Game Preview #47 - Chicago Bulls at Sacramento Kings

[Thanks to msquared10 for today's preview -ed.]

Before we know where we’re going, it’s important to reflect on where we’ve been. So let’s look, for a second, at that game against the Clippers. That win on Wednesday was actually our biggest win of the season. We won by 20, and before that our highest was a 17-point victory over the Suns in November. As anyone who reads any statistical analyses knows, the biggest predictor of future success is point differential, and while the Bulls have had quite a few big losses, they haven’t really had any big wins to speak of to counter them. That was also the first game in which we held a team under 80 points.

That’s nice and all, but it means next to nothing. The Bulls hardly earned it. The Clippers barely fielded an NBA team—Fred Jones and Brian Skinner started, Steve Novak played significant minutes, and Baron Davis did his best Larry Hughes impression. And other than the spurt of effort in the third quarter (though that 9-point defensive effort was also due to the Clippers' utter lack of offensive organization), both teams played lackadaisically. It was like watching a bad pickup game. So while the 20-point win is great, let’s not count on ever playing a team like that again—at least not in a regular-season game that counts for something.

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That brings us to the Kings. Unlike the Clippers, these guys are healthy, so we could have a game on our hands. But the Bulls squad that squeaked out a win by 5 last game isn’t the same one the Kings will see today—I’m just going to assume Aaron Gray won’t start this time.

This is a game where the Bulls could use some offense from either Hinrich or Sefolosha. Right now, the Kings consist of Kevin Martin and some other guys—stopping him has to be our biggest priority. If Kirk can get back on track or Thabo can fit in as a two-guard, that would go a long way toward solving any potential mismatch. But with Sacramento playing undersized small forwards like John Salmons or Francisco Garcia, hopefully Vinny can resist the temptation to play lineups with three tiny guards or four guys shorter than 6’7’’.

But if you need one more reason to feel hopeful about tonight, check the last game’s box score. The Bulls shot 38.6% from the field against the Kings’ 50.7%--and won. We can totally take these guys.

You can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet. Since the game’s at Sacramento, there’s a late 9 pm Central start time.