Bulls-Kings Preview

Sacramento Kings Status Check:
Record: 10-17
Division: 2-2
Conference: 7-13
Road Record: 3-12
Last 10 Games: 4-6
Streak: Lost 1
Last game: 98-84 loss to Phoenix
PPG: 92.0 (24^th)
Opponents PPG: 100.5 (28^th)
Offensive Rating: 98.5 (27^th)
Defensive Rating: 107.6 (27^th)
Pace: 93.1 (7^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .441 (29^th)
Turnover Percentage: .143 (17^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .698 (29^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .301 (2^nd)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .220 (8^th)
Opp. eFG%: .503 (26^th)
Opp. TO%:  .141 (15^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .191 (9^th)
Leading scorer: Tyreke Evans (16.9)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Kings Injury Report:
None

Overview:
The Bulls will play their first home game since January 27, when they take on the Kings tonight in their return to the United Center.

Chicago is back home after a nine game road trip on which they went 6-3. It ended on a low note, losing to the Celtics on Sunday. That may have been expected, as the Bulls lost all of their games to teams with winning records (Miami, Philadelphia and Boston).

Without their starting backcourt, the Bulls didn’t have enough firepower to top Boston on the road. And really it was a night to forget for Luol Deng (3-12) and C.J. Watson (8-23).

But there is a lot of blame to go around. As a team, the Bulls shot 38.6 percent from the field while allowing Boston to shoot 49.3 percent.

At multiple times in the final minutes Carlos Boozer looked more out of place than a water in Lindsay Lohan’s fridge. But at the same time, he was one of the few people who were actually scoring to keep the Bulls close. This is the problem the Bulls face without Rose. If he isn’t getting to the rim and scoring, or gift wrapping shots for his teammates, the Bulls really struggle to score, especially against good defenses like the Celtics.

The Bulls are expected to be without Rose and Rip Hamilton tonight as well, according to ESPN Chicago. I’m starting to think we might not see the masked man for a while, and in all honesty, they both might as well take off until after the All-Star break. It isn’t worth it to rush back (even though Rip is doing anything but rushing back).

The Bulls really shouldn’t need those two guys against Sacramento, though. The Kings are 27^th in offensive and defensive rating, 29^th in effective field goal percentage and 26^th in opponent effective field goal percentage.

When these two teams met in December in what was the third game of the season for both, Rose only played 32 minutes due to foul trouble. C.J. Watson didn’t shoot great (3-7), but had nine assists and five rebounds in his 16 minutes backing up Rose. It would really help the Bulls if Watson redeemed himself from an 8-23 performance against the Celtics.

Rose scored 19 and Hamilton scored 16 in the first matchup, so the Bulls will be without 35 points. But that’s what John Lucas is for, right?

Road woes: Sacramento is scoring ten fewer points on the road than compared to home, which would partly explain their 3-12 road record. Tonight is the first night of a six game eastern road-trip for the Kings. Sacramento doesn’t have a home game until after the All-Star break.

Run-away: Sacramento is seventh in the league in fast break points scoring 16.2 points per game. Against the Celtics, Chicago gave up 33 fast break points, while only scoring seven of their own on the break. Boston averages 11.2 fast break points per game this season, 22^nd in the league.