The Bulls were without starters Bobby Portis (suspension), Nikola Mirotic (injury), Zach Lavine (injury) and replacement Paul Zipser (injury). The Hawks were also missing major cogs, including their best player Dennis Schröder (who would’ve feasted on the thin interior defense of the Bulls), starter Ersan Ilyasova.
With so many absences, this was going to be a bit of an exploratory affair for both teams – and it showed early on, with only 13 combined points being scored in the first 5:09 of play.
John Collins entered the game early and had a savage block on his fellow first-rounder Lauri Markkanen.