The Chicago Bulls not only passed their first big challenge of the year in the season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they dominated the next night in Brooklyn and moved to 2-0 on the young season.
In the opener, the lasting takeaways was the two stellar defensive plays made by Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler in the final seconds to seal a victory. The next night, it was about the Bulls not missing hardly anything in a 15-point victory. Friday night’s match-up against the Detroit Pistons will be about both sides of the ball.
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Detroit was 19th in the NBA last season of defense (using the 2014-15 team defensive ratings), but under Stan Van Gundy, Detroit’s youth has shown that they’re ready to make positive strides in 2015-16 with two solid victories over Atlanta and Utah in their first two games.