GAME NIGHT FROM PHOENIX:
Bulls (19-52, 11-25 on the road) at Suns (17-54, 10-24 at home)
TV: NBC Sports Chicago J.B. Long and Stacey King
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Stacey King.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 23ppg Suns: Booker: 25ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen 8 per. Suns: Ayton: 10 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn: 6 per. Suns: Booker: 6 per
SEASON SERIES: Bulls 1-0.
CCI PREVIEW: The Suns are showing a pulse of late having won five of their last eight including a wild OT road win on Saturday against the Pelicans. The Suns have a bona fide big time scorer in Devin Booker averaging 25 per game. There are a lot of similarities of Booker‘s game to that of Zach LaVine’s. Both are electric to the rim and both are extremely skilled.
Deandre Ayton is having a solid rookie campaign. The number one overall pick is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds. He received his first career ejection on Saturday against the Pelicans but that shouldn’t and won’t define his first season. He is going to be a star in this league. He’s only 20 years young with one year of college experience but has posted 35 double-double games. We will see what the Bulls bring to the floor tonight in the second game of a back to back after a disappoint effort at Sacramento.
FINAL FROM SACRAMENTO: Sacramento 129 Bulls 102 ( Bulls: 19-52, 11-25 on the road).
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 18. Kings: Bagley: 21
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Felicio: 10 Kings: Bagley:9
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls :Harrison: 7 Kings: Carley-Stein: 5
CCI RECAP: A 23-4 first half run by the Kings was all Sacramento needed as they took care of business on their home floor. The Kings scored 80 points in the paint and outscored the Bulls in fast break points 30-11. Turnovers were an issue as the Bulls committed 20 allowing the Kings to score 25 points. The Bulls have lost five straight. Lauri Markkanen had 11 points and has scored in double figures in 29 straight games, the longest streak by a Bulls player in eight years.
Lauri Markkanen Throws It Down Against the Kings
CCI IN THE LOCKER ROOM:
"Our starters need to play better, they know it. They are disappointed. We've got another one tomorrow, we've got to pull up our boot straps and get ready to play" - Coach Boylen
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Philadelphia 130 - Milwaukee 125. Giannis with a career high 52 points. He is the 11th player to score at least 50 points in a game in 2018-19, breaking the NBA single season record. Joel Embiid with 40 points and 16 rebounds. Antetokounmpo (52 PTS, 16 REB, 7 AST) and Embiid (40 PTS, 15 REB, 6 AST) filled up the stat sheet It is the 4th game in NBA history that opposing players have each recorded 40+ PTS/15+ REB/5+ AST (Baylor/Pettit 1961, Robertson/Chamberlain 1961, Chamberlain/Howell 1965).
Detroit 110 - Toronto 107. The Pistons Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond are putting the franchise on their respective backs and they’re thinking playoffs. Griffin with 25. Drummond with a 15-17 game. The Pistons have won 14 of 17. Toronto has dropped four of its last seven games. Detroit Head Coach Dwane Casey went 3-0 against his former team.
New York Knicks 124 - Los Angeles Lakers 123. Mario Hezonja blocked LeBron James’ shot with two seconds left preserving the Knicks win, only their 14th of the season. NY went on a 13-1 run to end the game. The Lakers have lost three straight and eight of nine.
Los Angeles Clippers 119 - Brooklyn 116.Lou Williams hit the game winning three at the buzzer. Book it. He’s going to bag his third Sixth Man of the Year award.
Houston 117 - Minnesota 102. Chris Paul scored 25 points and tied his career nailing six-three pointers and for good measure dished out 10 assists. Houston has won 11 of its last 12. Minnesota has dropped three straight and are six games under.500.
Miami 93 - Charlotte 75. Dragic and Wade combined for 36 points. Miami stays as the eight seed in the Eastern Conference, two games up on the Hornets with 13 games left for both teams.
Orlando 101 - Atlanta 91. A huge game for All Star Nikola Vucevic: 27 points-20 rebounds. The Magic remain a game behind the Heat for the eight seed in the EC.
OKC’s Russell Westbrook has been suspended for one game after picking up his 16th technical
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!