CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It's the home opener for the Bulls, who have not yet lost in Year Two of the Arturas Karnisovas/Billy Donovan era. Four preseason games, all wins, then a 94-88 regular season opening victory Wednesday in Detroit, which was quite the difference.
The Bulls hadn't won their season opener in five years. Really.
The Bulls hadn't been over .500 since March of 2017. Really.
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That they did, and are, is a testament to the way Karnisovas has built something out of the near-nothing he was handed when he took the team's Vice President of Basketball Operations title early in the pandemic. He traded for big man Nikola Vucevic at last season's deadline, then added forward Demar DeRozan and guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso during free agency. Every one of those players made contributions in Wednesday's opener:
• Vucevic had 15 points, even though he shot just 33% from the field. He also grabbed 15 rebounds.
• DeRozan's 17 points were second on the team to Zach Lavine's 34.
• Ball had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, and was a defensive menace at times in the fourth quarter.
• And Caruso sprinkled in a little bit of everything on the stat sheet, while generally making life impossible for the Pistons down the stretch.
There is a lot to work on, and 81 games left to play, but there is also finally a foundation to build on for a team that's made the postseason just once since Tom Thibodeau was fired in 2015.
Don't forget - if you can't make it to the United Center, all Bulls games can be heard on 670 The Score and on the Audacy App.
