GAME NIGHT FROM MINNESOTA
Bulls (45-36, 18-22 on the road) at Minnesota ( 46-35, 26-14 at home) 7:30PM.
RADIO: 670 THE SCORE- Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Alyssa Bergamini. 7:15 pregame.
TV: NBCSCH- Adam Amin and Stacey King. 7:30.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls- DeRozan (27 ppg), T-Wolves- Towns (24 ppg)
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls- Vucevic (11), T-Wolves- Towns (9)
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls- DeRozan (4.9), T-Wolves- Russell (7)
SEASON SERIES: Bulls: 1-0.
CCI PREVIEW: It's game 82 as the Bulls and T-Wolves prepare for the postseason.
DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, Nikola Vucevic and Matt Thomas will miss tonight's game. Coby White is listed as doubtful with a toe injury.
Regardless of who's good to go, effort, energy and attention to detail is vital.
This will be a great opportunity for end of rotation players and those who rejoined the team from the G-League to gain valuable experience.
The Bulls have lost four straight and in that span are surrendering 126 points per game with opponents shooting a staggering 53% from the field. Will the Bulls opening round opponent be Boston, Milwaukee or Philadelphia? We will find out later today.
The Bulls will be resting DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic and several others as they prepare for the postseason.
Minnesota has been a surprise story this season led by three time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, future All Star Anthony Edwards and a solid combo guard in D'Angelo Russell. The addition of the feisty, in your face aggressiveness of Patrick Beverley has been huge for the T-Wolves.
Towns will rest tonight.
Edwards scored a career-high 49 points Thursday against the Spurs and can beat you in so many ways, whether it's off the dribble or shooting the three ball. He is a fantastic young talent.
Head Coach Chris Finch stayed the course with this team and deserves a ton of credit.
Minnesota hosts a play-in game Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Philadelphia 133 Indiana 120: Joel Embiid scored 41 points and grabbed 20 rebounds.
Memphis 141, New Orleans 114: The Grizzlies scored 55 third quarter points , three points shy of tying an all time record set by the Buffalo Braves.
Golden State 100, San Antonio 94: The Warriors won their fourth straight.
Los Angeles Clippers 117, Sacramento 98: The Clippers are 5-1 since Paul George returned to the lineup.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls All in. All Bulls. 365. 24-7. Always a pleasure. Go Bulls!