The Pacers are seeing promising signs from the Tyrese Haliburton-Ivica Zubac pairing, and both players sound like they know the best is still ahead.
Haliburton came back Wednesday after sitting out all of last season because of a torn Achilles, while Zubac is still settling in after appearing in only five games with Indiana since a February trade. Zubac said the biggest adjustment has been learning in real time, not just in practice.
“You can practice as much as you want, but game reps are always going to be different,” Zubac told Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star.
He added that the first game helped him better understand how opponents might defend Indiana’s starting unit. Haliburton, for his part, is already buying into what the partnership can become.
“It’ll come in time, but I’m really confident in it,” he said. “We all were at halftime like, ‘This is going to be a lot of fun.’”
In Chicago, Matas Buzelis doesn’t sound worried about the right ankle injury that forced him out of Friday’s preseason game against Memphis. He left after a highlight-reel block and didn’t return, but his own description of the issue was pretty calm.
“Just a little sore, nothing crazy,” Buzelis said, via Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic. “I think I’ll be ready for Sunday.”
Buzelis said he expects to travel with the Bulls for Sunday’s game in Denver. Jalen Smith also sat out Friday with left foot soreness, and coach Tiago Splitter said that absence should not linger long.
Meanwhile in San Antonio, the Spurs may be inching toward a three-guard starting look. Mitch Johnson planned to start De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper together Thursday against Atlanta before Fox was ruled out because of soreness, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Harper made the most of the chance, posting 16 points, four rebounds and four assists without a turnover in 19 first-half minutes. And he likes what the trio could bring if it gets more run.
“We’re going to be really hard to guard,” Harper said. “When me and Steph get downhill, Fox has the same ability.”
He also emphasized the group’s unselfish approach.
“We’re all unselfish, and we all understand where we’re going to get our shots from,” he said. “We understand what we all have to do to win. So, I mean, it’s going to be great.”
In Other News...
Leonard Miller Is Giving Bulls A Frontcourt Decision To Make
The Bulls preseason trip to Denver offered a useful reminder that roster battles can get louder once the lights come on. Chicago fell 133-128 at Ball Arena, but the bigger takeaway was the way Leonard Miller kept making himself hard to ignore off the bench, giving the front office and coaching staff something to weigh in the frontcourt as the season approaches.
Miller poured in 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting and added seven rebounds, exactly the kind of productive night that forces a conversation even in October. Chicago also got solid perimeter shooting, but the game tilted with too many fouls and too many trips to the line for Denver, a lopsided stretch that helped Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic close out the win. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Exposed A Problem Denvers Coach Couldnt Ignore
The Bulls gave Denver a preseason game that was lively enough to keep the Nuggets' coaching staff uneasy, even in a 133-128 loss that still went in the home team's favor. Aaron Gordon paced Denver with 25 points, Nikola Jokic added a triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the result looked like a useful tune-up on the surface.
But the bigger takeaway from Chicago's side was how much the Bulls were able to push the pace and make Denver work for everything early. Nuggets coach David Adelman was plainly unsatisfied with the defensive edge his group showed, especially in the first half, and the game ended with enough slippage in transition to suggest this one revealed more about Denver's early concerns than its final score did. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Need Buddy Hield To Settle One Rotation Question Fast
Buddy Hield has only been a Bull for a short time, but the fit question is already clear enough: how quickly can Chicago turn him into a reliable spacer in a rotation that needs perimeter shooting? The front office moved Rob Dillingham to Charlotte to bring Hield in, and the logic was obvious from the start. If he settles in as the kind of movement-and-spot-up threat he has been at his best, he can give the Bulls something useful on the floor while also raising his value around the league.
There were signs of that in Chicagos recent game against Denver, where Hields shot profile looked exactly like what the Bulls want from him. The more he leans into catch-and-shoot chances and the more the staff can simplify his job to perimeter scoring, the faster this becomes a meaningful rotation decision. For a team that is still sorting out its edges, Hields role is one of the cleaner questions on the board, even if the bigger implications may not be settled anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]