Chicago Bulls vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Recap

October 14th, 2008 by Andrew Wamboldt

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-86 in preseason play. This is the Bulls third straight loss and they now are 0-3 in preseason play. Minnesota improved to 3-1 this preseason.

The Bulls jumped out to an early lead, finishing the first quarter with a 30-13 lead. The Timberwolves went on a 23-5 run at the end of the second quarter and ended the half with a 46-45 lead.

It was smooth sailing for Minnesota after that. The Bulls were able to bring the game within 2 late in the fourth, but Minnesota finished the game on a 10-3 run to beat the Bulls.

Derrick Rose, who came off the bench, was impressive, scoring 9 points and dishing 7 assists. Rose connected with Andres Nocioni multiple times for threes. Nocioni was able to make use of Rose’s great passing by just catching and shooting the ball, rather than taking a dribble before shooting, as Stacey King alluded to during the broadcast. Nocioni finished with 18 points.

Drew Gooden was also impressive, scoring 20 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.

Luol Deng came on strong to start the game, scoring 8 points in the first quarter. However, Deng fell apart as the game went on, and shot 5-14 overall in the game. Deng has yet to get anything going so far in this preseason. It is becoming clear that Deng isn’t cut out to be a first option in the NBA. Deng could easily find himself as the fourth option on offense, behind Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, and Drew Gooden.

For the first time in preseason, Aaron Gray had a poor showing. He did set some nice screens for Rose in the second quarter, but didn’t do a lot of other positive things on the court. Gray finished with 0 points and 0 rebounds. Gray came into the game as the Bulls’ leading scorer and rebounder in preseason play.

For Minnesota, Corey Brewer had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Al Jefferson chipped in 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The Bulls next game is Friday against the Utah Jazz. The game will be on CSN-Chicago. The game will be played n Champaign, IL and will be Deron William’s homecoming to Assembly Hall.