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Brown explains what had him feeling weak before Bulls opener

Troy Brown Jr. gave an explanation for why he didn't eat much for a few days and was a little weak heading into the season opener.

"So pretty much I wear like my Invisalign stuff (for his teeth), and pretty much I had an outbreak, like canker sores," he said. "That's pretty much it. It was hard for me to eat for two or three days, kind of lost some weight. Other than that I'm good, I'm back, I'm fine. Even last game I felt like I was good."

Brown played four minutes in the first half against the Pistons, but coach Billy Donovan thought Brown might not be 100%, so he used Ayo Dosunmu in the second half, and the rookie from Illinois was the Bulls' top bench scorer with 7 points.

"Troy has had a really good training camp and it was unfortunate being set back for a few days," Donovan said.

The Bulls' coach admitted he never had a conversation with Brown about how he was feeling, just made an observation. Brown shrugged off the second-half inactivity.

"I go in and I play hard whenever he gives me minutes, and that's what it is," Brown said. "If that's what he thought it was, hey, that's his job. I just try to come out every night and do my job."

Zion in recovery mode:

New Orleans forward Zion Williamson broke a bone in his right foot during the summer and will miss at least the first week of the season, probably more, so he was not at the United Center with the Pelicans on Friday night. There were reports he gained weight since the injury, which seemed to be supported by the soft drink commercial he shot with Zach LaVine, which started airing this week.

Guard Josh Hart, who started the Pelicans' opener, missed Friday's game with a quad injury.

• Twitter: @McGrawDHSports

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