Bulls Weekly Preview: Wizards, Pacers, Nets, and Timberwolves – March 25-31

Four more games for the Bulls this week. Two of them better be wins, and if they can steal one against Indiana or Minnesota, they’ll yet again be looking at a chance to get to .500!

I know that the record was 1-2 last week, but it was hard to be too frustrated by any of the efforts. It was annoying that they let Portland crawl back into that game, but they still won. The Houston game wasn’t a very good performance, but we saw Coby White get back into the lineup coming off the bench. He was getting back up to speed and not totally himself. Plus, the Rockets are just playing outstanding basketball and are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now.

Boston is Boston. Even when they’re shorthanded, they’re still dangerous. And when Sam Houser hits seven three-pointers you kind of just have to tip your cap!

The Bulls are getting relatively healthy, and the injury report is looking as clean as it’s been in a while. Coby, Alex Caruso, and Dalen Terry are all probable tonight. It’s looking like they’ll only be without Julian Phillips against the Wizards.

Only three weeks left in the regular season, and the Bulls still sit five games outside of the eighth seed. That means it’s looking even more likely that it’s going to be the ninth seed and a home Play-In game against the Hawks. With that in mind, the remaining weeks are all about getting into a rhythm, playing consistent basketball, and seeing Coby and Ayo Dosunmu continue to grow.

While the Bulls might not make much noise in a playoff series (especially against Boston), I really want to see Coby and Ayo get that playoff experience. Even if they’re not going to win that series or maybe even a game in it, getting those two acclimated to playoff basketball is important. I hope we get to see them in that spotlight and get those reps because I think it’s the next big step for their development.

The Bad and Injured Wizards, Looking at the Remaining Games, ISO DeMar, and Other Bulls Bullets

Meet the Bulls’ Opponents

3/25 vs Wizards: Another 30-point win would be just lovely

3/27 vs Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton is snapping out of his slump just in time for a Bulls matchup

3/29 at Nets: Don’t make this harder than it has to be

3/31 at Timberwolves: The first meeting was awesome, let’s do that again

Bulls Projected Lineup

1. Coby White
2. Alex Caruso
3. Ayo Dosunmu
4. DeMar DeRozan
5. Nikola Vucevic

Opponent Projected Lineups

Washington Wizards

1. Jared Butler
2. Jordan Poole
3. Corey Kispert
4. Deni Avdija
5. Richaun Holmes

Indiana Pacers

1. Tyrese Haliburton
2. Andrew Nembhard
3. Aaron Nesmith
4. Pascal Siakam
5. Myles Turner

Brooklyn Nets

1. Dennis Schroder
2. Cam Thomas
3. Mikal Bridges
4. Cam Johnson
5. Nic Claxton

Minnesota Timberwolves

1. Mike Conley
2. Anthony Edwards
3. Jaden McDaniels
4. Naz Reid
5. Rudy Gobert

Unavailable/Injured (at the start of the week)

Bulls: Coby White PROBABLE (hip), Alex Caruso PROBABLE (ankle), Dalen Terry PROBABLE (calf), Julian Phillips OUT (foot)

Wizards: Jordan Poole QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Kyle Kuzma OUT (shoulder), Landry Shamet OUT (calf), Tyus Jones OUT (back), Eugene Omoruyi OUT (ankle)

Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin OUT (shoulder)

Nets: Cameron Johnson QUESTIONABLE (toe), Keita Bates-Diop QUESTIONABLE (shin), Dennis Smith Jr QUESTIONABLE (hip)

Timberwolves: Jaylen Clark QUESTIONABLE (Achilles), Karl-Anthony Towns (knee)

Arturas Karnisovas entering the Bulls’ locker room after another “competitive” effort:
pic.twitter.com/WPjMUnO3wY

— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) March 24, 2024

What to Watch For

Bulls: Yes, last week was another 1-2 effort, but it wasn’t that bad of a week. They took care of business against Portland – albeit with some theatrics. The team wasn’t great against Houston, but they were easing Coby back into the lineup. Ayo was also spectacular again so there were positives. Boston was shorthanded, but that doesn’t really matter for the best team in the league. This week’s games are all fairly winnable. Indiana and Minnesota are both good, but we’ve seen the Bulls take care of business against them. Mainly, the Wizards and Nets games have to be victories. Catching the Sixers or Heat seems very unlikely, but forming good habits and taking care of business in games you should is important before the Play-In.

Wizards: At this point for Washington it’s basically about running out the clock. They’ll end up in the bottom three, giving them one of the best chances to land the top pick. But, as for now, Kyle Kuzma is out, Tyus Jones is out, and Jordan Poole is questionable and might not play tonight. One thing Washington has done well, at least as of late, is defend the three. Over their last three games, the Wizards have the best opponent three-point percentage holding teams to just 28.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Three-point shooting has been a hot-button topic for the Bulls all season, so a solid performance tonight from deep against a team defending that area well would be nice.

Pacers: Indiana survived the Tyrese Haliburton slump, and now that he’s breaking out of it they look even more primed to win the coveted six-seed in the East and avoid the Play-In Tournament. Haliburton over his last three games is back to himself from deep with a three-point percentage of 41.1 percent. It’s just wild to me how well Indiana was able to power through their best players’ 12-game skid, so props to them for coming out the other side fine. Defense is still the issue with the Pacers, though. Over their last six games, Indiana has gotten better defensively holding opponents to 111 or fewer points in four matchups. Against the Bulls last time out, though, they allowed 132 (117 at the end of regulation). Overall, they’re still second-worst in the NBA allowing 121.0 points per game.

Nets: Brooklyn is sliding pretty badly having lost six in a row and nine of their last eleven games. They still have some intriguing young pieces, but there just really isn’t any depth there. The one thing the Bulls will really want to take care of in this game is cleaning up on the glass. Brooklyn ranks 6th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game. The Bulls rank in the bottom third in the NBA in defensive rebounding. The best way Brooklyn can probably beat the Bulls is by getting those second and third chances. If the Bulls emphasize the glass (maybe this is an Andre Drummond game), they should be able to handle this one.

Timberwolves: The fact that Karl-Anthony Towns went down and Minnesota hasn’t really skipped a beat is wildly impressive. They keep rolling along and winning games. The race between them, OKC, and Denver to win the West will be fun to watch down the stretch – the three of them are separated by only one game. Defense has been the T’Wolves’ specialty this year. They lead the NBA in both opponent points against and opponent shooting percentage. The Bulls will need to be organized and efficient offensively in this one, and we’ll probably need one of those vintage DeMar games too.