Over the weekend, several commentators mentioned that the Golden State Warriors might have figured out a way to trap the Bulls' offense in a way that creates the turnovers (as they had on Saturday night) that can beat them. This commentary from SB Nation Chicago's David Miller elaborates further on that idea.
Hopefully, that will not be the case tonight when the Bulls face the Trail Blazers in Portland, trying to start a new winning streak. The Blazers are fresh off a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers -- not that doing such a thing means very much these days, because the Cavs now hold the single-season record for consecutive losses with 24. Things may come to a head for Cleveland on Sunday when they host the Wizards -- who have not won a road game this year.
But I digress. The Bulls are still without Joakim Noah, and perhaps some of the problems that came out on Saturday night will be fixed when Noah returns after the All-Star break. In the meantime, the Bulls face a Portland team they defeated 110-98 at the United Center on Nov. 1. Luol Deng had perhaps the best game of his career that night with a career-high 40 points.
The game will begin at 9 p.m. CST and will be televised on WGN (Chicago only).