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Dwyane Wade's unexpected 3-point barrage carries Bulls to 1st win

Dwyane Wade was terrific in his first game with the Chicago Bulls. (Getty Images)
Dwyane Wade was terrific in his first game with the Chicago Bulls. (Getty Images)

Most analysis of the Chicago Bulls’ offseason moves focused on the seemingly poor fit behind new additions Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo and holdover star Jimmy Butler. All three guards expect to handle the ball as much as possible yet lack the shooting range to stretch the defense. It was difficult for anyone to imagine how head coach Fred Hoiberg would fit these three players together in any system, let alone the pace-and-space approach he was hired to install in 2015.

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One game will not solve those questions, but Thursday night’s opener against the Boston Celtics offered some surprising initial answers. The Bulls’ trio of guards didn’t struggle from three-point range — in fact, they thrived. Rondo, Butler, and Wade combined to shoot 9-of-14 on threes, with the latter two each making 4-of-6 attempts. Not surprisingly, the Bulls used that unexpected three-point prowess to beat the visiting Celtics 105-99.

It was an especially surprising performance for Chicago native Wade, who went 7-of-44 on threes over all 74 games of his 2015-16 season with the Miami Heat. In other words, it now wouldn’t be a shock for Wade to eclipse his three-point total from last season in 2016-17’s first week. As is, he already has his first regular season game with four three-pointers since January 2013. (Wade also had four in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals last May.)


Wade’s big night went beyond his stat line. The Bulls led by 14 with 7:00 remaining in regulation but saw that margin dwindle to only two points with under a minute on the clock. It took Wade’s final three-pointer at 0:26 to put the game out of reach. He celebrated with a throat-slash that’s likely to earn him a fine from the league:

Thursday did not go quite so well for the Celtics, in town on the second night of a back-to-back after holding off a late Brooklyn Nets comeback in Boston. Fatigue might well have been an issue — the Celtics missed nine of 24 free throws and grabbed only three offensive rebounds. At the same time, the offense still looks overly dependent on point guard Isaiah Thomas (25 points on 10-of-15 FG) for shot creation. New addition Al Horford has yet to make a major impact, although it’s still far too early to take away much.

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Or perhaps the Celtics simply ran into a Bulls team that got an uncharacteristic performance from three-point range. Wade and Butler very likely will not each make four three-pointers again all season. None of the Bulls’ three main guards averaged a three per game last year. Don’t anoint these new Splash Brothers just yet.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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