GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Minnesota (7-25, 3-14 on the road) at Bulls (14-16, 6-9 at home) 7PM.
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington. 6:45 pre.
TV: Adam Amin and Stacey King: 7PM.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 28ppg. Minnesota: Towns: 22ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 7per. Minnesota: Towns: 10per
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: LaVine and White: 5 each. Minnesota: Rubio: 6.
CCI PREVIEW: On behalf of the entire Bulls organization, congratulations to Zach LaVine who was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, his first such honor. LaVine is seventh in the NBA in scoring at nearly 29 points per game but more importantly has become one of the leaders of the Bulls with improved defensive play under Head Coach Billy Donovan. Meantime, the Bulls are only six games out for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, one and a half games behind fourth seed Indiana.
CCI ON MINNESOTA: The Chris Finch era is underway as Finch made his NBA coaching debut last night, a 139-112 loss at Milwaukee. The Timberwolves have lost five straight and nine of ten. Finch is well respected throughout the NBA and reunites with Minnesota Basketball Operations Director Gersson Rosas from their days in the Houston organization. The Timberwolves post the worst record in the NBA and perhaps Finch may give the organization a short term jolt, but overall, the T-Wolves need to improve in so many areas. Minnesota takes the third highest amount of shots per game (91.6) but average just 43.7 % from the floor - 28th in the NBA. In other words, they take a lot of shots and they miss a ton. D'Angelo Russell is sidelined with a knee injury. The combo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Russell have played in only five of a scheduled 45 games to date. The center of Minnesota's universe will be Towns going forward, and that's a good thing, but it may not be enough and he must stay healthy. Anthony Edwards is a rookie but give him time. Having said that, he is the number one overall pick and we all know how that works dealing with patience or lack thereof.
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Philadelphia 109, Toronto 102. The two teams split a series in Tampa as the Raps played both games without Kyle Lowry. Rockford's Fred VanVleet listed at six feet tall recorded four block shots. The loss ended Toronto's four game win streak.
Brooklyn 127, Sacramento 118. The Kings lost their eighth straight and in the process continue to surrender tons of points. James Harden stuffed the stat sheet: 29-11-14. Bruce Brown scored a career high 29 for the Nets.
Los Angeles Clippers 135, Washington 116. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 62 points, helping end the Wizards five game win streak.
Cleveland 112, Atlanta 111. Lamar Stevens dunk with four seconds left propelled the Cavs to a win snapping their 10 game losing streak.
Golden State 114, New York 106. The Knicks opened the doors for 2-thousand fans at MSG.
Dallas 110, Boston 107. Luka Doncic buried a top side three ball with 0.1 second left. The Mavs hit the .500 mark while the Celtics fell to 15-16.
Detroit 105, Orlando 93. Saben Lee scored a season high 21 as the Pistons ended a three game slide.
Denver 111, Portland 106. Nikola Jokic scored 41 points. After winning six straight, Portland has lost three in a row.
In addition to LaVine, All-Star reserves were announced: Zion Williamson, Jaylen Brown and Zach LaVine headline the list of All-Star reserves as first-time selections.
West Reserves:
Chris Paul
Paul George
Damian Lillard
Donovan Mitchell
Rudy Gobert
Zion Williamson
Anthony Davis
East Reserves:
James Harden
Julius Randle
Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Ben Simmons
Nikola Vucevic
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls.
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