vs NEW YORK KNICKS (15-18) @ CHICAGO BULLS (18-12) Game 31, Home Game 19 Friday, Jan. 1, 2016 – 7:00 PM CT United Center Comcast SportsNet / ESPN 1000 AM / WRTO-AM BULLS VS. KNICKS THIS SEASON Dec. 19 @ New York – L, 107-91 Jan. 1 @ Chicago – March 23 @ Chicago – March 24 @ New York – ALLTIME VS. KNICKS 117-98 BULLS/KNICKS STREAKS BULLS CURRENT STREAK ......... 1 Loss BULLS HOME STREAK ................ 8 Wins BULLS ROAD STREAK................. 1 Loss Game Notes Chicago Bulls (18-12) Home 13-5 Road 5-7 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 101.1 (Opp: 100.0) RPG: 49.0 (Opp: 48.0) APG: 22.3 (Opp: 21.6) SPG: 6.53 (Opp: 7.73) BPG: 6.40 (Opp: 5.23) FG%: .429 (Opp: .418) FT%: .762 (Opp: .712) 3p%: .358 (Opp: .331) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Nikola Mirotic - SF - Taj Gibson - PF - Pau Gasol - C - Bulls Regular Season Stats Leaders Points: Butler 21.0, Gasol 16.2 Rebounds: Gasol 10.7, Noah 8.8 Assists: Rose 5.1, Noah 3.8 Steals: Butler 1.90, Mirotic 0.87 Blocks: Gasol 2.24, Noah 1.12 FG%: Gibson .511, Portis .494 FT%: Hinrich .909, Snell .889 3FG%: Hinrich .469, Moore .429 Regular Season Player Highs 2015/2016 Points: Butler 43 Field Goals Made: Rose, Butler 14 Field Goals Attempts: Rose 34 Free Throws Made: Butler 14 Free Throws Attempts: Butler 16 3-Point FGM: Mirotic & McDermott 5 3-Point FGA: Mirotic & McDermott 8 Rebounds: Gasol 19 Off. Rebounds: Noah 7 Def. Rebounds: Gasol 17 Assists: Rose 9 Blocks: Gasol 6 Steals: Butler 4 Minutes: Butler 56 Double-Double: Gasol 16 Triple-Double: None Injury report Mike Dunleavy (back) and Joakim Noah (left shoulder sprain) are OUT … Derrick Rose (right hamstring tendinitis) is QUESTIONABLE … Tony Snell (right ankle sprain) is PROBABLE. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. New York Knicks (15-18) Home 8-8 Road 7-10 Probable Knicks starters Jose Calderon - PG Arron Afflalo - SG Carmelo Anthony - SF Kristaps Porzingis - PF Robin Lopez - C Injury report Lou Amundson is OUT. Cleanthony Early is OUT. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think tonight gave us a glimpse of what Niko can do when he gets appropriate usage. I liked how the ball ran through his hands a lot.......it really enables him to be a dynamic player. He's a different player when he gets to make decisions for himself. It was nice to see the bench lineup accomplish what it did. Portis & Niko are getting most of the credit, but I thought E'Twaun Moore was key to the turnaround. Neither Kirk nor Brooks did a good job of getting anything going but he was able to push things just enough on offense to keep the defense at its feet and was solid defensively.
If Niko can keep shooting closer to the 4-6 he was last night behind the line rather than the 34.4% he's been shooting on the season, things will open up for him quite a lot. He did look about 4X more aggressive than usual, which is nice to see. Knicks were pretty much sleepwalking on D for the most part in this game. Nice to see the Bulls take advantage in the 1st and 4th quarters. If the Bulls can shoot 60%+ from 3 point land going forward consistently, that TS% will start to climb from the bottom of the league quite quickly. Portis is a heck of a player for a 20 year old. He's already super confident and productive when he's on the court. Once he gets a bit more comfortable he could be even better. Looks like another solid late 1st round draft pick for GarPax.
Its interesting to compare the two teams. The Warriors currently have 8 guys that take 3 pointers quite a lot. They all are currently shooting 39% or higher and their two super high volume guys, Curry and Thompson are shooting 10.5 a game at 44.6% and 7.4 a game at 43.4 %. The Bulls two highest volume 3 point shooters are Niko at 4.9 a game and Buckets at 3.5 a game. They are currently shooting 34% and 32% respectively. The only guys on the Bulls that would make the 39% cut on the Warriors are McDermott, Brooks, Snell, Hinrich and Portis. Some of these guys are so flawed in other areas of the game making it hard to give them heavy minutes without hurting the team. When our starting lineup is Rose / Jimmy / Niko at the 1-2-3 we have our 3 worst high volume three point shooters on the court at the same time. Niko - 34%, Jimmy - 32%, Rose - 25%.
Also interesting that the Bulls 6 highest paid players.... Rose - 20 mil Butler - 15 mil Noah - 13.4 mil Gibson - 8.5 mil Gasol - 7.5 mil Mirotic - 5.5 mil Are all average to bad three point shooters.
Butler helps Bulls pull away from Knicks for 108-81 victory Bobby Portis talks to himself in the third person when he gets on the court, saying stuff like "Come on, B.P." to get fired up. The rookie forward can shoot it from deep or score inside. And he is making quite an impression on the rest of the Chicago Bulls. Portis had 16 points and 10 rebounds in his third consecutive game scoring in double figures, and the Bulls shut down the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter for a 108-81 victory Friday night. Read more http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400828380
