By: Just Roxy, @chi_rox_

DeMar DeRozan reminds everyone of who he is in big team win.

The Bulls opened their ’22-’23 campaign this evening in Miami against the Eastern Conference Finals-contending Heat. This game was never going to be a walk in the park, but Bulls fans were soon made aware of what kind of contest this could be.

Earlier today it was announced that Zach LaVine would not play tonight due to “load management” after knee surgery in the offseason, a move that confused and angered many after seeing Zach play in the preseason.

Prior to the ’21-’22 season this would spell doom for the Bulls. However, they now have the main piece to the puzzle: DeMar Derozan. I absolutely love being reminded that he is a Chicago Bull. Not only does he put in the work night in and night out, from foul inducing fadeaways to timely passes-he does it all with grace and style. DeRozan had a monster 37 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds in the season opener-one of the only Bulls to do it.

Now we mentioned this was a team win, so we need to also spotlight Nikola Vučević for a variety of reasons. Number one being that I will talk about Vooch in a positive light any chance I can get, but also because he played damn good basketball this evening.

Vooch finished off the day with his first double-double in as many chances-15 points and 17 rebounds. I mentioned in an earlier article that he needed smarter looks on his 3’s. While this wasn’t the case tonight, his one 3-pointer, hit late in the 4th, was HUGE and really swung the momentum back towards the Bulls.

I would like to see him get more opportunities in the post, but luckily we have 81 more games to make that happen.

Another bright star tonight was Ayo Dosunmu, who is filling big shoes in Lonzo Ball’s absence, and doing so with a vision and poise that many second year players don’t possess. Ayo had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. All around a great game from two players who really needed to step up tonight in LaVine’s absence.

The Bulls still have a lot of work to do, but overall seeing how this team played tonight without their max man Zach Lavine was very promising. They now head out to Washington D.C. to take on the Wizards Friday before their home opener this Saturday against the Cavaliers. Enjoy this win, Bulls fans, and remember to See Red.