Poor Start Troubles Chicago Bulls in Preseason

Kevin Lu

Oct 13, 2025, 18:56

Kevin Lu

Oct 13, 2025, 18:56

Updated at: Oct 15, 2025, 15:59

After three games into the preseason, two wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and a narrow loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Chicago Bulls have shown flashes of promise. The victories over the Cavaliers were encouraging, and the defeat to the Bucks made sense given Giannis Antetokounmpo's star power. But one common issue has emerged across all three games: slow starts.

The Bulls have trailed significantly before their first timeout in each contest:

vs. Bucks (Oct. 12): 7-16
vs. Cavs (Oct. 9): 10-19
vs. Cavs (Oct. 7): 6-18

Sure, it's just preseason—a time for players to find their rhythm and build chemistry with new teammates in fresh rotations. But three straight games of early struggles should raise a warning flag for the organization.

While the Bulls emphasize possession games and a fast tempo, their poor starts have partially stemmed from turnovers, which Josh Giddey stressed as a "byproduct" of the faster playing style. Giddey, who averaged 2.9 turnovers per game last season, is still navigating the balance between his creative identity and ball security.

"We are trying to eliminate the careless stuff," Giddey said. "You got to have a good balance being on the front foot, but also taking care of the ball."

The issues extend beyond turnovers. Despite the team somewhat mitigating those mistakes early in the Bucks game, defensive lapses on the perimeter allowed Milwaukee to hit three deep shots—including several over Nikola Vucevic—converting Chicago's first lead into a Bucks advantage before the timeout.

"I didn't think it was quite as bad in the Milwaukee game, but we've got to start better," head coach Billy Donovan said.

To the Bulls' credit, they’d handled the early chaos through their impressive second unit when Donovan deployed wider rotations. But once the regular season begins with heightened intensity, Donovan will need to tighten his rotation. While it may still be deeper than usual if he continues implementing physicality as a priority, it won't be around 15-16 players he's used in the preseason.

Starting slow isn't inherently catastrophic, but ignoring persistent ailments like this can cost a team long-term. If the starters consistently can't handle opponents' offensive flows early, how reasonable is it to expect the second unit to clean up the mess and cut the deficit every night before the starters return?

The Bulls need their starting five to set the tone from the opening tip, not dig holes that require constant comebacks. Relying on reserves to stabilize games might work in October, but it's an unsustainable strategy over an 82-game season.

"It's up to the first five (starters) to get us off to the right start," Giddey said. "We'll figure it out. But it's definitely an area we have to clean up."

As the preseason winds down with two games left and the regular season approaches, fixing these slow starts must become a priority. The Bulls have the talent and depth to compete, but they can't afford to spot opponents double-digit leads in the first five minutes night after night.

Poor Start Troubles Chicago Bulls in Preseason