Bulls Preview

Tonight's game should be a good one as the Blazers take on the Bulls in Chicago. The bulls are only 16-21 but are 12-6 at home and are just getting healthy as they have been missing Drew Gooden, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich for the last couple of weeks. The Blazers are in a similar situation with Roy playing in only his second game back since his hamstring injury. Roy looked a little tight in the first half of the Warriors game on Saturday but looked to be back to his regular form by the second half. I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but assuming the Blazers can pull off a win tonight in Chicago, they could be looking at putting together a pretty solid winning streak with six out of their next seven games coming against teams with below five hundred records. Now time for keys to the game.

Keys to the Game:

1. Keep Derek Rose in check
1. Rose is explosive and has proven that he can take over the game at times. It will be important for Blake and the other PG’s to keep him out of the paint and force him to take tough shots.
2. Hold the Bulls to under 100
1. The Bulls have been held under 100 points for six straight games and have shown signs of struggling on the offensive end. We need to keep up the defensive intensity and not let Chicago get any confidence on the offensive end.
3. Repeat Performance
1. In the first meeting the Blazers smashed Chicago winning 116-74. The Blazers need to play with that same intensity they came out with that night and be confident without getting cocky.

Gamblers Corner

The Blazers are favored by 3 points and the over/under is at 193. I really like the Blazers even with giving up three points. When you look at the first game when the Blazers won by 42 points three points hardly sounds like enough to give Chi-Town. Although this game is @ Chicago, they are also still without Luol Deng. I am taking Chicago and the under.

Kyle is taking the Blazers and the under. I think the Blazers will control the tempo in the game, and try to get into a half court game where they can take advantage of Chicago’s broke front line.