GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Atlanta (14-32, 6-19 on the road) at Bulls (11-36, 5-17 at home).
TV: WGN: Neil Funk and Stacey King: 7PM CT tipoff.
RADIO: 670 The Score. Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, Steve Kashul. 6:45 pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 22 ppg. Atlanta: Collins: 18 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Markkanen and Portis each 7 per game. Atlanta: Collins 10 per game.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn: 6 per game. Atlanta: Young: 7 per game.
LAST MEETING: October 27, 2018 in Atlanta.
Bulls 97, Atlanta 85: The Bulls went long ball in the fourth quarter nailing 7 of 10 three-point field goals. Jabari Parker scored 9 of his 18 in the 4th quarter. Zach LaVine had a 27-11 game. Trae Young had a tough night at the office going 3-12 and committing five turnovers.
CCI PREVIEW: The Bulls hope to carry their success of Monday’s road victory over the Cavaliers to the home floor tonight. Lauri Markkanen is dialed up shooting 48% from three-point country over the last three games. He has nailed three or more treys in each of the last four games. Bobby Portis is 14 of his last 22 from the floor (63%) and Jabari Parker has five straight double-figure scoring games. Toss in Zach Lavine’s back to back 20+ games, the Bulls should be in a great position to win their second straight.
Atlanta of course, has other ideas. Despite coming off a home loss to Orlando Monday, the Hawks were playing better ball before hitting a speed bump, winning only three of their past ten games. Trae Young appears to be a solid NBA player and is enjoying a very good rookie year averaging 16 points and 7 assists. The Hawks flat out stole John Collins in the 2017 draft scooping him up with the 19th pick. Collins is averaging a double-double of 18-10. He’s shooting 67% over the last three games. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to have a tremendous NBA career. And of course, Bulls fans will have an opportunity to see future Hall of Famer Vince Carter, a soon to be 42-year-old Vince Carter, now in his 21st NBA season. Amazing.
CCI IN THE LOCKER ROOM: "The surgery was a success. He feels good about it, and we feel good about it." - Coach Boylen with a post practice update on Wendell Carter Jr.
BULLS COMPLETE TRADE WITH ROCKETS: The Bulls traded the draft rights of Tadija Dragićević to the Houston Rockets in exchange for forward Carmelo Anthony, draft rights to Jon Diebler, and cash considerations. Chicago’s roster now stands at 17, including two Two-way players.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Toronto 120, Sacramento 105: Make it ten straight home wins for the Raps. Leonard rested for the third straight game. He will miss tonight’s game at Indiana but is expected back Friday against Houston. Toronto is 11-2 without him. Marvin Bagley with an impressive 22-11-2 blocked shots line for the Kings.
Oklahoma City 123, Portland 114: PG-13 was fabulous 36-8-4 and 5 steals. Westbrook: 29-14-10. The Thunder have won three straight. Lillard, McCollum and Nurkic scored 87 of the Blazers 114 points. Portland is winless this season when they trail after three quarters.
Dallas 106, Los Angeles Clippers 98: Dennis Smith Jr., remember him? Not sure really what happened here but he was away from the team for a week... he’s now in the starting lineup—and had 17 points and 8 rebounds. The NBA is fantastic! At one point, the Clippers missed 16 straight shots. A back to back tonight for LAC as they go from Dallas to Miami. The Bulls play a back to back next week, at Brooklyn, at Miami.
According to The Athletic, Anthony Davis will see a hand specialist to determine the extent of a left index finger injury. If a fracture is confirmed, Davis will be sidelined 2-4 weeks.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!