Chicago Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter throws shade at Josh Giddey after comeback win

After a blowout loss on opening night, the Chicago Bulls bounced back in a big way on Friday.

They won their first game of the season, 132-125 over the Milwaukee Bucks. Chicago looked rough in the first half and shot the ball poorly once again. Luckily, they stormed back after a breakout performance from Caleb Wilson, who scored 21 points.

A big storyline around the Bulls right now is the play of point guard Josh Giddey. Head coach Tiago Splitter was asked about Giddey’s apparent wrist injury and somewhat downplayed it.

“I haven’t seen it affect his play, and I understand he’s got something with his wrist. I think he’s just playing basketball.”

Interesting take from Splitter. This came after Giddey played some of his worst basketball in Toronto, where he shot just 1-of-10 from the field. It’s clear when you watch Giddey play, something is bothering him, and his usual pace of play is just not there. He’s always had a turnover problem, but he’s looking out of sync early on.

His play didn’t get any better in today’s victory, as he was outplayed by backup Tre Jones once again. Splitter seemed to take a slight dig at Giddey, saying Jones changed the entire game.

Tiago Splitter on closing with Tre Jones over Josh Giddey: “Cannot say enough about Tre. He changed the game.”

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 23, 2026

Jones had 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 assists in just 24 minutes of play. He also had two steals and was a staggering +24 on the court, the best on the team. Giddey, on the other hand, was -15 and shot poorly again.

This led to Jones playing in crunch time, and he should absolutely be out there at the end of games going forward. Giddey is officially on bench watch, even with it being early.

Chicago Bulls: Tre Jones needs to start over Josh Giddey

It’s clear that Tre Jones gives the Chicago Bulls the best chance to win.

If Giddey is truly hurt, he needs to sit and get healthy. He’s a major negative on the court right now, and with this team being full of youth, they need a point guard who can help them develop. Jones has always been a backup at the professional level, but he’s playing like a starter.

The same could be said about Matas Buzelis. He had another rough game as well, making it back-to-back to begin the season. In just 17 minutes, Buzelis scored 7 points on 2-of-9 shooting and was -10 on the court.

Matas and Giddey both benched in crunch time during one of the few winnable games on the Bulls’ early season schedule. Rough start to the season for both of them, and that’s an understatement. I do think Tre Jones / Leonard Miller give the Bulls a better chance to win right now.

— Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) October 23, 2026

His backup, Leonard Miller, impressed again after having a great preseason. He scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and was the lone player providing points in the first half. If it wasn’t for him, the Bulls may have been looking at another blowout.

Tiago Splitter will go to the hot hand if need be, and he should. His ability to run solid action tonight helped the Bulls in more ways than one; they just missed too many shots in the first half, and perhaps took too many threes.

They’ll host the Wizards tomorrow night at the United Center for their home opener. Another big test for this young team.

More Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways from their opening night disaster in Toronto

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