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The Bulls won't be short of motivation tonight

Other than because it's the season opener, the Bulls will be particularly motivated to get back at the Cavs for defeat in last season's playoffs

The Chicago Bulls finished the regular part of the last season with a respectable number of 50 wins. That saw them face the Bucks in the first playoff round. The Chicago-based team won in 6 games, mostly on account of the massive experience they have when it comes to playoffs. They advanced into conference semifinals to meet the Cavaliers and lost the series, after managing to win one game in Cleveland. Those were the final games for coach Thibodeau at Chicago. Fed Hoiberg, who spend 4 years of his carrier as a player at the Bulls, took over after Thibodeau left. 

- We have a fun group of players. I'd say we made great progress since the start of the preseason - coach Hoiberg said. 

If Chicago had the tenth best offensive end in the league under the tough Thibs, the Bulls can expect at least some progress this season, especially since Hoiberg decided to put Nikola Mirotic in the starting five. Mirotic is a much better shooter than Joakim Noah. The new Chicago coach will insist on more passes and a better mobility, which will not suit Derrick Rose all to well (17,7p last season). Rose is once again not at his absolute best physically at the start of the season. He suffered an orbital fracture early in preseason, which saw him miss almost the entire preseason. He made a comeback in the final game to record 8 points (4-for-6) and one assist in 10 minutes on the floor. 

- I just played with one eye but I think I did pretty well. It's obvious I can play even like that - Rose said. He played less than a third of games (100/312) since being named league's MVP in the season of 2011. 

The Bulls became Jimmy Butler's team anyway last season (20,0p, 5,8r, 3,3a) and let's not forget about Pau Gasol either (18,5p, 11,8r). He proved he can still do very well and be counted on, especially after the brilliant Eurobasket with the Spanish national team. He averaged 25,6 points in 8,8 rebounds to lead his team to another European title. 

Hoiberg will have to find a way to improve things on the other end of the floor since the Chicago-based team is no longer a top 10 team when it comes to defense, even though they were the 7th slowest-paced NBA team. The pressure they put on the player in possession and the defensive rebounding will definitely have to be better than last season. The Bulls will be put to a great test tonight since the Cavaliers arrive to the United Center in the very first round this season. The Cavaliers are very serious regarding their intention to finally win the first title for their team.

- We will not put pressure on ourselves in the first game of the season. We worked hard over the past few weeks. The most important thing for us is to stay healthy and find our rhythm. We did very well in the last few practice sessions - Lebron James said. His carrier average against the Bulls is 28,4 points. 

The 2014-15 runner-up from Cleveland focused on keeping the season together during the summer. The most important addition to the team is Mo Williams, who will get a spot int he starting five immediately since Irving is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered in the finals. His absence means more balls for James and Love. A better efficiency is expected from the latter this season, after he finished the last one with an average of 16,4 points and 43,4% shooting from the floor. 

- We are to open the season away. It will us and our travelling staff against 20,000 fans and the Bulls, so it's going to be a tough environment. When that ball goes in the air, I think we'll be ready - Kevin Love said. His team won 3 out of the 4 games against the Bulls last season. 

Jimmy Butler wasn't himself in the preseason. His shots were bad (31%), and his form isn't good right now. During the preseason, his numbers were 23 (12 free throws), 6, 5, 8, 10, 18, 12, and 4 points. Derrick Rose is ready for the new season, he's probably not 100%, but he's ready. Chciago have a good team, with enough width to score. Pau Gasol is in a good form from the EC. Butler scored 20 per match last season, and 20 against Cleveland in the regular part (Noah wasn't playing), and 16 (Rose was out).He was a big under par in the play-off, with 20, 18, 20, 19, 29, 20 ponits, but all in all, he went over this margin only once against Cleveland last season. I don't think he time has come for Butler to score such high numbers yet. The season is just beginning, and the home team's coach, Hoiberg, announced that most of the players will get 25-32 minutes, which is a big plus for this bet. Also, they'll probably be spent a bit more against Cleveland's defense than those of other teams. My margin for Butler, for this match would be 18.5 max, and if he scores his average, I expect him to stay between 16 and 20 points.