The Bulls host the struggling, comically inept Lakers on Christmas Day in what will surely be a merry night for all in red.

Three years ago, these same two teams matched up on Christmas Day, in a sloppy, ugly game that nevertheless signalled the NBA’s renewal following the 2011 lockout. It ended with a game winner from Derrick Rose, the defending MVP. With a young core, a promising coach and a new power forward (who now plays for the Lakers), the Bulls were very much on the upswing. Three years have passed, and that upswing has leveled out and turned into a sort of sagely patience. The window isn’t closed, but it stopped opening. Three years later, and the first flashes of that same guy, the guy who won MVP, are starting to show themselves after two seasons lost to the mire. Barely a month after not even being able to play in back to back games, Rose totalled 54 points on a back to back, both games against potential contenders in the Eastern Conference. The stars seem to be aligned for a third great performance, this one on national television, during primetime, on the biggest day of the NBA year.

For the Lakers, things have trended downward. Two seasons removed from winning back to back titles, the Lakers very much still considered themselves contenders, with an All-Star power forward (who now plays for the Bulls) and an all-time great still fighting to stay in his prime. Three years later, and the Lakers are a laughing stock. The Dwight/Nash experiment failed miserably. Lamar Odom and Metta World Peace are out of the league. Phil Jackson is in New York. That same all-time great is now nothing more than a jailer, hijacking possessions, attention and relevancy from one of the league’s premiere franchises. Their first round pick broke his leg during the first game of the year. Steve Nash is all but retired. Jeremy Lin and Nick Young yearn to be free. Carlos Boozer is Carlos Boozer.

Despite all that, this is a a basketball game, not a referandum on the careers of Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant. Neither of their careers will be defined by a late December game between a 19-9 squad and a 9-19 one, despite the interesting dichotomy those records (and the Pau/Boozer thing) suggest. Derrick Rose is good. Kobe Bryant less so. We’ll see if this game leans more towards the former or the latter.

Key Matchup(s): Jimmy Butler vs Kobe Bryant.

The term “Kobe-Stopper” has been applied to nearly as many men as “next-Jordan,” with varying degrees of accuracy. For every Bruce Bowen, there’s a Ruben Patterson. For every Shane Battier, there’s a Quinton Ross. Jimmy, to his credit, has done as well as one could expect. Kobe’s relative lack of lift has really hindered his ability to attack, and few defenders in this sport do as well against methodical, slow paced dribble backdowns and pump fakes as Jimmy Butler. Where this game will truly hinge is on the other end of the floor, where Butler’s sweltering start offensively has lifted this team to heights it otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get to before Rose’s resurgence. Kobe either can’t or won’t defend anymore, so Jimmy should have a field day.

Then again, this might be the game Kirk Hinrich and Joakim Noah combine to score 50. You never know with these Christmas games.

The post Game Preview #29: Chicago Bulls vs Los Angeles Lakers – At Christmas I No More Desire a Rose appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Flickr | Keith Allison

Winners of 11 of their last 15, the Bulls escaped with a last second victory against the hapless Lakers on Martin Luther King Jr Day. After a sparkling first quarter which saw the Bulls hover around 60% from the field, the Lakers ran them down in the second, taking a three point lead into the break. The game never got much farther apart than that down the stretch, before Nick Young sank three free throws to send the game to overtime. Young, who led the Lakers with 31 points (on 11-23 shots), the first Laker this season to eclipse the 30 point mark, hit a 17 footer on the baseline to tie the game at 100 with 4 seconds left in the overtime period before the Bulls ran Taj Gibson off a curl, where he caught the inbounds pass and scored as time expired. Taj finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds on 3-11 shooting.

On the offensive side, the Bulls, as is their custom, routinely struggled to get good shots. Joakim Noah was his now usual brilliant self, finishing with 17 points, a season high 21 rebounds (7 of which were offensive), 6 assists, 2 steals and a block on 6-16 shooting. Jimmy Butler was active despite another dreadful shooting night, with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and a block of his own on 6-19 shooting while playing nearly 50 minutes (which, of course, would be his second highest minutes total on the season). D.J. Augustin (10-16, 27 points) was electric after replacing Kirk Hinrich (2-4, 4 points), who exited the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Mike Dunleavy added 12, Carlos Boozer 11, and Tony Snell 6 for the Bulls, who move to 20-20 and into a virtual tie for 4th place in the East with Toronto and Washington (both of whom have beaten the Bulls twice this season).

On the Lakers side of things, Pau Gasol was resplendent, matching Noah step for step and finishing with 20 points, 19 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals on 8-15 shooting. Jodie Meeks had 16 points, new starter Ryan Kelly had 13 while badly outplaying Boozer at times, and Jordan Hill had 7 to round out the notable scorers for the Lakers, who failed (?) in their chance to tie New Orleans for 11th in the West. The Bulls next play this Wednesday against Luol Deng and the Cavaliers.

Player(s) of the Game: Joakim Noah and D.J. Augustin.

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Flickr | andysternberg

In case you hadn’t heard, today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day, a day in which dreams become both reality and sobering disappointment. A surefire way to describe these two teams if ever I’ve heard one. Coming into tonight’s action, both teams are under .500, LA at 16-25 and the Bulls at 19-20. Two franchises with well-documented championship pedigrees, two teams forced into quick rebuilding projects less than two years after serious championship aspirations. This was supposed to be fun.

Despite their poor records, both these teams have played well as of late. The Lakers, 4-6 in their last ten, have become the latest squad to benefit from the restorative properties of the Eastern Conference, while the Bulls, 6-4 in their last ten, have propelled themselves back into the second tier of “contenders” in the aforementioned East.

After the nuclear fallout surrounding the Marquis Teague trade (to Brooklyn for D-League stalwart/possible energy drink Toko Shengelia), the Bulls will likely dress eleven players, including Cartier Martin, recently resigned to a second 10 day contract, and perennial flotsam Erik Murphy, he of the 41 minutes played in 39 games. This trade should give the front office enough wiggle room under the tax line to audition a few more fringe guys, which will never be something I’m against. Let’s face it: Teague was pretty terrible, anyway. It won’t take much for Toko to prove more useful, a preemptive move for wing depth in the face of the potential Mike Dunleavy trade.

Anyway, as to the game at hand. The Lakers have devastated by injury more than any team in the NBA, to the point where their starting point guard, Kendall Marshall, began the season being cut by the Wizards (a team whose lack of point guard depth borders on the hilarious). That they’ve managed to be occasionally competitive while playing Wes Johnson 20 minutes a game is testament to Mike D’Antoni’s ability to be not completely terrible. Pau Gasol, one of the bright lights in this sports, is regaining his All-Star form after a horrible start to the season, which should certainly prop up his trade value if ever the Lakers decide to do it. The man has proven immortal thusfar. The tank is on in full force for the Lakeshow, but the way they’ve played coupled with the staggering amount of injuries they’ve faced lends them an air of dignity that perhaps someone like Milwaukee or Philadelphia can’t really match.

That being said, there’s still this. So maybe “dignity” isn’t quite the right word.

Probable Starters

Chicago Bulls (19-20, 2nd in Central, 6th in Eastern Conference)

C- Joakim Noah: 7th season. 11.7 points per game, 11.0 rebounds.

PF- Carlos Boozer: 12th season. 15.0 points per game, 8.6 rebounds.

SF- Mike Dunleavy: 12th season. 10.8 points per game, 3.8 rebounds.

SG- Jimmy Butler: 3rd season. 12.2 points per game, 4.2 rebounds.

PG- Kirk Hinrich: 11th season. 8.1 points per game, 4.8 assists.

Los Angeles Lakers (15-26, 4th in Pacific, 12th in Western Conference)

C- Pau Gasol: 13th season. 16.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds.

PF- Ryan Kelly: 1st season. 5.4 points per game, 2.6 rebounds.

SF- Wesley Johnson: 4th season. 8.8 points per game, 3.6 rebounds.

SG- Jodie Meeks: 5th season. 13.9 points per game, 1.7 assists.

PG- Kendall Marshall: 2nd season. 10.6 points per game, 9.2 assists.

Key Matchup: Kirk Hinrich vs Kendall Marshall.

While no one would confuse either of these players for Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant, both are coming off their best respective stretches of the season. Hinrich was great against Washington (everyone was great against Philadelphia), and Marshall’s one of the league leaders in assists over the last few weeks. “Running an offense” is oftentimes code for “really can’t shoot,” but these are two players who, at their best, really don’t need to shoot well to be effective. Though it certainly helps.

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