Chicago looks to pick up back-to-back wins for the time since late-February when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. This will be the Bulls third time facing the Cavaliers and the season series stands at 1-1.
Here's how the two teams matchup this weekend.
Hunt for points in the paint
The Bulls are not a strong offensive rebounding team, standing at 29th in the league in offensive rebounding percentage entering Saturday night and they have also struggled getting to the free throw line.
But with Cleveland being without All-Star center Jarrett Allen, there should be ample opportunities for the Bulls to get inside and put some pressure of the Cavs defense.
Going inside can generate some easy baskets for the Bulls, especially when they can pull rookie Evan Mobley away from the paint.
The Cavs are one of the best teams in the league at protecting the basket but gave up 58 points (a mark that would be the worst in the league) in the paint in their Friday night loss to Miami.
Commit to forcing turnovers on defense
The Cavaliers are a young team and like many young teams, they struggle with protecting the ball. Cleveland comes into Saturday night ranking second-to-last in the league in turnover percentage (15.3%).
All-Star guard Darius Garland is stellar but behind him, Cleveland has been searching for a winning combination, including guards Rajon Rondo and Brandon Goodwin.
If Chicago can up their aggression level on defense--regardless of whether Alex Caruso is back in the rotation--then they should be able to put Cleveland in an early hole in front of a raucous Chicago crowd.
Keep the Bulls stars rolling
In the Bulls March 9 win over the Pistons, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine combined for 82 points.
DeRozan's prolific scoring is nothing of note, and while LaVine and Vucevic can fill it up as well, it hasn't been often that all three veterans have had big nights at the same time.
If Chicago wants to be in tip-top shape for the postseason, they need to do two things: 1- They need to try to smoothly re-integrate their returning players into rotation. 2- They need DeRozan, LaVine and Vooch to get used to having big scoring nights in unison.
Games like Saturday's against Cleveland provides the perfect opportunity for the Bulls stars to build chemistry heading into the postseason.