury, respectively. Both players are currently listed as day-to-day, and the Nuggets will likely err on the side of caution during the preseason. Vlatko Cancar is also set to be out indefinitely, following his recent knee surgery.
Bulls remaining preseason schedule
Following tonight’s game in Denver, the Bulls will have two more games left to play on the preseason schedule. Each of these games will be on Chicago’s home court, before the team prepares to host the Thunder on October 26 to kick off the regular season.
- October 17 vs. Toronto Raptors, 7:00 p.m. CT
- October 19 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7:00 p.m. CT