Chicago Bulls (30-36) at Houston Rockets (15-51) – 7:00 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago (TV) and 670 The Score (Radio)
Projected Starting Lineups
Chicago Bulls
Patrick Beverley
Alex Caruso
Zach LaVine
DeMar DeRozan
Nikola Vučević
Injury Report: Javonte Green OUT (knee), Lonzo Ball OUT (knee)
Houston Rockets
Jalen Green
Kevin Porter Jr
Kenyon Martin Jr
Jabari Smith Jr
Alperen Sengun
Injury Report: Kevin Porter Jr PROBABLE (thigh)
Odds
The Bulls come into tonight’s game as 7.5-point favorites against the Rockets at both PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook and FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook. Click on either link to sign up and pick the Bulls to cover (… or pick the opposite …)!
What to Watch For
A win tonight puts the Bulls right back into the Play-In mix, so that’s something. The Raptors and Wizards both lost last night, which means the Bulls are only a half-game back of Washington and a full game behind Toronto. So really after tonight, the Bulls should find themselves back in the 10-seed (they own the tiebreaker over Washington).
Zach LaVine continued his absolute tear on Wednesday in Denver. He dropped 29 points, shot 12-18 from the field, and 3-5 from deep. The Bulls are a different team when Zach is playing this well. Over his last 16 games, LaVine is averaging over 27 PPG, shooting 53.5% from the field and 40.6% from three. Zach’s always been able to score, but it’s how efficiently he’s doing it that has made this run so fun to watch. He’s got another chance to go off tonight against a bad Rockets team.
Outside of LaVine, two things that really stuck out from the Nuggets game were the performances of Nikola Vučević and Patrick Williams. It’s not a coincidence that when Vooch shoots well from three, the Bulls win a lot more. The big man was 2-4 from three against Denver and also pulled down 15 boards to go along with his 25 points. That’s the type of performance we need to see more often. Williams was also great off the bench with 18 points on 8-9 shooting. Williams was a lot more assertive in finding and taking his shots Wednesday night, and I think the move to the second unit has really helped him find his confidence. He can be the go-to scoring option away from LaVine and DeRozan. Anyway, read more about Williams’ recent play below:
The Rockets stink, but they also throttled the Bulls earlier this season. As long as the Bulls don’t sleepwalk through this one, it should be an easy W. If they start slow, though, Houston is very capable of getting off to a fast start and building a lead.
Matt is from the Chicagoland area and has been working in Chicago sports since 2015 with stops at WGN Radio, the Chicago Blackhawks, Stadium, and NBC Sports Chicago prior to landing at Betsperts. Matt covers just about everything for Betsperts and Bleacher Nation but focuses on the NHL and college football.
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