Bulls' starters, key reserves start slowly in preseason-opening victory

CLEVELAND — Billy Donovan expects there will be some angry moments after losses this season, some sleepless nights. After all, he is a coach. And he knows what’s realistic from the Bulls’ roster.

What he won’t accept is what he got in the first 90 seconds of the preseason opener against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night: Evan Mobley’s 1-footer to start the scoring, Donovan Mitchell’s three-pointer in Zach LaVine’s face, then another three from Mitchell for an 8-0 Cavs lead.

Donovan wasted no time calling timeout.

“[Poor defense], and also the offensive part, too,” Donovan said. “The other thing we talked about, even before going out, was that we wanted to make sure the ball was inbounded quickly and we can get up the floor, attack, kind of establish that. And the first two possessions on a made basket, we’ve got our point guard [Josh Giddey] inbounding it and we’re slow coming down the floor, letting them get set. . . . And then, some of the physicality at the basket. Like, those are the things we worked on. Especially talking about it before the game.”

The second- and third-stringers eventually pulled the Bulls out of their nosedive, leading them toward a 116-112 victory after they were outscored 67-54 in the first half and allowed the Cavs to shoot 47% from the field.

But a victory doesn’t mean it was a successful night. The 13-point deficit at halftime was with the starters and key rotation players Ayo Dosunmu, Jalen Smith, Julian Phillips and Jalen Smith on the floor. And the start of the game was a gut punch.

“First problem was the defense,” Giddey said. “[The Cavaliers] got easy looks, started making them. But the second problem was we’re trying to emphasize getting the ball up quick, get it up the floor, and didn’t do that the first 90 seconds of the game.

“I felt like after that timeout, we got back to who we are, what our identity is, what we’re trying to do, so slow start kind of happened. You can’t come out of the gates playing like that.”

Giddey, playing in his first competitive game since injuring his ankle in the Olympics, finished with 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting and had seven rebounds and three assists. Coby White led the Bulls with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

Rookie Matas Buzelis was solid off the bench, finishing with 12 points.

Showing superior depth in the third quarter, the Bulls outscored the Cavs 34-18 to get back into the game and eventually take the lead for good in the fourth.

Not that Donovan was ready to print playoff tickets. He’s aware of how the outside world sees these Bulls. And wins and losses aren’t his only concerns.

“I do think, obviously, it’s a players’ league, it’s a talent league, but I also have the belief that if you can get a group of guys connected and believing, playing together, you can do special things,” Donovan said. “We as a team . . . have a chance to focus on what we actually have control over. Can we control how we’re going to respond? How we’re going to play? How we’re going to support one another? What kind of team we can become? Those are the things that will become important to me.”