Chuck's Daily Check In - 1.25.19

GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Los Angeles Clippers (26-22, 12-12 on the road) at Bulls (11-37, 5-18 at home).
TV: NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Neil Funk and Stacey King. 7PM tip.
RADIO: 670 THE SCORE: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Steve Kashul. 6:45 pre game.

LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 22 ppg. LAC: Harris: 21 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen and Portis each with 7 per. LAC: Harris: 8 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn: 6 per. LAC: Williams: 4 per.

CCI PREVIEW: The Bulls need to set the tone early; very early, as in opening tip. The Bulls gave up 42 points in the opening quarter against Atlanta and played catch up the rest of the evening. The Bulls will be facing a tired Clippers ball club, playing their third game in four nights on the road. It’s imperative for the Bulls to send an early message to the Clippers and dictate play on both sides of the ball. Tobias Harris is having a fantastic season compiling career-high numbers in scoring and rebounding of 21 and 8 respectively. He’s only 26 years young. Montrezl Harrell is having a breakout season, averaging career highs of 15 points and 6 rebounds. An intriguing player is rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a lottery pick out of Kentucky via Canada. He has struggled of late, but I am extremely high on this young man. He’s got a chance to be a very special player.

Minnesota 120, Los Angeles Lakers 105: Derrick Rose sat out the second half with a sore right ankle. Karl-Anthony Towns with a beautiful 25-18-7 game. Minnesota has won three straight.

Golden State 126, Washington 118: The Warriors claim their ninth straight win. Curry scored 38 points in 35 minutes. Durant-21 points. Cousins 17-6-3. Green-15 rebounds, he’s recorded 7+ assists in 11 consecutive games. One thing we’re learning about the Wizards in John Wall’s absence: Tomas Satoransky can ball.

OKC 122, New Orleans 116: Westbrook: 23-17-16, his 15th triple double of the season. For the Pelicans, Jahlil Okafor has posted four straight double-digit scoring games.

Portland 120, Phoenix 106: The Suns go to 11-39. Are they interested in making a bold move prior to the trade deadline or be content to grab a top four pick in the draft... again. Jake Layman is hoopin'. 20-8-3. Lillard-24 points. McCollum-20 points.

Victor Oladipo’s season is over. The brilliant Pacers guard suffered a ruptured quad tendon in Wednesday’s win over the Raptors.

Western Conference
Stephen Curry, Warriors (6th All-Star selection): Curry has extended his team record for consecutive All-Star Game starting honors to six.

Kevin Durant, Warriors (10th All-Star selection): The 2012 Kia NBA All-Star MVP is an All-Star for the 10th season in a row and a starter for the eighth time.

Paul George, Thunder (6th All-Star selection): The last time George started the All-Star Game, he made a record nine three-pointers and scored 41 points in 2016.

James Harden, Rockets (7th All-Star selection): The Kia NBA MVP for the 2017-18 season has been an All-Star in each of his seven seasons with Houston, putting him third behind Hakeem Olajuwon (12) and Yao Ming (eight) for the most selections in franchise history.

LeBron James, Lakers (15th All-Star selection): With three NBA All-Star MVP awards, the career All-Star scoring leader (343 points) is one shy of the record shared by Bryant and Bob Pettit.

Eastern Conference
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (3rd All-Star selection): Antetokounmpo, who finished second in fan voting among all NBA players for the second year in a row, has been named a starter for the third consecutive season.

Joel Embiid, 76ers (2nd All-Star selection): A starter for the second straight year, Embiid scored 19 points for Team Curry in his All-Star Game debut last season.

Kyrie Irving, Celtics (6th All-Star selection): An All-Star for the sixth time in eight seasons, the 2014 NBA All-Star MVP received the most fan votes among Eastern Conference guards for the third year in a row.

Kawhi Leonard, Raptors (3rd All-Star selection): Voted to start for the third time, Leonard gives Toronto an All-Star Game starter for the fifth consecutive year.

Kemba Walker, Hornets (3rd All-Star selection): With his third straight All-Star nod, Walker joins Glen Rice (1996-98) as the only players in Charlotte team history to make at least three All-Star teams.

Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!