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After a miracle finish against the Mavericks the Cavs hop a plane for a quick flight to Chicago. The Bulls are 27-31 overall and 15-14 at home. The Bulls are 14-14 in their last 28 games. Since Dec. 1 their longest win streak has been three games and their longest losing streak is two. They are the definition of mediocrity; one step up and one step back.
Even losing starters Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams for the season and with Torrey Craig injured the Bulls continue to alternate wins and losses, never gaining much traction or losing any ground. They’re in 9th place, 5.5 games out of 6th, so they’re pretty much locked into a play-in spot.
The Cavs are 3-0 against the Bulls, beating them by 14, 18, and 3 points. Two weeks ago the Cavs squeaked out a 108-105 win in Cleveland. PG Coby White had 32 points and 7 rebounds. Backup center Andre Drummond started along with Nikola Vucevic and had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Mitchell had 30 for the Cavs and the bench trio of LeVert, Okoro, and Niang combined for 32 points.
The Bulls are also playing on the second night of back-to-back, having lost at home last night to 9-49 Detroit by a 105-95 score. White and DeMar DeRozan played 41 and 40 minutes. DeRo is 34 years old so I don’t know how effective he will be tonight after playing 40 minutes last night and 40 minutes Sunday. This will be his third game in four nights.
White was an uncharacteristic 2-for-14 last night as the Bulls managed just 95 points against a Pistons team that is allowing 121 per game. The Bulls were an astonishing 2-for-29 on 3’s. Their starters were 1-for-23 from deep. For one night at least the Windy City was renamed Brick City. Wish they’d saved that game for tonight.
The Bulls have some solid players. DeRo still has that sweet midrange shot, averaging 22.6 ppg on 47% from the field. Coby White averages 19.5 points but just 5.2 assists, not many for a point guard. Vucevic averages 17.6 ppg and 10.7 rebounds on 47% from the field. The Cavs have done a good job defending him as he’s only averaging 15.3 points on 41% against them in three games.
Guards Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso, who are starting now that Lonzo Ball and LeVine are out, average 10.4 and 9.9 points. White, Dosunmu, and Caruso are all shooting 40-42% on 3’s, although the last two only attempt 3-4 per game. I expect all three will be looking for 3-point shots tonight.
The Bulls are not a good offensive team - they rank 24th to 26th in scoring, points in the paint, fast break points, effective field goal percentage, assists, and 2-point percentage. They’re 24th in 3-point rate and 21st in 3-point accuracy. The one area they excel at offensively is turnovers where they have the 3rd fewest. But that’s mostly because they don’t pass the ball, ranking 26th in assists per play. They do a lot of iso ball, like Dallas last night. Get the ball to LaVine, DeRo, or White and let them go to work.
Defensively they’re solid, ranking 11th in points allowed per game, although part of that is due to playing slow. NBA.com has them with the slowest pace in the league except for the Knicks.
The Bulls allow fewer points in the paint than any team, but partly because opponents hoist more 3’s against them than anyone - over 45% of opponents’ field goal attempts are 3’s. I’m not sure why because the Bulls rank 18th in opponents’ 3-point accuracy and 21st in 2-point accuracy. It’s not like they suck at defending 3’s.
The Bulls are below average (20th) at opponents’ effective field goal percentage, but they’re 11th in scoring defense because they play slow and get a lot of turnovers. They’re 5th in turnovers forced per play, so the Cavs need to protect the ball. The Bulls beat the 35-24 Pelicans on the road last week because they forced 19 turnovers while committing only 9. The key to beating the Bulls is avoiding turnovers because they’re bad offensively and average defensively in everything except forcing turnovers.
In the game two weeks ago the Cavs had just 8 turnovers and won by 3 points.
When the Bulls have either Vucevic or Andre Drummond on the floor, which is what they normally do, they will have a short front line. Their other four starters are all 6-5” to 6-6”. Their bench consists of Drummond (6’11”), Jevon Carter (6’1”), and Jalen Terry (6’7”, 195 lbs, age 21). Drummond, Carter and Terry average a combined 16 points per game. The Bulls are using an 8-man rotation due to injuries. Their bench is really thin.
The Bulls won’t want to get swept by the Cavs this year and being at home I’m sure they will come out hard, especially since they only lost by 3 in the last game, giving them hope. The Cavs can’t let White get hot as he scored 32 on them last game. But he played 41 minutes last night so if they keep rotating fresh guys in to guard him they could wear him out with constant pressure, even in the back court. Their backup PG, Carter, is shooting only 37.3% from the field.
On offense I would take it inside. The Bulls average just 5.1 blocks per game. Take out their injured guys and it’s 3.5 blocks. With only one starter over 6’6” (unless they start both Drummond and Vucevic) Mobley and Allen should be able to score at the rim or at least draw fouls.
I suspect the Bulls get so many steals because they pack the paint on defense and prevent interior passing. That would explain why opponents shoot more 3’s against them than any team and they allow the fewest points in the paint. They are also above average at defensive rebound percentage despite a lack of height on the front line, possibly because they keep their defenders close to the rim.
Maybe their philosophy is deny the paint at all costs and make teams beat them with 3’s if they can. The Cavs are coming off a 50% shooting game from deep so if the Bulls slough off to prevent Allen and Mobley from getting the ball down low then there should be uncontested 3’s galore. Just gotta knock 'em down. I'd start with Strus and see how he looks.
Even losing starters Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams for the season and with Torrey Craig injured the Bulls continue to alternate wins and losses, never gaining much traction or losing any ground. They’re in 9th place, 5.5 games out of 6th, so they’re pretty much locked into a play-in spot.
The Cavs are 3-0 against the Bulls, beating them by 14, 18, and 3 points. Two weeks ago the Cavs squeaked out a 108-105 win in Cleveland. PG Coby White had 32 points and 7 rebounds. Backup center Andre Drummond started along with Nikola Vucevic and had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Mitchell had 30 for the Cavs and the bench trio of LeVert, Okoro, and Niang combined for 32 points.
The Bulls are also playing on the second night of back-to-back, having lost at home last night to 9-49 Detroit by a 105-95 score. White and DeMar DeRozan played 41 and 40 minutes. DeRo is 34 years old so I don’t know how effective he will be tonight after playing 40 minutes last night and 40 minutes Sunday. This will be his third game in four nights.
White was an uncharacteristic 2-for-14 last night as the Bulls managed just 95 points against a Pistons team that is allowing 121 per game. The Bulls were an astonishing 2-for-29 on 3’s. Their starters were 1-for-23 from deep. For one night at least the Windy City was renamed Brick City. Wish they’d saved that game for tonight.
The Bulls have some solid players. DeRo still has that sweet midrange shot, averaging 22.6 ppg on 47% from the field. Coby White averages 19.5 points but just 5.2 assists, not many for a point guard. Vucevic averages 17.6 ppg and 10.7 rebounds on 47% from the field. The Cavs have done a good job defending him as he’s only averaging 15.3 points on 41% against them in three games.
Guards Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso, who are starting now that Lonzo Ball and LeVine are out, average 10.4 and 9.9 points. White, Dosunmu, and Caruso are all shooting 40-42% on 3’s, although the last two only attempt 3-4 per game. I expect all three will be looking for 3-point shots tonight.
The Bulls are not a good offensive team - they rank 24th to 26th in scoring, points in the paint, fast break points, effective field goal percentage, assists, and 2-point percentage. They’re 24th in 3-point rate and 21st in 3-point accuracy. The one area they excel at offensively is turnovers where they have the 3rd fewest. But that’s mostly because they don’t pass the ball, ranking 26th in assists per play. They do a lot of iso ball, like Dallas last night. Get the ball to LaVine, DeRo, or White and let them go to work.
Defensively they’re solid, ranking 11th in points allowed per game, although part of that is due to playing slow. NBA.com has them with the slowest pace in the league except for the Knicks.
The Bulls allow fewer points in the paint than any team, but partly because opponents hoist more 3’s against them than anyone - over 45% of opponents’ field goal attempts are 3’s. I’m not sure why because the Bulls rank 18th in opponents’ 3-point accuracy and 21st in 2-point accuracy. It’s not like they suck at defending 3’s.
The Bulls are below average (20th) at opponents’ effective field goal percentage, but they’re 11th in scoring defense because they play slow and get a lot of turnovers. They’re 5th in turnovers forced per play, so the Cavs need to protect the ball. The Bulls beat the 35-24 Pelicans on the road last week because they forced 19 turnovers while committing only 9. The key to beating the Bulls is avoiding turnovers because they’re bad offensively and average defensively in everything except forcing turnovers.
In the game two weeks ago the Cavs had just 8 turnovers and won by 3 points.
When the Bulls have either Vucevic or Andre Drummond on the floor, which is what they normally do, they will have a short front line. Their other four starters are all 6-5” to 6-6”. Their bench consists of Drummond (6’11”), Jevon Carter (6’1”), and Jalen Terry (6’7”, 195 lbs, age 21). Drummond, Carter and Terry average a combined 16 points per game. The Bulls are using an 8-man rotation due to injuries. Their bench is really thin.
The Bulls won’t want to get swept by the Cavs this year and being at home I’m sure they will come out hard, especially since they only lost by 3 in the last game, giving them hope. The Cavs can’t let White get hot as he scored 32 on them last game. But he played 41 minutes last night so if they keep rotating fresh guys in to guard him they could wear him out with constant pressure, even in the back court. Their backup PG, Carter, is shooting only 37.3% from the field.
On offense I would take it inside. The Bulls average just 5.1 blocks per game. Take out their injured guys and it’s 3.5 blocks. With only one starter over 6’6” (unless they start both Drummond and Vucevic) Mobley and Allen should be able to score at the rim or at least draw fouls.
I suspect the Bulls get so many steals because they pack the paint on defense and prevent interior passing. That would explain why opponents shoot more 3’s against them than any team and they allow the fewest points in the paint. They are also above average at defensive rebound percentage despite a lack of height on the front line, possibly because they keep their defenders close to the rim.
Maybe their philosophy is deny the paint at all costs and make teams beat them with 3’s if they can. The Cavs are coming off a 50% shooting game from deep so if the Bulls slough off to prevent Allen and Mobley from getting the ball down low then there should be uncontested 3’s galore. Just gotta knock 'em down. I'd start with Strus and see how he looks.
