NEW ORLEANS – Ayo Dosunmu couldn’t soften the Chicago Bulls’ season-opening 123-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.

He couldn’t. No one in the visitors’ locker room could.

“This is the worst-case scenario,” Dosunmu said.

Not exactly the postgame reaction Bulls fans want to hear after the first game, but against a small Pelicans team playing without Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III, the Bulls mustered a sloppy offensive performance marred by 21 turnovers that led to 30 Pelicans Points.

“It’s really hard to win a game like that,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

The turnover margin lopsided virtually everything else the Bulls did on Wednesday, keeping them from stealing what would have been a feel-good road victory.

“When you come in and you feel like you’re losing a game and you’re not getting beat… that sounds weird, but that’s what it felt like,” Bulls guard Josh Giddey said. “Turnover was obviously a big problem. We need to bring that road back down. … I felt like we shot ourselves in the foot way too many times, but we still gave ourselves a chance to win.

Here are five first impressions of the Bulls’ opener, starting with the turnover.

The turnover problem

With the Bulls determined to play at a high pace offensively this season, turnovers will be a seasonal statistic to watch. When the Bulls are at their best, they push the pace, see the ball passing to all five players, fill it from behind the three-point line and generate free throws.

On the other hand, the alternative will look like what the Bulls did on Wednesday.

Chicago committed five turnovers in the first quarter and had nine at halftime. Trailing by just one point at the break, the Bulls had yielded an 11-point difference in turnovers. The third quarter was even worse. At that point, the Pelicans opened a double-digit lead by turning the Bulls’ miscues into makes. Chicago had seven turnovers in the quarter, leading to 10 Pelicans points. New Orleans outscored the Bulls 36-25 in the quarter.

Ultimately, the Pelicans enjoyed a 22-point difference in points versus turnovers.

“Turning the ball over is the worst thing we can do to make that worse because we play so fast,” Dosunmu said. “We’re running up and down, so now we’re turning the ball over and it just gets more complicated. … We can’t do that. We just have to take care of the ball.”

Donovan pointed to his team’s decision-making on drives.

“We had way too many one-legged people trying to jump in the air and realizing they had nothing on the edge and trying to find someone late,” Donovan said. “And (the pelicans) are fast and are very active with their hands.”

Defensive problems emerge immediately

On the first possession, the Pelicans found former Bulls backup center Daniel Theis for a wide-open layup. The Bulls had a coverage breakdown that left Theis all alone in the paint. Just 16 seconds ticked off the game clock and the Bulls’ biggest concern was visible.

Chicago’s turnovers made its defensive effort significantly more difficult as the Pelicans ran for 29 fast-break points and attempted 11 more shots. But there were other defensive issues the Bulls couldn’t solve.

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado drives to the basket against the Bulls on Wednesday night. (Stephen Lew/Images)

“For every team, there’s a formula you have to follow to win,” Donovan said. “We can’t turn the ball over. We can’t be dominated like we can with loose balls. I didn’t think we had thought up enough. Can we get them all? Probably not. But we need to at least get close to 50/50. And we’re going to have to play with a little more physicality because we’re undersized in a way.”

Another problem: fighting via screens.

“We had a game plan breakdown on screening actions,” Donovan said. “There were some things we wanted to change that we didn’t implement correctly, and some things we didn’t want to change. … Some of it was (the Pelicans) just pressing their heads against someone and going to the edge. At some point you have to put your foot down.

“I think you’ve seen the end result on defense on plays that drive the ball to the basket. The problem is at the tip of the screen. We have to be better at the point of the screen.”

Josh Giddey’s Bulls debut

When he was introduced as the Bulls starter, Giddey was met with hearty boos. Pelicans fans continued to boo Giddey every time he touched the ball.

Part of the backlash certainly stemmed from Giddey and the Oklahoma City Thunder tormenting the Pelicans the past two seasons. Giddey averaged 12.5 points, five rebounds and 3.3 assists in the Thunder’s four-game sweep of the Pelicans in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Two seasons ago, in the Play-in Tournament between the Thunder and Pelicans, Giddey erupted for 31 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

But it’s likely Pelicans fans also made their voices heard following Giddey’s off-field turmoil last season, which linked him to an alleged relationship with an underage girl. After law enforcement and NBA investigations, Giddey was not charged.

Many opponents have made a point of making fun of Giddey during matches. Giddey said he was somewhat surprised by the response.

“Yes and no,” said Giddey. “I’m surprised things are still going the way they were. A few of my teammates asked me about it. They will talk to me about it too. I just explained that some cities are different. Obviously it was quite loud. And with every touch I definitely heard them. There’s not much I can do about it. I’m used to it now. I just have to keep playing and doing what I can.”

Giddey finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. He missed his only three-point attempt and went 4-for-7 from the free-throw line. Giddey added five rebounds and four three assists against three turnovers in 30 minutes. His shooting from the perimeter and free throw line still needs work, but he made some impressive plays while rebounding defensively to be a deterrent, and he used his size on the defensive glass as well.

But it can be difficult to control a crowd’s hostile response, Giddey said.

“When you get booed every time you touch the ball, intros, every time,” he said. “You’re on the road, it’s not easy and it can take its toll. It’s sad to say, but I’m a little numb to it right now. I dealt with it all last season, so I experienced it. … It doesn’t affect me anymore. You just have to go out and play and deal with it.

When asked if he would ever embrace the role of a villain, Giddey didn’t seem interested.

“It’s weird being a villain,” Giddey said. “It’s not like I’m talking nonsense and that’s why I’m getting booed. I’m being booed because of a completely different situation. I’m not going to embrace it and be a bad guy about it. It is what it is. There’s not much I can do about it. I just have to go out there and play and let those things happen the way they happen.

Returning after a 33-month absence in the team’s final two exhibition games, Lonzo Ball downplayed his comeback, saying, “It’s only preseason.”

But as Ball said after the morning shooting, “This counts for the record.”

In his first regular season game since January 14, 2022, Ball logged 14 minutes and scored five points, two rebounds and four assists. On his only field goal inside the arc, Ball saw an opening, attacked the basket and looked like he was going to take to the air for a dunk. But at the last moment he seemed to calm down a bit and gently put the ball inside.

“I just saw where Theis was,” Ball explained. “He was behind (Nikola Vučević), so I didn’t have to do too much. If he had come over, I probably would have tried to dunk it.

On his best pass, Ball made eye contact with Zach LaVine on the wing and threw a precise alley-oop — which LaVine capped with a highlight-reel dunk.

Lonzo Ball: Back like he never left. pic.twitter.com/Pl1Ye9HXcV

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 24, 2024

“It felt pretty similar to the preseason games, to be honest,” Ball said. “It was the same shots. The same minutes were there. It’s about taking advantage of the time I’m there.’

Ball is doing what he can to keep his comeback simple. He plays within himself, takes open shots when possible and moves the ball to set up scores for teammates.

“I’m just happy to be on the field, man,” Ball said. “When the coach calls my name, I just try to give good minutes. That’s it.”

Zach LaVine watch

Despite all the attention surrounding Ball’s comeback, LaVine is enjoying his own comeback.

Wednesday was LaVine’s first game since Jan. 18. He only appeared in 25 games last season before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right foot. He’s healthy again and in the second quarter LaVine seemed determined to prove that.

LaVine scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the second quarter, making his first five 3-point attempts. He finished 10 of 17 shooting and 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. LaVine’s thorn in the stat sheet was his game-high seven turnovers, many of which came via strips or him simply losing the ball.

“It happens sometimes,” LaVine said. ‘You have to be aggressive. Obviously we’re not trying to turn the ball over, but I have to take better care of it.”

However, LaVine’s score clearly remains. His 16-point explosion? No problem.

“I got hot,” LaVine said. “I’ve done that many times.”

For the Bulls, LaVine’s scoring will be a necessary source of offense. And some nights he’ll be good enough to carry the Bulls to victory.

“He rates as the best of them all,” Giddey said. “When he gets that hot, it’s contagious for our team. Guys get energy, and we needed that spark. We were a little soft at the start of that second (quarter), and he came in and picked it up and was a real spark for us. When he plays like that, he attracts so much attention that other boys can also get started.”

(Top photo of Zach LaVine: Stephen Lew / Imagn Images)