Pre-Gamin’: Bulls at Magic (6:00 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Odds, Game Thread

Let’s get back in the win column.

Broadcast Info

Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic (6:00 CT) on NBC Sports Chicago, 670 The Score (Audio)

Chicago Bulls

Projected Starters:

1. Coby White
2. Zach LaVine
3. Patrick Williams
4. Lauri Markkanen
5. Daniel Gafford

Injury Report: Otto Porter OUT (back), Wendell Carter Jr. OUT (quad)

Orlando Magic

Projected Starters:

1. Cole Anthony
2. Evan Fournier
3. James Ennis
4. Gary Clark
5. Nikola Vucevic

Injury Report: Aaron Gordon OUT (ankle), Markelle Fultz OUT (ACL), Michael Carter-Williams OUT (foot), Jonathan Isaac OUT (knee) Al-Farouq Aminu OUT (injury recovery)

Odds

The Bulls -2.5 point favorites for tonight’s matchup against the Knicks, according to the DraftKings Illinois Sportsbook (-112) and the FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook (-138), and the PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook (-120).

You can sign up for each of those books below, and get yourself a nice deposit bonus in the process (PointsBet could be the way to go tonight, folks).

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What to Watch For

•   Can the Bulls please get off to a fast start? Over the last two games, head coach Billy Donovan has been forced to call a timeout less than two minutes into the game. Thaddeus Young said it best himself after Wednesday night’s loss to the Knicks: “We’re not a team that can just flip the switch on.”

•   Who the hell is going to stop Nikola Vucevic? Daniel Gafford and Lauri Markkanen were repeatedly owned on Wednesday night by Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. Fortunately, with Aaron Gordon out, the Magic’s backcourt isn’t as scary, but Vucevic will certainly pose a wide range of problems. He isn’t afraid to pop a shot off from anywhere on the court, and he is also the league’s 8th-best rebounder as of today. Unless the Bulls try to throw the spry and athletic Patrick Williams in his face at times, I’m not sure how they expect to stop him, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls gameplan is to focus more heavily on stopping the supporting cast.

•   Markkanen went from two 30-point games to a 9-point game. Can he bounceback tonight?

•   Despite splitting their series against the Knicks, the Bulls managed to post a season-low in turnovers in back-to-back games. Heading into those matchups the Knicks D was ranked 8th in the league too, so that mark isn’t too shabby. The question now is whether or not they can continue that trend against the Magic’s inferior 22nd-ranked defense?

Get Caught Up …

written by

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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