The Chicago Bulls will have to brave another game without Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol, who are both still nursing injuries. The Bulls were blown to bits last night by the Sacramento Kings, who took advantage of the Bulls’ decimated lineup. The Portland Trail Blazers, winners of five-straight games, will look to duplicate that performance against the shorthanded Bulls, whom they have defeated in all of their last six meetings at Moda Center.
Also scheduled tonight is an intriguing matchup between the veterans of the San Antonio Spurs and the young guns of the Minnesota Timberwolves. You can read a preview of that game here.
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Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers Betting Preview
So long as both Pau Gasol (calf) and Derrick Rose (hamstring) continue to be sidelined by health issues, wins are not going to come easy for Chicago. After managing to beat the Los Angeles Clippers (105-89) on Monday despite missing the services of both All-Stars, the Bulls were served a dose of reality by the Sacramento Kings, who dealt them a 103-88 loss last night.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Chicago’s backcourt, however, looked fine even without Rose. Jimmy Butler and Kirk Hinrich combined for 32 points and eight assists as the starting combo, while Aaron Brooks was money off the bench, scoring 12 points and dishing out four dimes.
Obviously, the problem for the Bulls was the lack of a solid post operator, which Gasol would have provided if he were there on the floor. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson are more of blue-collar type guys that would fight for rebounds and score a bunch of second chance points but are not legitimate post options. Noah is averaging 8.2 PPG and 10.2 RPG, while Gibson has 13.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG.
If Gasol won’t play against Portland, expect the Bulls to run most of its offense again on Butler and the rest of the team’s backcourt. Butler has led the team in shots attempted over the Bulls’ last two games, going 6-for 17 against the Clippers and 11-for-18 against the Kings.
Butler, who is averaging 21.3 PPG on the season and 24.5 PPG in his last four games, is shooting with confidence, something he’ll need to continue for the Bulls to keep up with the high-scoring Blazers.
For the Blazers, the size of the rim is as big as the Atlantic Ocean – or at least that’s what their 104.4 PPG season average is suggesting. That kind of all out offense was once again on full display in their last game when the Blazers scored a come-from-behind 102-93 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans last November 17th to extend their winning streak to five games.
As usual, it was the tandem of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard who led the team on offense. Despite the presence of a monster called Anthony Davis, Aldridge was able to put up 22 points and 10 rebounds. Lillard meanwhile scored a team-high 24 points to go along with seven assists.
Portland’s offense is about to get even more potent tonight as forward Nicolas Batum (9.0 PPG, 5.7 APG) is set to make his comeback after missing four games to nurse a knee injury.
Jumpstarting the Blazers’ offense is their tremendous job beneath the glass. Portland is No.1 in the league in rebounding with 46.8 RPG. Keeping Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson off the boards shouldn’t be that daunting of a task for a team like Portland, which has a raft of players with excellent noses for the ball.
Aldridge gobbles up 8.0 RPG to pace the Blazers, while versatile swingman Batum is second with 7.7 RPG. Three more Blazers average 4.0 RPG or better. One of them is offseason pickup Chris Kaman (10.7 PPG, 6.9PG), who is a valuable asset off the bench for Portland.
Kaman has been even better for the Blazers over their last five games, in which the backup big man averaged 13.4 PPG and 7.6 RPG. In his latest relief job, Kaman scored 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds against the Pelicans.
The Blazers are 7-1 ATS in their last eight games overall.
