Monday night, the Bulls welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to the United Center in a matchup of underperforming, injury-hampered teams. The game tips off at 7 p.m. CT — until then, here’s what to watch for:
Stuck in the doldrums
These are two teams enduring similarly disappointing starts to the season relative to expectations. The Blazers, of course, are in a different strata of the NBA respect hierarchy than the Bulls — Portland made the Western Conference Finals last season and employ one of the more proven, dynamic playmaking backcourts in the NBA in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
But a combination of injuries and pre-existing roster imbalance have doomed them to a 5-12 record through 17 games (one game worse than the Bulls’ 6-11 mark), all the same. Budding wunderkin Zach Collins went down with a dislocated left shoulder three weeks ago and isn’t expected back until at least March. Jusuf Nurkic has yet to appear in a game this season with no return in sight. Even Lillard recently missed two games with a back ailment before returning in the team’s loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
The mounting injury list for the Blazers has forced unseasoned and tertiary-option-level players (and below) into the spotlight, to mixed results. (The Bulls, without Otto Porter Jr., Luke Kornet and, for a time, Chandler Hutchison, can relate.) Portland did, you may have heard, recently bring in reinforcements in the form of Carmelo Anthony. Still, they’re starved for defense and size on the wing and in the frontcourt.
Jim Boylen and Lauri Markkanen have both talked ad nauseum about the onus Markkanen must put on attacking the rim, getting to the foul line and staying aggressive. At home, against a struggling, undersized squad, this game could be as good a chance as any to get him going.
Backcourt wars
Despite all of that, the Blazers are no team to be taken lightly, and that aforementioned backcourt is the reason. Lillard and McCollum’s penchant for unconscious scoring sprees is well-known, and the way they operate within Terry Stotts’ offense could also give the Bulls, specifically, fits.
Why, you ask? Portland currently averages the second-most pick-and-roll ball-handler possessions and fourth-highest points per possession on such plays in the NBA. Under Boylen, the Bulls defend the pick-and-roll aggressively, blitzing and oftentimes trapping opposing ball-handlers immediately off screens. That strategy has thus far resulted in the Bulls leading the NBA in steals per game, but it also often leaves the weak-side exposed if rotations aren’t crisp (an area the Bulls have, at times, lacked in). Lillard and McCollum are used to that kind of treatment, and if the Bulls struggle to stay connected, defensively, the Blazers have the shooters to make them pay.
Optimistically, points are fun, and the Bulls do potentially have the firepower to hang with Lillard and McCollum. If Zach LaVine and Coby White can rekindle the flaming wrath they brought down upon Charlotte on Saturday (the two combined for 77 points on 29-for-47 shooting, 17-for-26 from three), the UC could be rockin’ tonight.
Keep an eye on rotations
With the Bulls so strapped on the wing, Boylen has had to get creative with his rotation — even in ways less conspicious than his benching of LaVine against the Heat or Markkanen down the stretch against Charlotte. LaVine is currently the only Bull averaging over 30 minutes, while eight players are playing over 20 minutes per game. (Those eight don't include Ryan Arcidiacono, Daniel Gafford or Shaq Harrison, who have all gotten increased run with the recent spat of injuries.)
These two teams both play fast, so it's worth monitoring what buttons Boylen pushes in turning to his bench, a unit that has brought rare energy and tenacity, of late. Wendell Carter Jr., for his part, will look to stay out of foul trouble moving forward. He's averaging 4.2 fouls per game on the season.
Record watch
LaVine needs 10 longballs tonight to break Steph Curry’s record for most threes made in a two-game span (22, which he achieved during his historic 2015-16 MVP campaign). Not likely, but let’s just say crazier things have happened.
A potentially season-defining stretch
The Bulls have limped out of the gates thus far, in spite of having a pretty favorable schedule to open the season. Over the next week-and-a-half or so, they’ll get a chance to partially flip that script. Starting with Portland tonight, the Bulls’ next six games are against teams with a current combined record of 28-70, including two (one home, one road) against the league-worst 3-14 Warriors.
Granted, that stretch involves a three-game west coast swing, which is always a grueling proposition. But if LaVine is onto something in saying that the Hornets game could be a turning point for the team’s season, now is the time to start chipping away. If the Bulls can go into their Dec. 6 away matchup with the Heat at, above or near .500, it will mean they’ve finally begun to take care of business against bad teams — a positive sign, if not a groundbreaking one, for their overall development.
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