By Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports)
The Washington Wizards (11-55) look to close out their road trip with a victory as they take on the Chicago Bulls (32-35) for the first time this season. Here’s everything you need to know:
Where: United Center (Chicago, IL)
When: 8 p.m. ET
Television: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: Team 980 and the Wizards app
Deni Avdija (right knee contusion – questionable)
Marvin Bagley III (lower back spasm – absent)
Richaun Holmes (left big toe sprain – questionable)
Tyus Jones (lower back spasm – questionable)
Isaiah Livers (right hip capsule inflammation – absent)
Landry Shamet (left calf strain – absent)
Tristan Vukcevic (not with the team – absent)
Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery – absent)
Zach LaVine (right foot surgery – out)
Patrick Williams (left foot surgery – absent)
Coby White (right hip sprain – questionable)
Julian Phillips (sprained right foot – absent)
After scoring a combined 16 points against the Heat and Grizzlies, Jordan Poole had a big game in the Wizards’ loss to the Rockets on Thursday. Poole had 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, including 5-of-12 from long range. That included a 13-point outburst in the third quarter, as Poole hit three triples in a span of one minute, 27 seconds late in the period.
There could be an opportunity for Poole and the Wizards’ other perimeter players against Chicago. The Bulls rank 29th in the NBA in three-point attempts allowed and 30th in 3-point attempts allowed. Injuries hampered their backcourt and opposing teams capitalized by taking and making a lot of threes.
Poole continues to give the Wizards a boost in his new role leading the second unit. Since coming to the bench, he has averaged 20.5 points, 4.3 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 43.4% from the field and 36.7% from three in 12 games.
The Wizards will look to get their defense back on track following their 135-119 loss to the Rockets on Thursday night. Coming into this game, Washington had its best three-game stretch of the entire season on the defensive end, holding the Hornets, Heat and Grizzlies to an average of 105.7 points per game.
Scoring hasn’t been a strength for the Bulls this season, as they rank 24th in scoring (111.8 per game) and 20th in offensive rating (114.3), but the same could be said of Rockets. The Wizards will look to strengthen their paint defense, as they allowed 70 paint points to Houston. The Bulls, meanwhile, are 28th out of 30 NBA teams in scoring average in the paint (47.0 per game).
Defending the paint is certainly a challenge, with the Wizards missing their top two centers, but perhaps they can succeed against a team that struggles to score in that area.
Two players the Wizards will try to limit in the paint and elsewhere are DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. DeRozan is in tears right now, as he lost 46 points against the Pacers on Wednesday. DeRozan made 15 of 17 from the free throw line at Indiana and averaged 9.8 free throw attempts per game over his last 10 appearances, scoring 27.1 points per game during that stretch .
Vucevic also recently released some big stats. He had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists against the Warriors on March 7. Over his last five games, Vucevic is averaging 19.8 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field.
Although the Bulls are dealing with injuries to key players, they have won four of their last seven games and are 27-21 since starting the season with a 5-14 record. DeRozan and Vucevic are the main reasons they have stayed afloat.
