Takeaways After Bulls' Home-Opening Collapse Wastes Big Caleb Wilson Night

If it weren't for a third-quarter dud, the Chicago Bulls may be heading to Boston with a winning record.

The Washington Wizards used their veteran experience to pull out a tight 124-120 victory, spoiling the Bulls' home opener. To be sure, the fans in attendance had plenty to cheer about thanks to a dunkpalooza, which was headlined by their big-name rookie.

Caleb Wilson would go on to finish with 30 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in his most well-rounded effort yet. He at least gave the Bulls a chance against the Wizards' superiorly sized frontcourt.

A Much Better Start

Maybe it was the youthful legs on the back end of a back-to-back. Maybe it was the sea of red shirts that lined the bottom bowl. Maybe it was simply learning from their previous two games. The Chicago Bulls came out on Saturday night looking considerably more comfortable.

It certainly helped that the three-ball was finally landing. Chicago hasn't been shy about chucking up the shots despite a ghastly shooting clip through their first two games. Six of their first seven shot attempts came from behind the arc, and half of them went in. Josh Giddey drilled the first, followed by Jalen Smith and Norman Powell. Even Tre Jones would join in on the barrage later in the quarter, making his first of the year.

Add in some surprisingly physical defense on Anthony Davis, and the Bulls suddenly had their own double-digit advantage. To be sure, the Wizards would eventually erase that and carry a 28-27 lead into the second frame. It's not like we were watching some kind of complete 180 from the Bulls. But if the first few games are all about finding your footing, the Bulls showed signs of that early on.

Caleb Wilson also played his own crucial role in that process. One game after icing things in Milwaukee, he set an aggressive tone from the jump. The forward feasted on some iffy Wizards defense, testing their rim protection on repeat. He finished the opening frame with four dunk attempts – two that he flushed and two that forced whistles.

Bulls fans also had to cool themselves off after Wilson's steal and slam was followed up by a drive and dunk by Matas Buzelis. You can almost hear Stacey King belting, "Chi Slama Jama!"

Fast Attack

The Chicago Bulls want to play at 2x speed, and the Wizards allowed them to do that.

Once all was said and done, the Bulls won the fastbreak points battle 34-9. They were able to dominate the tempo throughout much of the game. We saw them taking advantage of some long rebounds on a 10-33 three-point shooting night from Washington, as well as forcing some surprising turnovers to turn defense into offense.

The latter was especially encouraging after how ugly things have looked on that end of the floor over the first two games. The Bulls finished the night with a 14-12 advantage in the turnover department. They used some active hands to force the Wizards into 10 steals. This Bulls team may not be the strongest, but they undoubtedly have the length to disrupt passing lanes and give ball-handlers some trouble.

A Third Quarter Collapse

You didn't think things would go that smoothly in just the third game of the season, did you?

Rather than completely erasing their ugly first quarter, the Bulls just replaced it with the third. The team we saw open things up against the Raptors and Bucks ran out of the locker room to start the second half. Chicago would go on to shoot just 7-24 from the field, which included going ice cold from downtown (2-11).

This was also when the Wizards' superior size started to show itself. They outrebounded the Bulls 16-9 and shot 10-12 from inside the paint. It wasn't necessarily that the Bulls lost control of the tempo, but that their defense couldn't protect the rim any longer.

"We were very inconsistent with coverages and Trae Young and AD, of course their vets and know how to manage the floor there, and did a good job ... I thought we didn't take the best shots that third quarter. We forced a couple, even in the paint going again their bigs we have to be smarter," Tiago Splitter said after the game.

Washington would finish +20 in the frame and snag a 97-82 lead. The Bulls had eight personal fouls in the quarter and just couldn't stop the bleeding. It's a shame for a young team that otherwise did what they needed to do to put themselves in a position to win. At the same time, it's a reminder to a young team that quarters like that simply can't happen.

The Bulls could go on to give the Wizards a real comeback scare in the fourth with a big 16-4 run near the end of the quarter. Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis hit back-to-back threes to cut things to a one-possession game. The United Center crowd was loving it, but there wasn't enough left in the tank to fully erase the deficit.

Dunkpalooza!

Hey, at least the Chicago Bulls put on a show!

Caleb Wilson introduced himself to Bulls Nation with FIVE made dunks in the first half of the action. He would have had three more if the ball didn't bounce off the back of the rim, but the rookie at least drew a whistle each time. Matas Buzelis also joined in on the fun with a couple dunks of his own, which included a major poster.

Press play and enjoy!

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