76ers rally to seal record win | 02:15
Josh Giddey was benched late in the Chicago Bulls’ comeback win on Saturday morning AEDT, in a “rough” epitomisation of his start to the season.
Giddey played 25 minutes in the 132-125 win against the Milwaukee Bucks, but he was pulled from the court with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
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At the time, the Bulls were down one point, and Gidey had re-entered the game only a minute and a half earlier.
Instead, head coach Tiago Splitter opted for reserve guard Tre Jones to handle point guard duties during crunch time.
And the move paid off, with the veteran recording an assist, a steal, and two sets of clutch free throws after coming back into the game with 3:56 left. He finished with eight assists in a +24 box score performance.
Splitter said of the move post-game: “Cannot say enough about Tre. He changed the game.”
Giddey recorded just six points for the game on 3-9 field goal shooting, but dished nine assists and grabbed four rebounds. He was a -15 in the box score.
Giddey managed two points through 24 minutes in Chicago’s season-opening blowout loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors two days ago.
The Australian star’s early-season struggles come amid a left wrist injury he’s dealing with.
After the Raptors game, Giddey revealed to media he suffered the injury during the Bulls’ first preseason game, saying it’s something he and the team will have to manage “throughout the season”.
Pre-game on Saturday morning, Splitter said of Giddey’s ailment: “I haven’t seen it affect his play. I understand he’s got something with his wrist. I think he’s just playing basketball.”
External questions were raised after Giddey was seen wearing a wrap of some sort on his left hand.
The Melburnian committed five turnovers in the season opener, at times looking unstable with the ball as the Bulls’ primary handler.
Last September, Giddey signed a four-year extension with the team worth AU$152 million.
But the club has new front office leadership, with Bryson Graham replacing Arturas Karnisovas as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Chicago’s tight win over the Bucks was the first of a 12-game Saturday NBA slate.