For whatever reason, the Minnesota Timberwolves were a luggage-toting road team throughout the preseason. An NBA team that played five preseason games, but were only cheered on by the home crowd at Target Center once. Of course, great NBA teams rise above the when and the where to focus on playing basketball.
And that is exactly what the Minnesota Timberwolves did in their fifth and final preseason game of 2023.
The Chicago Bulls are an NBA team that is trying to determine the direction for the 2023-24 NBA season, much like the ambiguity that surrounds the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. But unlike the injury-riddled Timberwolves roster last season, the Bulls were relatively healthy last season. And unlike the Timberwolves, the Bulls fell short of competing in the postseason.
Pat Bev can’t run with the Bulls
Not even the late arrival of former Timberwolves point guard Patrick Beverley could lift the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs.
The Bulls finished with a 40-42 record last season, and multiple NBA pundits, analysts, and websites project them to finish on or about the 2023-24 NBA season with a 41-41 record.
While that is similar to where the team ended up last season, the Bulls have not shown much fight so far in the 2023 NBA preseason. After an early double-overtime victory over the defending NBA Champion Denver Nuggets, the Bulls fell to a 1-3 record before the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-0) rolled into town. And they were eager to end their preseason on an uptick. Unfortunately, the Timberwolves had other ideas, and that is what we want to discuss: