Not only are the Bulls shooting it more from three, they’re making them (early on).
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I’m often asked about my predictions and how my track record is well above the median. I know he’s not playing, but I hope he’s here.
Bennett, whose defense has been impressive thus far, had five rebounds to go with three points in 19 minutes.
Television viewership of NBA games in the country is up 54 percent since the 2012-13 season, including 76 percent on national sports network TSN.
The Bulls attempted 36 three-pointers and were successful at knocking down 16.
Andrew Wiggins would like to play a lot of minutes on home soil, but he knows his coach has the final say. Plus, Pau Gasol played for the first time Saturday, and only in the first half. According to Basketball-Reference’s On/Off numbers, opponents were eight points better when Rubio was on the sidelines, their OffRtg dropping from 113.7 to 105.5 when he was on the floor. Butler Saturday occupied himself with moving the ball and had five points and four rebounds.
Monday’s game was to feature four Canadians in Wiggins and his brother Nick, signed by the T’Wolves last month, and Toronto’s Cory Joseph and Anthony Bennett. But the most reliable long distance shooter has been McDermott. Sadly, the architect won’t be with the team this season after being diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma this summer, handing the reigns over to Sam Mitchell, who played with the franchise from 1995-2002. He attributes his soreness to training camp work after he was only cleared for live contact play in September following April ankle surgery.
The Bulls led the entire game as they went ahead by 18 after one quarter, moved up 22 in the second before leading 65-55 at halftime and then kept a double digit lead through the third quarter. And the league has seen its sponsorship agreements with Canadian businesses expand robustly with six new marketing partnerships over the a year ago and a half.
The last time the Timberwolves possessed this much young talent, with Garnett and Stephon Marbury, it imploded amidst immaturity and jealousy.
Another surprise was Bairstow, who has been active in each of the three games and showing a nice shooting touch. Bairstow was moving actively without the ball, and did his best to get open for scoring opportunities. If it was intended it may be one of the highlights of the season.
Fortunately for Minnesota, fate has seen fit to grant them another reprieve.
“I’m a Derrick Rose fan and I’m kind of disappointed he’s not playing”, said Eyneil.
In fact, what Mitchell did with that Raptors squad isn’t much different from what he’s trying to accomplish this season with his T-Wolves. Second quarter, I thought we got a little lazy; things were coming pretty easy to us.
“He is going to do a lot for the future growth of our fan base in Canada”, MacKenzie said. We had 30 assists; that’s a great number. “We had a good shot, we made it a better shot with the extra pass”.
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He saw rookie Tyus Jones come off the bench and score 16 points in the second quarter in a game without fellow point guards Ricky Rubio (quad strain) and Andre Miller (excused absence). Joakim Noah was rested after his scary fall Thursday, though more precautionary.
