Regulars take lead, rest near the end
The preseason doesn't figure to be much of a dress rehearsal for the Bulls. The substitutes will see plenty of action this month, while coach Scott Skiles is hoping to streamline his rotation in the regular season.
"It's hard to imagine scenarios where Kirk (Hinrich), Lu (Deng) and both Bens (Gordon and Wallace) are going to play less," Skiles said Monday at the Berto Center.
"Those guys are coming into their own. B.G. has that foul-trouble situation that kind of hurts him in a couple games. If he can get that conquered, he's going to play more."
In the preseason opener Tuesday night at LaCrosse, Wis., the Bulls' played well with their regulars in the game and held a comfortable lead well into the fourth quarter. But Skiles cleared the bench in the final minutes and the Milwaukee Bucks finished on an 18-4 run to post a 93-88 victory.
As expected, the Bulls played without Gordon (left ankle sprain), Thabo Sefolosha (right-hamstring strain) and Joe Smith (sore right knee). Thomas Gardner, who played well for the Bulls' summer-league team, started in Gordon's place. Tyrus Thomas got the nod at power forward.
The starters played well, particularly late in the third quarter when the Bulls used a 15-2 run to open their biggest lead of the night at 70-58. The surge ended with 3-point plays by both Gardner and Thomas.
Andres Nocioni led the Bulls with 13 points, while Wallace, Deng and rookie center Aaron Gray each added 10 points. Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut scored all of his game-high 14 points in the first half.
Wisconsin fans got their first look at No. 6 draft pick Yi Jianlian from China. The 7-foot forward struggled, producing just 3 points and no rebounds in 15 minutes of action before fouling out with 4:27 remaining.
Going head to head against Bulls center Joakim Noah, the ninth pick of draft, Yi had 1 shot blocked and fired an airball with Noah's hand in his face.
Noah finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 23 minutes of action. Gray played well, hitting 4 of 7 shots from the field with 6 rebounds in 17 minutes.
Among the Bucks' newcomers are former Bulls power forward Michael Ruffin and Proviso West product Awvee Storey.
Milwaukee signed Storey this summer, even though the 6-6 swingman was suspended from the D-League last year for punching Dakota Wizards teammate Martynas Andriuskevicius, who was on assignment from the Bulls at the time. Andriuskevicius suffered a fractured skull when his head hit the ground.
Storey had a run-in with Bulls forward Viktor Khryapa on Tuesday. While Charlie Villanueva knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:41 remaining, Storey took a running start and barreled into Khryapa, sending the Bulls' forward falling into teammate Jared Homan. Storey was given a technical foul.