Chicago Bulls: The good, bad and ugly from opening loss to Sixers

The Good: Bulls started hot, LaVine looked great

The Bulls came out on fire in this one. It was an impressive 12 minutes, to say the least. Believe it or not, it was actually a record-breaking first quarter for the Bulls. The 41 points they scored in that period against the Sixers was the highest total from any quarter in franchise history.

Chicago shot 61 percent from the field to begin the game and got some major contributions from two starters. Bobby Portis didn’t miss in the first quarter and put up 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated Zach LaVine scored 15 of his own.

Throughout the night, LaVine was the best story for this team, who will be leaning on him quite a bit in the absence of Lauri Markkanen. Thursday night, they were also without both Denzel Valentine and Kris Dunn, so LaVine had an even bigger burden to shoulder.

He handled it pretty well.

LaVine ended the game with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks — yes, you read that correctly. LaVine blocked a trio of shots, which was good to see from a guy who is out to prove he can be a two-way player.

LaVine did turn the ball over five times, which was the only real negative from his performance. All things considered, he was the highlight of the night for Chicago.