GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER: 7PM CT
Atlanta (1-3- all 4 road games) at Bulls (0-3, 0-1 at home)
MEDIA: WGN TV Neil Funk and Stacey King
Radio: WLS 890 AM: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, Steve Kashul. BMO Harris Pre Game Live Show. Simulcast on BullsTV on Bulls.com and WLS 890AM at 6:30CT.
LAST GAME:
Tuesday: At Cleveland, Cavaliers 119 Bulls 112
Monday: At Miami, Hawks fell to the Heat 96-90.
LEADING SCORERS:
Atlanta: Dennis Schroder: 23ppg.
Bulls: Justin Holiday: 18ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDER:
Atlanta: John Collins - 7.8 per game.
Bulls: Lauri Markkanen - 9 per game.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Bulls: Zipser, Markkanen, Lopez, Holiday and Grant
Atlanta: Prince, Muscala, Dedmon, Bazemore, Delaney
INSIDE THE BULLS LOCKER ROOM:
Jerian Grant coming off a solid 12 point- 10 assist- 6 rebound performance at Cleveland is off to a solid start for the Bulls:
“I get in the lane and try to make plays for these guys (Bulls). Against the Spurs I didn’t rebound well at all. I talked to the coaches and they said that’s something I need to do, something to be consistent with this whole season is rebounding.”
ROOKIE WATCH: On display tonight, two gifted players making an early mark in the NBA. Lauri Markkanen, seventh overall pick, is averaging 16 ppg. Second to Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons in rookie scoring. Atlanta’s John Collins is tenth in rookie scoring at nearly 12 per game. Simmons leads Markkanen in rebounding 10.8 to 9.3. Collins is fourth at nearly 8 per game. Collins has two double- doubles. Markkanen with one.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
CCI TRIVIA: LeBron’s next 30 point game will be the 400th of his career. Since 1963, only four players have had 400-30-point games. Name them. (Courtesy, Basketball Reference) Answer below.
James, by the way, had a triple double last night in Brooklyn but the Cavs fell to the Nets.
That anticipated Lonzo Ball- John Wall head to head point guard matchup. Wall: 18 points-9 assists. Ball 6 points-8 rebounds-10 assists. Lakers win in OT, 102-99 over Washington.
The Rockets won at the buzzer after trailing by 5 in the final minute.
Paul George fouled out against his old team, but Russell Westbrook notched his 81st career triple double in OKC’s win over the Pacers. The Thunder will be in
Chicago Saturday night after playing in Minnesota tomorrow.
“Frank the Tank” Kaminsky is off to a terrific start...the former Chicagoland area product and Wisconsin All-American poured in 20 as the Hornets beat Denver.
Andre Drummond became the second youngest player (24) to grab 5-thousand career rebounds. The youngest you ask? Dwight Howard.
Dwyane Wade missed last night’s Cavs-Nets game with a left knee contusion.
Jimmy Butler missed his second straight game because of an upper respiratory infection.
Philadelphia’s Markelle Fultz missed last night’s game against the Rockets (shoulder) and will be absent in upcoming road games against Dallas and Houston. He will be re-evaluated Tuesday, according to the 76ers.
According to several media sources, Josh Smith is back in the NBA signing on with the Pelicans. He entered the NBA at the age of 19 back in 2004 with the Hawks. For five seasons he was in the top ten in block shots. After nine seasons with Atlanta, he signed a hefty free agent deal with the Pistons..after only 105 games, Pistons Head Coach Stan Van Gundy had seen enough. He cut him. Smith then packed his bags and went hoopin in Houston, Clippers, back to Houston. He was out of the NBA last season.
CCI TRIVIA ANSWER: 4 players with 400 or more 30 point games: Michael Jordan with 562. Followed by Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. You tell me why Kareem NEVER gets respect when we discuss top 5 players of all time.
Thanks for taking the time to read CCI. Reach me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls.
Always a pleasure!