Bulls on wrong side of franchise history in opening loss vs. Raptors

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The Chicago Bulls began the season with an aura of hope. That was largely due to the hype surrounding Caleb Wilson. However, Wednesday night showed that the youngsters are experiencing real growing pains.

The Bulls lost their season opener on the road to the Toronto Raptors by 43 points, 135-92. In the process, they suffered the biggest season-opener defeat in franchise history, per K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network. The previous mark was by 25 points in 2001 and 2003.

The Bulls showed a wide range of vulnerabilities that often come with opening-game jitters, especially for a young, rebuilding team. For starters, Chicago committed 27 total turnovers, including 11 in the first half alone. Caleb Wilson finished with 9 turnovers and Josh Giddey with 5.

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In addition, Josh Giddey was overwhelmed by the posterizing Toronto defense. Plus, Chicago didn’t have anyone on the floor who was close to 7 feet tall. After all, Nic Claxton remains out with a hamstring injury sustained in a preseason practice.

Also, even though Caleb Wilson got his first dunk, he shot 1-for-8 from the 3-point line and 7-for-21 from the field. Altogether, he finished with 16 points and 4 rebounds.

Matas Buzelis led the way with 17 points, including going 13-for-16 from the free-throw line. Also, Jalen Smith, filling in for Claxton in the paint, finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Norman Powell scored 15 points in his Bulls debut. Tre Jones finished with 13 points.

Josh Giddey only finished with 2 points, going 1-for-10 from the field. He finished with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.