Pre-Gamin’: Bulls at Suns (8:00 CT) – Broadcast Info, Projected Lineups, What to Watch For

Lose to Orlando, beat the Celtics and Bucks.

Lose to OKC, beat the Suns?

One can only hope.

Game Info

Chicago Bulls (8-11) at Phoenix Suns (14-6) – 8:00 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago and 670 The Score (Radio)

Projected Starters

Chicago Bulls

1. Ayo Dosunmu
2. Zach LaVine
3. DeMar DeRozan
4. Patrick Williams
5. Nikola Vučević

Injury Report: Lonzo Ball OUT (knee), Alex Caruso QST (ankle)

Phoenix Suns

1. Cameron Payne
2. Devin Booker
3. Mikal Bridges
4. Torrey Craig
5. Deandre Ayton

Injury Report: Chris Paul OUT (heel), Cam Johnson (ACL)

Odds

The Bulls walk into tonight as -5.5 underdogs against the Suns at PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook and at the FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook. Click on either link to sign up and pick the Bulls to cover (… or pick the opposite …)!

I got to be honest, I’m surprised by how low that line is for a team that is 11-1 in their home arena. But I guess it just speaks to how well the Bulls have played against some of the NBA’s better teams as of late. Not to mention, Phoenix hasn’t necessarily looked like world-beaters over their last few games. While they have picked up five-straight wins, the previous three haven’t come by any more than 5 points.

What to Watch For …

  • To no surprise, the Phoenix Suns are a really good basketball team. They sit top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency this season, and they also happen to be one of the better teams at taking care of the basketball. In other words, the Bulls are going to have to play an extremely disciplined game to keep up with the Suns squad. And that starts on the defensive end.
  • Devin Booker is scoring the ball as well as anyone in the league right now. He’s averaging a career-high 27 points per game and is fresh off a 44-point showing in a win over the Kings. We all know he’s the kind of player who can single-handedly put games out of reach, so making life tough on him early will need to be a priority. I’ll be curious to see how the Bulls approach this defensively. I’d almost want to put Ayo Dosunmu on him to start the night and then give Alex Caruso more minutes than normal to chase him around. The less energy LaVine can exert trying to handle that matchup, the better.
  • Speaking of the max player, can Zach LaVine finally shake off the rust? He’s shot a dismal 37 percent from the floor over the past eight games, and this has come on a blizzard of botched layups and ill-advised 3-point shots. If the Bulls want any chance of beating this Suns team tonight, it feels like he’s going to have to have one of his better games of the season.
  • Believe it or not, DeMar DeRozan has given Torrey Craig praise for being the player that guards him the best in the league. If the lengthy forward is doing a good job on the Bulls’ All-Star again tonight, it only gives LaVine that much more of a reason to step up.
  • More in here …
  • 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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