Revenge for the 113-88 pasting the Bulls put on the Trail Blazers less than three weeks will be firmly in mind, but perhaps less easily achieved.
With an 11-8 record, the Bulls currently sit in the Eastern Conference’s fourth spot. Since their visit to the Moda Center in mid-November, they’ve gone 4-4. Gauging Chicago is difficult: in the past two games they’ve gone from the euphoria of beating the World Champion Cleveland Cavaliers, to the despondency of being blown out by the lowly Dallas Mavericks. Yes, Dwyane Wade was rested for the latter, but losing to (probably) the worst team in the NBA this season is unacceptable for a playoff contender.
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In the last meeting, the Bulls out rebounded the Trail Blazers 67-49. Not hugely surprising given Chicago are top two in boards and Portland rank 20th, but not acceptable if the Trail Blazers have any hope of getting the W. On a positive note, over the last five games, the Blazers rebounding percentages are tracking in the right direction.
Of course it didn’t help that the Trail Blazers struggled to shoot as well. Their 35.8% from the field was by far their worst shooting performance of the year. And should we even mention the 61.1% from the free throw line? Hopefully that was just an offensive hiccup and we don’t see a repeat this time around.
Defensive help is coming
We could see the long-awaited return of Al-Farouq Aminu to the court, whose status has improved to probable. Though much needed to shore up Portland’s defense, it’s a little too optimistic to believe he can solve all of the team’s problems in his first game back. Portland still ranks dead last in the NBA in defensive rating.
With the Bulls continuing reluctance to shoot from deep, they are overly reliant on their inside scoring. Narrowing the gap between Chicago’s 52 points in the paint and Portland’s 36 will be key to winning this game. Aminu should definitely help: despite being undersized for a power forward, he is an excellent defender. And if the Trail Blazers can maintain their shooting from range, this should be a much closer encounter. This is a winnable game, but it’s not going to come easy.
(stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com and NBA.com/Stats)
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