NEW ORLEANS – It was a nice thought.
There sat Zach LaVine on Wednesday, hours before the Bulls would begin the 2024-25 regular-season odyssey, feeling upbeat about what was set to take place.
His mindset?
“Who’s to say we can’t come out here and surprise some people?” the two-time All-Star insisted. “We’ve done it in the past. But it takes everybody in the locker room, pretty much pulling for each other.
“Let’s go out there and try and play for something.”
LaVine’s words weren’t wasted. Play for something they did. And just like that the Bulls are still sitting pretty for the draft lottery and the right to land all-world prospect Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall.
Thanks to 30 points off 21 Bulls turnovers, New Orleans embarrassed the visiting team, beating them 123-111. Was there some good for the Bulls? Sure, a solid first half and the offense playing up-tempo, but there was way more bad, and that started and finished with the turnovers.
LaVine with seven, Coby White with four, Josh Giddey with three and Ayo Dosunmu with two. Four primary ball-handlers with 16 turnovers.
“Truth be told, they say best-case scenario, worst-case scenario?” Dosunmu said. “This was the worst-case scenario we could have played. Playing fast, getting out in transition, turning the ball over is the worst thing to compound that because we’re running up and down, playing so fast, and now we’re turning the ball over.
“We can’t do that. We just got to take care of the ball.”
What was obvious throughout the first half was “Billy Ball” was going to be a work in progress. Not that an up-tempo, generate good three-point looks offense was new for Billy Donovan.
It might be the first time the coach has tried to play it in his tenure with the Bulls, but it’s been waiting in his bag for years.
“No, I like playing like this,” Donovan said of the new-look offense. “I played like this with (college coach Rick) Pitino, I coached like this in Florida, and I also think you have to adjust stylistically to your personnel.”
One player who really embraced it early on in the opener? LaVine.
While the rest of his teammates were launching three-point shots in the first 24 minutes, LaVine was actually making them. The Bulls found themselves down 59-58 and doing so on a dismal 7-of-23 (30.4%) from three-point range. LaVine, however, had 19 points and did so on 5-of-6 from long range.
And not just same ol’ LaVine shooting first and asking questions later. They were the type of three-pointers that came from team basketball and generated from good looks. The Bulls scored 30 points in the paint on 15-of-21 shooting, so they were executing what Donovan wanted on that side of the ball. A show of force in the paint and then kick-outs for the three.
“It’s not so much for us about shooting the threes,” Donovan said. “It’s what’s generating the threes. The most valued shot in the game is at the basket. Everybody’s offense, they’re kind of doing the same thing. They’re kind of spacing the floor, spraying the floor.”
The issue for the Bulls in the second half, however, is most teams that are considered playoff worthy are also playing defense. That’s where this team struggled and will continue to struggle unless changes are made.
Coming out of that halftime locker room, the Bulls watched the one-point deficit turn into a lay-up line for the Pelicans, as one point quickly went into a 10-point hole. The turnovers didn’t help.
By the time the third stanza came to an end, the Bulls were outscored 36-25, turned the ball over seven times, and allowed the home team to shoot 16-of-28 (.57%) from the field.
“I don’t think we’ll play like that again,” Dosunmu said.