It almost made too much sense that the Bulls' first dress rehearsal for the season would come against the Washington Wizards. After all, this was the same team that dominated the Bulls in last year's playoffs to force an early exit few were expecting. Appropriately, things picked up where they left off with an 85-81 Wizards victory.
Like any preseason contest, the focus was less on the final score and more on the players hoping to thrill when the real games begin. Nowhere was that focus greater than on Derrick Rose, who played aggressively enough to score 11 points in 14 minutes. Mike Dunleavy and Taj Gibson contributed with 10 apiece. The leading scorer though was Nikola Mirotic, who played against real NBA competition for the first time and finished with 17, partially thanks to shooting 34 percent from the floor.
Even though he wasn't on the Wizards last season, Paul Pierce somehow didn't allow any love to be lost between the clubs. He and Joakim Noah exchanged some minor blows at one point. Fortunately, it was a mere footnote in a game nobody will care to remember because it didn't count.
Back to Rose, tonight marked the beginning of phase two in a series of games that don't matter when it comes to leading the Bulls to victories. The next couple of weeks will be filled with tension as this slate continues to threaten the star point guard's season. It's pretty sad that this is what we've come to dread, but this happens when you're building your franchise around someone whose knees have betrayed him. The reconstructed knees held up during the world championships and did just fine tonight, so for now, we have a reprieve.
The Bulls will quickly get back at it Tuesday as they play the Detroit Pistons at the Palace. At least we might have something to look forward to in Chicago. The Pistons are far from contenders and may get further after this year if Greg Monroe leaves. In cases like that, we should count our blessings.
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