Chicago Bulls continue balanced attack as they go 3-0 in preseason

Don’t look now, but the Chicago Bulls are 3-0 over the course of the 2021 NBA preseason after another win Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sure, many consider preseason sports to be meaningless. However, in the NBA, these games mean much more than other leagues. Players typically see more minutes in preseason action than other athletes in different sports, so there’s a lot to take away from these first three games.

The Bulls have a roster with mostly new faces this year, so it wouldn’t have been surprising to see them start slow and look a little off-base during the preseason. Yet, here we are. The Bulls are undefeated and their most recent victory was a little too close for comfort, yet they pulled it out.

The Bulls beat the Cavaliers 102-101 Sunday night and overcame a poor shooting night to lead a balanced attack, overall, en route to a gutsy win.

These new-look Chicago Bulls are a different beast, as they continue to be well-balanced in victory.

In their win over the Cavaliers on Sunday night, the Bulls shot just over 41 percent from the field while Cleveland shot over 47 percent. The Bulls also only finished shooting 25 percent from three, making this a tough night on them in terms of scoring.

Still, the game was won in a variety of ways. It starts on the boards, where the Bulls out-rebounded Cleveland 52-42. This was one of the biggest reasons they were able to pull off the win.

DeMar DeRozan led the way offensively with 23 points, but the Bulls also saw six players total in double figures. This was not a pretty game, but one that a Bulls team would typically lose — and that wasn’t the case on this night.

It is clear that these guys are bought into Billy Donovan’s system. They want to win, and at any cost. The type of players Chicago added this offseason truly believe in this.

The unsung hero of the Bulls’ preseason so far has to be Alex Caruso, who poured in another balanced effort with eight points, six boards, four assists, a steal and a block. He’s been that glue guy off the bench who gives the Bulls a bit of a spark when they need it most. Caruso even finished the night with the team’s best plus/minus with a +10.

Yes, it was not a good night to look at that number. But, what’s important is that the Bull battled through a tough shooting night and pulled off a win.

They might not have lights-out shooting performances every night, as we’ve seen, but Donovan’s new roster has proven they are extremely balanced and have many players who do a lot of things well. This will be key for them going into the regular season — a season that starts in just nine days.