GAME NIGHT FROM PHILADELPHIA: Bulls (0-0) at 76ers (0-1)
TV: TNT -8PM
RADIO: 670 The Score. Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, Steve Kashul. 6:45 CT pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine and Portis (17ppg - preseason), Philadelphia: Embiid - 23ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Parker - (7 - preseason), Philadelphia: Simmons - 15
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn and Payne (preseason 3 per), Philadelphia: Simmons - 8
CCI PREVIEW: Finally! Bulls ball is back! Season 53 is upon us as the Bulls take on the 76ers. Philly played Tuesday and got smashed on the road by Boston, 105-87. Was the performance based on the Celtics superiority or bad ball by the 76ers? Probably a little of both. The 76ers will be fired up from the opening tip and the Bulls need to bring some passion of their own. Expect Joel Embiid to take it strong to the rim as he will test rookie Wendell Carter Jr. Ben Simmons is a great player but the Bulls defensively can play off him and Markelle Fultz because both players lack three point shooting abilities. In fact, Philly as a team went 5 for 26 behind the arc against the Celtics. The Bulls can clog things up and play physical ball against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers have a propensity of turning the ball over (16 against Boston) and the Bulls must take advantage of them.
CCI KEY MATCHUP OF THE NIGHT: Embiid vs Carter Jr. and Lopez.
Wendell will see it all tonight including trash talk. Love Carter's makeup and Rolo is an excellent mentor. Welcome to the NBA.
CCI 24 SECONDS - NBA NEWS and NOTES:
Last night in my Philly hotel room I was glued to NBA League Pass.....my favorite channel!
San Antonio 112, Minnesota 108. The Timberwolves blew a 23 point lead. Jimmy Butler scored 23. DeMar DeRozan in his Spurs' debut poured in 28. LaMarcus Aldridge with a 21-19 game.
Phoenix 121, Dallas 100. First overall pick Deandre Ayton registered a double-double in his pro debut of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Devin Booker went off scoring 19 of his 35 points in the final 6:44 of the game. Luka Doncic with a 10-8-4 in his first NBA game for the Mavs.
Utah 123, Sacramento 117. Donovan Mitchell with 11 of his 24 in the 4th quarter. Kings rookie Marvin Bagley III scored 6 points 5 rebounds for the Kings.
Toronto 116, Cleveland 104. Welcome to life without LeBron. Kawhi Leonard in a Raps uniform scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Toronto shot 49% from the floor and 42% from 3 point range taking 33 threes.
Milwaukee 113, Hornets 112. Kemba Walker took 28 shots and scored 41 points for the Hornets but Giannis was Giannis. 25-18-8. Frank Kaminsky drew a DNP-CD.
New York 126, Atlanta 107. Tim Hardaway Jr. - 31 points. Hawks' rookie Trey Young had 14 points (5-14fg) 6 rebounds, 5 assists. 4 turnovers in 33 minutes. Vince Carter in his 21st season, started and played 24 minutes scoring 12 points.
Detroit 103, Nets 100. Griffin with a 26-7-6 game. The Pistons are going to need a lot of those numbers from Blake this year. I've got them around the 40 win mark. Drummond continues to stuff the stat sheet — 24 points 20 rebounds. Drummond made a 3-point FG as well. Yep, CCI covers it all...his sixth career 3-point FG. Nice game for the Nets' Jarrett Allen 17-10 4 blocks. The Nets scored 66 points in the paint.
NOLA 131, Houston 112. Check out these numbers for the Pels: Davis: 32 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks. Mirotic: 30 points and 10 rebounds, Payton: 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. For the first time in his career, a span of 1,055 games, ten-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony came off the bench. He recorded 9 points in 27 minutes for the Rockets.
Denver 107, LAC 98. The Nuggets extended the contract of Head Coach Michael Malone.
Orlando 104, Miami 101. Aaron Gordon got paid in the off season and he delivered opening night. 26 points 16 rebounds. Rookie Mo Bamba with a 13 point, 7 rebound, 2 blocks performance. Dwayne Wade in his last NBA season opener went 3-13 from the floor.
Indiana 111, Memphis 83. The good news. for the Grizz...only 7 turnovers. The bad news...they lost by 28. Domantas Sabonis with the first of many double-doubles this season, 14 points 15 rebounds.
Thanks for reading CCI. A reminder—for the LOCAL call tonight, catch us on 670 The Score at 6:45 CT. For out of market audio, NBA League Pass via the NBA App, TuneIn Live subscription or SiriusXM.
Reach me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls