What to Watch for Against Philly, LaVine’s Decision-Making, Lauri’s Big Night, and Other Bulls Bullets

Jan 06, 2023

Joel Embiid knows his perfect record against Chicago is no match for this fierce and mighty Bulls team that is 6-1 against the East’s top-3 teams.

What a scaredy cat! Stop trying to keep the streak alive!

Joel Embiid Will Miss Tomorrow’s Matchup With the Bulls

In all seriousness, the Bulls will catch a pretty big break tonight with Embiid missing his second-straight game. He has averaged a ridiculous 29.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the 12 games played against this franchise during his career. In two of his last three matchups with the Bulls, he has scored at least 40 points and shot 60 percent from the field. He has truly been the basketball version of Aaron Rodgers, and any opportunity the Bulls can get to dodge him is an opportunity they must take advantage of.

The 76ers have won six of their nine games without Embiid this season. So while no Embiid certainly makes tonight a much more winnable game for the Bulls, it’s not like the Bulls can walk into this game any differently. The 76ers still possess one of the deeper rosters in the league and hold the NBA’s 6th-best net rating. Their defense, in particular, has been consistently strong. Philly has forced opponents into nearly 16 TOVs per game (5th-best in the league) and has held them to the second-fewest points per game this season. A big reason for that has been the plus play of wing defenders like De’Anthony Melton, P.J. Tucker, Matisse Thybulle, and Tobias Harris. With those guys healthy and in the rotation tonight, they have more than enough bodies to throw at scorers like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

The Bulls would love to see Javonte Green and Alex Caruso upgraded from “questionable” to active ASAP. While this could be wishful thinking with a game also scheduled tomorrow night, I sincerely think the presence of both players could be the difference between winning and losing tonight. With no Embiid to worry about, the backcourt tandem of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey will likely have carte blanche. The Bulls did a great job holding Harden to just 2-13 shooting and Maexy to a 5-14 performance back in November, and a big reason for that was the perimeter attack that both Caruso and Green spearheaded. If those two can play tonight AND Embiid is stuck on the sideline, I don’t hate the Bulls’ chances at a second-straight win.

ICYMI: I wrote a little about the recent Zach LaVine reports and why I can understand some of the frustration about his current role. I’ll drop that link here and below. One thing I’ve wanted to stress since writing that is I believe this whole thing is a two-way street. While I do believe the Bulls can stand to find him more on and off-ball opportunities, LaVine also needs to be willing to adapt to the ongoing situation. In other words, we can talk all we want about finding him more catch-and-shoot 3s and more hard cuts to the rim, but he needs to then prioritize moving with purpose off the ball. He also needs to stop some of the silly shot selection.

Not sure how true these recent LaVine reports are, but I also don't think they're that hard to believe.

The team could stand to see LaVine's usage tick up, and they probably could find him more off-ball opps. It's a two-way street, though.

More …https://t.co/xFNwVjpwJO— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) January 6, 2023

For example, it’s not great when you come across tweets like this:

Bulls won but WTH was this shot. Up seven, just under two minutes left, launches contested 3 with shot clock at 14. pic.twitter.com/CmVNbsThTZ
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) January 5, 2023

To be fair, I don’t think this is the worst shot for someone with LaVine’s proven 3-point stroke. But that doesn’t mean I think he should have taken it. An early shot-clock, pull-up 3 in a close game is rarely going to be the wise decision. He needs to understand that as a max player.

This defense can work … but everyone has to be hitting their mark:

Liked what I saw from the Bulls defense in the first half, even after Caruso left the game

• Pat working hard to get over screens
• Vooch meeting the ball at the level of the screen
• Help arriving on time
• Weak side zoning up pic.twitter.com/4silHGlA36— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) January 5, 2023

First of all, I’m sure the Bulls are furious that they couldn’t get a deal done for the legendary Cash Considerations. Secondly, why is Boston opening up a roster spot? Hmmmm.

The Boston Celtics are trading C/F Noah Vonleh and cash consideration to the San Antonio Spurs, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Spurs will waive Gorgui Dieng to create roster space, sources said.— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 5, 2023

It’s official: Lauri Markkanen is that dude now.

Lauri Markkanen for the @utahjazz tonight:

49 points
0 turnovers
0 fouls
0 missed free throws

That's the most points any NBA player has scored in a game without turning the ball over, committing a foul or missing a free throw (since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78).— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 6, 2023

The Bulls will see an All-Star-bound Markkanen at the United Center tomorrow night. They already let The Finnisher dropped 32 points in his first meeting with Chicago back in late November, so to say I’m a bit scared of what a Markkanen that is averaging 30.5 points over his last 11 games can do on Saturday is an understatement.

I NEED THIS!

Best. Bobblehead. Ever. Get yours at the @windycitybulls game this Friday night at 7pm! #newyearseveheave @DeMar_DeRozan pic.twitter.com/dvDAZd8A7o
— Tim Sinclair (@timjsinclair) January 5, 2023

The 36-year-old Chicago native is back with the Windy City!

Jeremy Pargo knocked down 1️⃣3️⃣ three-pointers in a row in his first practice with Windy City 🔥 pic.twitter.com/x0bk68Gf4L
— Windy City Bulls (@windycitybulls) January 5, 2023

STUD MUFFIN!

The bad news is that Justin Fields' 2022 season is over.

But the good news is we saw QB1 make improvements in completion pct, QB rating, total TDs, and other aspects of his game.

It is undeniable that the arrow is pointing 🆙.https://t.co/OXDIqDM73X pic.twitter.com/Ne17E2einW— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 6, 2023

How about Cubs …

The Carlos Correa Saga: Mets Threatening to Walk Away, Twins Sliding Back In?https://t.co/Ndi1gjWlU7 pic.twitter.com/YPEYG6gyAr
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 6, 2023

written by

Elias Schuster

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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