Matas Bouzelis’ Bulls take on the Wolves

A short week before their first game against the Pistons, c Bulls they ended the preseason with their third win in five matches. In front of their home crowd, Josh Giddy’s teammates won 126-120. Wolvesin a match that ended with “hoorah basketball”.

Ayo Dosunmu, Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams and especially Kobe White in the infirmary, Billy Donovan continued experiments with the starting five and this Thursday opted for the interior duo of Nikola Vucevic-Jalen Smith to answer the Randle-Gober tandem. Pretty successful bet, even if the defense cracked at times under Minnesota’s might.

“We will have to be a team where the whole is stronger than the sum of the parts” summary by billy donovan about his permanent tinkering. “With that in mind, moving players to different positions, changing starters or adjusting rotations is something we have some flexibility in.”

On the wing, Matas Bouzelis confirmed his good abilities: 19 points in 25 minutes. The Lithuanian is clearly more comfortable in his drives and being adept behind the arc, he is a real poison with his versatility and aggression. He ends this preseason with his fourth game with 19 or more points.

Next to him, Josh Giddy is not far from a triple-double with 14 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Julian Phillips (17 points) and Jevon Carter (12 points, including two big shots in the money) made the difference in the 4th quarter against the Wolves bench.

Another match is coming up for Wolves

More precisely, on the Minnesota side, Anthony Edwards is ready to attack the season: 25 points in 30 minutes, with a wide range of moves that are as fluid and mastered as ever. Quite a powerful forward, Julius Randle added 23 points, while Rudy Gobert responded to Vucevic with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Young Rob Dillingham (13 points, 5 assists) shone from the bench, as did Terrence Shannon Jr. (14 points, 7 assists), very comfortable in transition.

For Gobert’s partners, the preseason is not over because there is still a game against the Sixers, and Joel Embiid could be in uniform.