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Lakers vs. Bulls: 10 Things to Know (1/29/15)

Here is what you need to know before the Lakers take on the Chicago Bulls.

1)
Thursday’s game marks a homecoming for Pau Gasol, who will be facing his former team at STAPLES Center for the first time since he was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 13, 2008. Gasol made three all-star teams in more than six seasons as a Laker, winning two championships along the way. The Spaniard also finished his tenure in L.A. with the franchise’s third-highest offensive rating (116.9) behind Magic Johnson (120.8) and A.C. Green (117.7).

2)
Gasol has experienced a renaissance in Chicago and was named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter last week. The 34-year-old ranks third in the league in blocks (2.2) and fifth in rebounds (11.9) — both of which are on pace for career highs. Gasol, who leads the NBA with 28 double-doubles, has been blistering over his last six games, over which he is averaging 15.6 points and 14.7 rebounds with a double-double in each contest.

3)
The Lakers have gone young with their starting lineup over the last three games, as Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly, Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre have 13 years of combined NBA experience. L.A.’s season-opening starting lineup had 43 years of experience, with Kobe Bryant accounting for 18 years on his own.

4)
Despite losing nine straight games for the first time since 1994, the Lakers have been playing solid defense during their slide. Entering this stretch, L.A. was averaging 107.6 points per game, but that has diluted down to 99.3 points over the Lakers’ last nine contests.

5)
Jimmy Butler, whose status for Thursday’s game is questionable due to illness, has arguably been the NBA’s most improved player this season. The 25-year-old leads the Bulls with 20.1 points per game, 7.0 more than last season. Butler has also thrived through a physically taxing season, as he leads the league in minutes played (39.5) and distance traveled (2.8 miles) per game.

6)
Despite a relatively lukewarm season by his own standards, Derrick Rose has looked like he did during his 2010-11 MVP season over his last eight games, averaging 24.1 points on 45.3 percent shooting while leading Chicago in scoring seven times. Rose’s success peaked in the Bulls’ last game on Tuesday in a win over Golden State, when he dropped 30 points, including the game-winning step-back in overtime, though he also had 11 turnovers, the most of any player in the league this season.

7)
Joakim Noah (ankle) is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game, which means Chicago could be missing its most tenacious rebounder. Though Noah is averaging his fewest boards (9.3) in six years, he has fought on the glass as much as any player in the league, ranking first among all players with at least eight rebounds per game in contested rebound percentage (53.0).

8)
Aaron Brooks has experienced a resurgence in his first season with Chicago, becoming one of the league’s top long-range shooters. Brooks is fourth in the NBA and leads all point guards in 3-point percentage by shooting a career-high 44.8 percent from deep.

9)
Led by Gasol, the Bulls have been the league’s top shot-blocking team with 6.7 swats per game. Opponents are also shooting just 50.0 percent at the rim, which is the fourth-lowest mark in the NBA.

10)
With Gasol and Noah paving the way, Chicago has also been hauling in the NBA’s third-most rebounds (45.6). The Lakers got a front-row seat for this on Christmas Day when the Bulls hauled in an L.A. opponent season-high 57 rebounds, including 20 on the offensive glass alone, while cruising to a 113-93 victory.