FINAL: Bulls 94, Pistons 88.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 34 pts. Pistons: Grant: 24 pts.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Vucevic: 15. Pistons: Bey: 9.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Ball, LaVine and Vucevic each with 4. Pistons: Bey: 4.
CCI STAT OF THE NIGHT: Zach LaVine scored 15 third-quarter points.
CCI RECAP: A grind it out opening night game as the Bulls made just enough plays down the stretch to pull away from the Pistons as Zach LaVine made all 11 of his free throw attempts, several in the waning moments to secure the win. But LaVine was more than just an offensive scoring machine coming through on the defensive side with a block and a steal at crunch time as the Bulls received solid production from Nikola Vucevic (15 pts-15 rebounds) and DeMar DeRozan who poured in 17 points in his Bulls debut.
CCI QUOTE OF THE GAME: Zach LaVine: "This ain't last year, this is a whole new team and a whole new mindset. So, I am excited that we grinded that one out. A win is a win."
UP NEXT: Home with New Orleans Friday.
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Philadelphia 119, New Orleans 97. No Ben Simmons. No problem for the 76ers. The Pelicans Zion Williamson continues to be sidelined with a broken right foot.
Charlotte 123, Indiana 122. The Hornets went on a 24-0 third quarter run. LaMelo Ball drained seven-three pointers and finished with 31 points.
Memphis 132, Cleveland 121. Ja Morant scored 37 points and dished out six assists. Lauri Markkanen made his Cavaliers debut scoring 10 points (4-14 FG) and collecting nine rebounds.
Minnesota 124, Houston 106. Towns, Edwards and Russell combined for 81 points.
New York 138, Boston 134 (2OT). Julius Randle and Evan Fournier combined for 67 points. Boston's Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 46.
Washington 98, Toronto 83. The Raptors played their first game in Toronto since February 28, 2020.
San Antonio 123, Orlando 97. The Spurs improved to 23-2 in season openers under Head Coach Greg Popovich.
Utah 107, OKC 86. Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside combined for 22 points and 32 rebounds.
Sacramento 124, Portland 121. Damian Lillard's potential game-tying three ball at the buzzer rims out. The Kings spoiled the head coaching debut of Chauncey Billups.
Denver 110, Phoenix 98. MVP Nikola Jokic poured in 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Devin Booker went 3-15 from the field.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls. All In. All Bulls. 365. 24-7.
Always a pleasure.