GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Portland (9-8, 4-3 on the road) at Bulls (7-10, 2-5 at home)
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington. 6:45pre
TV: NBCSC: Adam Amin and Stacey King. 7PM.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 27 ppg. Portland: Lillard: 28 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen and Porter: 6 per. Portland: Kanter: 10 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: White: 5 per. Portland: Lillard: 7 per.
LAST MEETING: January 5 in Portland: Bulls 111, Portland 108. The Bulls battled back from a 20 point first half deficit to shock the Trail Blazers on their home floor. Coby White had 21 points and a career high 10 rebounds. The Bulls had seven double figure scorers. Otto Porter Jr. recorded a 19-13 game. Zach LaVine tossed in 18 points and dished out nine assists.
CCI PREVIEW: The well-rested Bulls are anxious to get back on the floor tonight against a banged up Portland team that will be without CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic among others. The Bulls need to jump on Portland early and send a statement after falling to the Lakers and Celtics respectively in their last two outings.
The game features two of the top scorers in the NBA in Damian Lillard (3rd) at nearly 29 points per game and Zach LaVine (9th) averaging 27 points per contest. Expect a heavy dose of Lillard tonight. With the loss of CJ McCollum, Lillard has to carry the load but has received help from players such as Gary Trent Jr. and Anfernee Simons. Enes Kanter has done a terrific job in the post, averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds. Look for Kanter to attempt to establish his presence in the low post against Daniel Gafford early.
The Bulls opponents are averaging 118 points. Portland's opposition checks in at 115 per game.
This is a stretch the Bulls need to take advantage of, playing an undermanned Portland team along with upcoming home games (2) against the Knicks, followed by back-to-back road encounters against Orlando.
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Utah 120, Dallas 101. The Jazz won their 11th straight. Seriously, 11 straight. Come on people, let's start talking about them! The slumping Mavs have lost seven of their last nine.
New Orleans 131, Milwaukee 126. Four Pelicans scored 20+ points. Steven Adams pulled down 20 rebounds. The Pelicans used only eight players. Lonzo Ball scored a season high 27 points, drilling seven-three pointers. The Bucks trailed by as many as 29.
New York 102, Cleveland 81. The Cavs shot 34% from the field and 30% from three point range. The Knicks snapped a three game losing streak.
Charlotte 108, Indiana 105. LaMelo Ball had a 16-6-7 game for the on again/off again Hornets.
Brooklyn 147, Oklahoma City 125. The ABA is baccccck! Some wild action in this one. Eight double figure scorers for the Nets. Brooklyn shot 57% from the floor, 42% from three point range and 87% from the line. The Nets rested Kevin Durant and still managed to score 147 points.
Los Angeles Clippers 116, Orlando 90. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combined for 50 points. The Clippers are the first NBA team to reach 15 wins.
Sacramento 126, Toronto 124. Break up the Kings, winners of three straight.
Philadelphia 118, Minnesota 94. Joel Embiid with a 37-11 game in 27 minutes. Oh, my! Karl-Anthony Towns missed his seventh straight game with the coronavirus.
San Antonio 119, Denver 109. Vintage DeMar DeRozan. He went 11-14 from the floor—only two field goal attempts were beyond the arc. Got to love the mid-range game!
Atlanta 116, Washington 100. Trae Young scored 41. Young became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 400-3's. Bradley Beal is human after all, going 0-8 from three point range. Rajon Rondo tossed. Russell Westbrook and Robin Lopez both got ejected tonight. All told, six tech collected by the Wizards. Six! Cha-ching!
NATIONAL TV
Los Angeles Lakers at Boston. ABC: 7:30.
RIP Hall of Fame Coach John Chaney. He was Temple and Temple was John Chaney.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls.
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