10 observations: Zach LaVine shines in Bulls’ preseason loss to Raptors originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
The Chicago Bulls lost to the Toronto Raptors 106-102 Tuesday night at the United Center in their next-to-last preseason game.
Here are 10 observations from the defeat:
—You know it’s getting closer to the regular season when one of the “Big Three” makes a fourth-quarter appearance. DeMar DeRozan logged fourth-quarter minutes for the first time this preseason. Pregame, coach Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic likely would too, but they both sat after the third quarter. Each of the three played at least 28 minutes. Donovan said the plan is for those players to play regular rotational minutes in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
—The Bulls aren’t saying it publicly or officially yet, but it’s fairly obvious that Coby White is trending towards starting the Oct. 25 regular-season opener versus Oklahoma City. White got off to another strong start at both ends, scoring on two nifty stop-and-go drives and hitting LaVine on a go-ahead pass for a fast-break dunk. He had six of his 11 points and three of his four assists in his opening rotational turn. White, who has exhibited solid ball security throughout preseason, did finish with five turnovers in a tough matchup with Dennis Schroder. The two exchanged words and shoves and received double technical fouls with a third-quarter minor kerfuffle. White also briefly left the bench in the second half and wore a wrap on his left thigh but returned.
—Patrick Williams, on the other hand, struggled mightily in the first half. He got his shot blocked on the opening possession and got pulled immediately after a turnover at the 9 minute, 15 second mark of the first. Donovan likes staggering Williams to play with the second unit as well, so Torrey Craig replacing him early isn’t atypical. But it came far more quickly this time.
—Donovan burned a timeout just 94 seconds into the second quarter after two defensive breakdowns and offensive stagnation. The group…
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