Bulls at Nets
The Brooklyn Nets have eight new faces on the roster, but will depend on their familiar faces plenty when they open the season against the visiting Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Center Brook Lopez, last season’s leading scorer, along with forwards Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young return to lead the Nets in their attempt to return to the playoffs for the fourth straight time.
Guard Jarrett Jack will get a bigger role for the Nets after backcourt mate Deron Williams was bought out in the offseason, but he is expected to miss the opener with a hamstring injury. Newcomers Donald Sloan and Shane Larkin step in for Jack against the Bulls, who held on to edge Cleveland 97-95 to start the new campaign Tuesday as Nikola Mirotic had a team-high 19 points. Coach Fred Hoiberg earned the victory in his debut and Derrick Rose scored 18 while wearing a mask to protect a fractured orbital bone. Hoiberg has installed a new offensive scheme that the Bulls hope will pull them out of the middle of the pack in scoring.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE BULLS (1-0): Hoiberg will like the balanced scoring his team produced in the opener as Jimmy Butler added 17 points while starter Tony Snell and reserve E’Twaun Moore each added 11. Pau Gasol must rebound from a rough season debut when he went 1-for-7 from the field for two points, but his sixth block of the game preserved the victory in the final seconds. Bulls forward Joakim Noah suffered a knee contusion Tuesday after grabbing nine rebounds and dishing four assists in 17 minutes and his status is uncertain for Wednesday.
ABOUT THE NETS (2014-15: 38-44): Lopez led the way with 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest a season ago and Young averaged 13.8 points in 28 games after being acquired from Minnesota. Andrea Bargnani has been slowed by a hamstring injury in the preseason, but should add support for Lopez in the middle and newcomer Thomas Robinson can also help in the paint. Free agent signing Wayne Ellington is a 38 percent 3-point shooter in his career and the Nets were 26th in the league from behind the arc last season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Chicago SG Mike Dunleavy is out at least another month while recovering from back surgery.
2. Johnson averaged 14.4 points in 2014-15 for the Nets – his lowest output since 2002-03.
3. The Bulls won three of the four meetings last season, including both contests at Brooklyn.