After getting their seven-game road trip off to a good start with a thumping of the Lakers Thursday night, the Bulls will hang out in LA before battling the Clippers. A road trip with no travel is welcomed by the Bulls, who face the only team on their trip that owns a winning record.
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LOOK AHEAD
Once upon a time, oh, about three weeks ago, the Chicago Bulls had a problem of too much depth. Now, their problem is just the opposite, and it couldn’t be hitting at a worse time. Not even two weeks removed from losing Joakim Noah for the season with a shoulder injury, they announced Wednesday they will be without Nikola Mirotic through the All-Star break as he recovers from an appendectomy. The Bulls began their longest road trip of the season – seven games in two weeks – with a win over the Lakers on Thursday, but Chicago is down to its four most-used front court players.
They could get away with a lack of depth against the sad-sack Lakers, who didn’t put up much of a fight in Chicago’s largest margin of victory in Los Angeles with a 114-91 win. But what’s left for the remainder of the trip are 35-year-old Pau Gasol, Rookie Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and the tandem of Cristiano Felicio and Cameron Bairstow, who have played about 50 minutes between them this season. The Clippers are the only team currently above .500 that the Bulls will face on the road trip, and Chicago already knocked off the other LA team, beating the Clips 83-80 at the UC on Dec. 10.
INJURIES
Right before the start of Chicago’s seven-game road trip, Mirotic found out that he will be out of action for the foreseeable future after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday. The procedure will keep him out at least through the All-Star break and possibly longer. The Bulls did get some good news on the injury front with Derrick Rose and E’Twaun Moore returning to the lineup Thursday. They also expect Kirk Hinrich to be available for Sunday’s game.
The Clippers will be without Blake Griffin for another four to six weeks after having his broken hand operated on. Griffin sustained the injury last week when he punched a Clippers staff member.
KEY MATCHUP
Bulls guard Jimmy Butler is an All-Star, which is obvious to anyone who has been paying even the slightest bit of attention to the NBA this season. There is no longer any question that Butler is Chicago’s best player. He leads the team in points, minutes, steals, and even assists, though the last stat will likely change once Rose gets a few more games under his belt. Butler routinely guards top scorers every night and is a master of jumping around screens to stay locked on his man. He’s made himself into one of the best isolation scorers in the game and he lives at the free throw line. Butler’s best games, like his 53-point explosion against Philly, have been predicated simply on his determination to beat defenders in a straight line and get to the rim as much as possible. He won’t be intimidated by Clips’ center DeAndre Jordan in the middle and will likely get a bushel of points at the line by creating contact on his drives.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The NBA schedule makers gave the Bulls their version of a get well card by starting out the seven-game road trip with a contest against the Lakers. Chicago took full advantage and raced to a convincing win while having Rose and Moore back in the lineup to chisel off some rust after each missed time due to injuries. That news offsets the loss of Mirotic, who was the team’s best option on the wing, though not a good one. The battered Bulls also get the luxury of having a few days off without travel between games, allowing the injured players to heal and everyone else to rest. The Clippers will start to feel the loss of Griffin, who was expected to be back in the lineup by now recovering from his quad injury. Instead, the All-Star forward will be out for another several weeks with his broken hand and the distraction that came with the altercation.
Chicago 107, Los Angeles 102
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