NBA Matchups: January 8

Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Bulls 111.3, Hornets 104.8

Injury Report: Patrick Williams (Q, ankle), Zach LaVine (P, knee), Nikola Vucevic (P, groin), P.J. Washington (O, foot), Mark Williams (O, back)

Bulls projected starters: Coby White, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic

Hornets projected starters: Terry Rozier, Cody Martin, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards

Donovan quotes: Said the guys were trying not to step on each others’ toes, said they’re much better when they’re out in transition, hinted that LaVine’s minutes will be in check for a bit, said LaVine said he felt OK and they’ll be ramping him up, said LaVine handling closeouts is going to help their offense, said PAW was trying to fight through his injury for a while, said PAW “did everything he possibly could” to play, said he wanted to put Terry on Miles and he liked that move to start the game.

Clifford quotes: Said the Bulls were really aggressive with Terry and were putting two on the ball (Cliff needs to read NBA Matchups!).

Stats and Notes: 

*The Bulls got their main guys back on Friday, but their defense was the story to keep the Hornets to just 91 points. As has been the case all year, the Bulls continue to bring additional pressure to handlers to open up a ton of off-ball scoring. The Hornets are just a mess everywhere on defense, so the Bulls should be able to put more points on the board than the 104 they had on Friday. Despite some lackluster halfcourt scoring, they had a season-high 32 points in transition. I’d expect the Bulls to put up a big number, especially with the Hornets being so short-handed.

*After being sick, Terry Rozier’s role is so sick that it needs a doctor. In his last two games, he leads the NBA in touch time, as Clifford just doesn’t trust anyone else to set the tempo for his offense. Of course, this matchup is awful with the Bulls putting two on the ball in PNR as much as anyone in the league. He really struggled in this spot on Friday, and they didn’t even have Alex Caruso. If you wanted to play the role > matchup spot, it’s not a terrible idea. I’d be out, though.

*Miles Bridges should be able to get all he can eat here. Without his primary backup, Bridges should be able to get close to 40 minutes again after getting 42 on Friday. The matchup is excellent for him with some C&S to go with so much attention on Rozier. Bridges is coming in hot with 26, 27, and 28 points in his last three, including the 28 against the Bulls. He’s clearly in the best spot among the Hornets.

*Brandon Miller should be in a really good spot. On top of a massive minutes ceiling, he’s the team’s lead C&S guy. The only issue is that the usage hasn’t exactly been great overall, but maybe that changes here. I’d be into some Miller overs.

*Nick Richards is going to have to play a ton here. Nathan Mensah isn’t really a threat to his minutes, so we could get one of those 35ish minute games from Richards. The matchup is kind of bad with the Bulls rebounding well and being a good rim defense, but the minutes are the more important factor.

*Zach LaVine looked great in his return with 30 minutes and 15 points. If he starts, the Hornets might be putting Brandon Miller on him, and LaVine’s perimeter game should thrive against a bad defense overall. LaVine’s role was quite good and he was just one frontcourt touch off the lead despite Coby White playing 10 additional minutes. LaVine’s minutes will be capped, so price will be a big factor here.

*DeMar DeRozan saw his role shrink a bit with his usage getting cut down, and there’s likely an adjustment period needed for his DFS price. His matchup might be the toughest on the team with Cody Martin likely picking him up, and Cody did a fine job of keeping DeMar in check on Friday. Besides the obvious bad defense stuff, there’s not too much to say here.

*Nikola Vucevic might have another minutes cap on him, but we all know the deal about playing centers against the Hornets. If we find out his minutes limit is gone or around 30, it could pay off.

*Coby White gets a really solid matchup against Terry Rozier. The Hornets do trap a lot, but they just can’t do that here against a Bulls team that has so many perimeter options. He still had a pretty solid role on Friday as the team’s leader in the touch stats. It’s all about pricing here again.

Great matchups: Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges

Good matchups: Zach LaVine, Coby White

Bad matchups: Terry Rozier

———————————————-

Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers