Brooklyn Nets vs. Chicago Bulls preview: Nets hit the road

Boston Celtics v Chicago Bulls - Emirates NBA Cup — Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images

No rest for the injured as the Brooklyn Nets are back in action against the Bulls.

Brooklyn Nets were home to face the excellent Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon.

The opponent tonight is still stuck in the middle. The Chicago Bulls are incredibly far from contention, but they keep plugging along. They took on the Boston Celtics Friday night and lost 138-129. They’ve been off since then.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Tip after 8:00 p.m. ET.

Injuries

No Cam Thomas, Bojan Bogdanovic, Noah Clowney, Dorian Finney-Smith Day’ron Sharpe or Jaylen Martin. There’s also concern about Ben Simmons who hurt left Sunday’s game with a sore knee. Simmons doesn’t normally play in back-to-backs. Expect changes to the injury report.

Patrick Williams is out. Coby White is questionable with a left ankle sprain.

The game

Brooklyn won the first game in November.

Just seeing Lonzo Ball back on the court is a blessing. He’s been out the past few years due to various knee and leg ailments. He’s back now and is looking to re-establish himself as a quality point guard in the NBA. The numbers aren’t solid yet, but who cares? It’s good to have him back.

Eventually, the Bulls will have to figure out what to do with Josh Giddey. We know his deficiencies on offense (and the negativity that comes from his legal issue), but if he can’t give you anything on defense either, you’re in trouble. Stephen Noh of the Sporting News fills us in:

Defensively, Giddey is a solid rebounder, but he has been targeted because he struggles to stay in front of his assignment. He’s not a rim protector either. Despite his height, he isn’t athletic enough to get into position early enough to make plays on the ball. His effort is also baffling — he’s quit on a number of plays this season after making a mental mistake, leading to easy runouts for opponents.

If you can’t bring plus defense when you’re a negative on offense, you’ve got a big problem on your hands. Giddey is still only 22 years old, but you start to wonder if he’ll put things together and play up to his lottery pick potential.

Giddey’s bad defense is part of Chicago’s overall defensive woes. The Bulls allow 118.4 points per 100 possessions, second worst in the league. What’s been a Bulls bug-a-boo? Perimeter defense. Chicago allows 39.4 threes per game, third most in the league. Teams have made 35 percent of their threes against the Bulls, ninth most in the NBA. Luckily for the Nets, they’re a team that loves to hunt for threes so they’ll have plenty of chances to let it fly.

Night two of a back-to-back is always tricky. Even more so when you’re as shorthanded as the Nets are. Cam Johnson tweaked his ankle yesterday, but he’s gonna try to tough it out tonight.

With the Nets missing so many bigs, it’s no wonder they’re at the bottom of the rebound rankings. That will prove to be particularly troublesome against Net nemesis Nikola Vucevic tonight. Vucevic is currently 15th in the NBA in rebounding at a solid ten per game. Vuc has caused a lot of trouble over the years, and the team is going to need a big night out of Nic Claxton if they want to compete on the interior.

Player to watch: Zach Lavine

So I’m not sure where to place Lavine these days. We know what he is and chances are it’s not going to get any better. He’s only 29 years old, but it feels like time is ticking for him to make an impact on a playoff team. your friendly bulls blogger helps me put Lavine in perspective:

As I keep saying, it is not on LaVine to change his ‘narrative’. The only reputation rehab that matters is if it ups other teams’ offers. And I don’t think playing in half of a pointless season with this odd-fitting roster will change outside opinion.

What LaVine has proven in his start this year is that he wasn’t ruined by that foot surgery. Though I don’t think that was a serious concern from anyone. He still has his three-level scoring ability, works best when creating his own shots, doesn’t offer anything else besides scoring, and can’t be trusted late in games.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same. It seems unlikely teams will come knocking for Lavine during trade season, so he’s got to figure things out right here and now.

With Thomas out, Jalen Wilson got the start yesterday. It was a rough day at the office for the second year pro

Jalen Wilson was subbed out of the game directly after allowing this ORB to Goga Bitadze pic.twitter.com/tWvuy00522

— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) December 1, 2024