Matas Buzelis, unbeaten Bulls prep for struggling Knicks

The surprising Chicago Bulls have been searching for a star player since trading away Zach LaVine last season. They may have found one in second-year forward Matas Buzelis.

The 6-foot-9 Buzelis has led the Bulls to their first 4-0 start since the 2021-22 campaign. They'll look to remain among the NBA's few unbeaten teams when they face the visiting New York Knicks on Friday in the NBA Cup opener for both squads.

After opening the season with two wins, New York has dropped back-to-back games. The Knicks led by 12 at the half on Tuesday before losing 121-111 to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Conversely, the Bulls trailed by 12 late in the first half against the visiting Sacramento Kings on Wednesday before rallying for a 126-113 victory. Buzelis scored 27 points while Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic each had double-doubles in the win.

Kevin Huerter (18 points), Tre Jones (11) and Jalen Smith (10) also scored in double figures for the Bulls, who shot 53.8% from the field.

Buzelis, who turned 21 on Oct. 13, scored a career-best 17 points in the first half and finished the game 11 of 18 from the field that included 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

"I know what I'm capable of, so when I have the ball in my hand, I'm confident," Buzelis said. "If I'm off the ball without it, I can make plays. I can pretty much do everything on the court. The main thing for me was just playing really hard, and everything else would come after that."

Chicago coach Billy Donovan has been impressed by Buzelis' versatility on the offensive end.

"I love the way he (Buzelis) tries to compete and plays and the way he is driven to become a really good player," said Donovan. "He's really good (at pressure at the rim) because he can Eurostep, pivot around people, and he's so long he can get to the rim where he doesn't look like he can get there."

Buzelis could present a challenging matchup for Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has struggled to find his rhythm in new coach Mike Brown's offense.

Towns scored eight points on 2-of-12 shooting in 35 minutes against Milwaukee and was outplayed by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

"I talk to (Towns), we talk and it's a process for all of us," said New York guard Jalen Brunson. "There are gonna be times when things aren't going one of our ways and it's on us as teammates to have his back.

"But at some point, all of us go through a lull in the season. I don't even want to call it a lull. It's just we're still learning and everything is brand new for us. We're not gonna use that excuse for a long time. But these first couple weeks, it's still fresh for us."

Brunson scored 36 points against Milwaukee and brings averages of 31.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists to Chicago.

The Knicks are monitoring the status of three players heading into Friday's contest. Guard Miles McBride has missed the past two games for personal reasons, forward Guerschon Yabusele is day-to-day with a sprained knee and center Mitchell Robinson has yet to play this season due to an injured left ankle.

New York lost two of its three meetings against Chicago last season.