GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER
Cleveland: 1-10 (0-5 on the road) at Bulls 3-9 (1-5 at home). 7PM.
TV: WGN TV - Neil Funk and Stacey King, 7PM
RADIO: 670 The Score - Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Steve Kashul, 6:45 Pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 27 ppg. Cleveland: Clarkson: 15 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 7 per. Cleveland: Thompson: 10 per
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono: 4 per. Cleveland: Nance: nearly 3 per.
CCI PREVIEW: Two teams that are going through major injuries to their respective rosters meet tonight in Chicago.
The Bulls have more depth than the Cavaliers who for the second time in an eight year period are learning that life without LeBron James is difficult. VERY difficult.
The Cavs are winless on the road at 0-5. They’ve won only once in 11 games and they’re without their marquee player in Kevin Love and dependable guard George Hill for one to two weeks with a shoulder issue. Sam Dekker is sidelined 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury.Cedi Osman is sidelined with a back issue. Don’t be surprised if the Cavs in the near future move a few veteran players; certainly before the trade deadline.
The Bulls enjoyed their first two day break of the season and should be fresh and ready for the Cavs. You can’t take any opponent for granted. I don’t think the Bulls will. They have some getable home games with the Cavs and Mavs before they hit the road for a Wednesday appearance in Boston.
Fred Hoiberg has stressed to his players to attack the rim and that certainly can be applied tonight. Cavaliers’ opponents are shooting a league high 50% and the Cavs are last in block shots per game averaging two per game.
Zach LaVine enters tonight’s game fourth in scoring at 27 per contest, second in field goal attempts per game with 20 (behing Kemba Walker - 21.) LaVine is fourth in free throw attempts per game averaging nearly 8 per contest at a sparkling 85%. He is sixth in minutes at 35.8 per.
Ryan Arcidiacono is 4th in the NBA in 3 point field goal percentage at 50% (16-32).
Wendell Carter Jr. is ninth in the NBA in block shots with 24.
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Utah 123 Boston 115. Gordon Hayward, a spectacular talent as a member of the Jazz returned to SLC for the first time in a Boston uniform and of course got booed, after all that’s what fans do when a star leaves their franchise to play for another team. Hayward - 13 points 7 assists. The Celtics played without Kyrie Irving who missed the game for personal reasons.
Sacramento 121 Minnesota 110. KAT with big time numbers of 39-19 but his former Kentucky teammate Willie Cauley-Stein went off for 25 for the Kings. Minnesota now 0-8 on the road.
Indiana 110 Miami 102. The Pacers closed out the game on a 16-2 run scoring the last 12 points. Big road win for Indiana.
Philadelphia 133 Charlotte 132 OT. Embiid with a 42-18 game. He was outstanding from the foul line in the fourth quarter and extra period making 14 of 16 tosses. The 76ers go to 7-0 playing on their home court.
Orlando 117 Wizards 108. Another game, another loss for the Wizards. Washington now 2-9. DJ Augustin scored and assisted on Orlando’s last 11 points.
Detroit 124 Atlanta 109. The up again-down again Pistons improved to 6-5 .
Brooklyn 112 Denver 110. Caris LeVert with a floater with less than a second remaining won it for the 6-6 Nets.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out to cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls.