Bulls Close Preseason With 133-116 Win Over Wolves

By the Bulls Nightly Desk · Friday, October 16

The Bulls finished preseason 2-1 with a 133-116 win over the Timberwolves, their highest scoring output of the exhibition slate. Caleb Wilson posted a near double-double with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and reserves closed out the fourth quarter with the lead secure.

Bulls Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Final tune-up. Chicago beat Minnesota 133-116 at home, closing the preseason at 2-1 after an opening loss at Denver and a win at Milwaukee. The 17-point margin was the widest of the three preseason games, a clean way for the Bulls to head into next week's real opener against the Raptors.

Wilson's best night. Caleb Wilson finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, the fullest line of his short preseason. Pippen Ain't Easy reported this week that an NBA general manager survey already pegs him as the franchise's cornerstone piece, and this game backed that up.

Reserves closed it. With the outcome decided, Buddy Hield, Dailyn Swain, Leonard Miller, Noa Essengue and Tre Jones played the fourth quarter together. Jalen Smith added five points and Norman Powell three in that stretch, Powell's coming on 1-of-2 shooting from three.

Giddey's quiet stint. Josh Giddey missed both three-point attempts and finished scoreless with one assist in his fourth-quarter stint, a cold stretch for the Bulls guard. It stands out only because the rest of the night was this lopsided in Chicago's favor.

Grades from the finish. Wilson earns the top mark for his all-around line. The closing group of Hield, Swain, Miller, Essengue and Jones gets credit for not blinking with a big lead in hand. Giddey's scoreless stretch is the one blemish in a rout.

Season series. Both teams played their third game in the last seven days without a back-to-back, Minnesota continuing a stretch of three straight road dates. Chicago is now 1-0 against the Timberwolves this season, for what little that preseason mark is worth before the games that count begin.

What it changes. Chicago is finished with exhibition basketball. The next game is October 21 at Toronto, the actual regular-season opener, five days out, the first game of the year that will show up in the standings.

On deck The Bulls open the regular season October 21 at Toronto, five days from now, followed by road and home dates against the Bucks, Wizards and Celtics through October 26.

What was the final score of the Bulls-Timberwolves preseason game?

The Bulls beat the Timberwolves 133-116 on October 16, closing their preseason schedule at 2-1.

Who led the Bulls in the win over Minnesota?

Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

By the Bulls Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.