The 16-27 Cleveland Cavaliers begin their four game road trip in Chicago as they take on the 19-23 Chicago Bulls.
Both the Cavaliers and Bulls are coming off losses and are looking for wins to get back into the conversation about the bottom of the playoff picture. Cleveland lost to the Kings by 14 points Monday while the Bulls were blown out by the Jazz by 25. Considering that both teams are not particularly good it could provide an intriguing matchup.
Kevin Love, Matthew Dellavedova, and Taurean Prince will miss Wednesday’s game.
Chicago is scoring and giving up about the same amount of points per game, 113.5 and 113.9 respectively. The Cavaliers do not score as much (104.1), but give up two points less per game on average (111.9). The difference is not bit and in the end should not play a large factor in the final result.
The Bulls are a middle of the pack team when it comes to three-pointers, a bit of a step from the Cavaliers league-lowest numbers in attempts and makes per game. Chicago attempt 34.3 threes per game (18th) and make 13 per game (14th). That’s almost four more makes per game, more than enough to be the difference in the Cavs scoring average.
Zach LaVine leads the Bulls in points (28.2) and assists (4.9) per game. LaVine is clearly the Bulls most potent offensive player and can give opposing teams headaches. Lauri Markkanen and Coby White provide complimentary scoring options for LaVine with 17.7 and 15.2 per game respectively. LaVine is Chicago’s assist leader, but there are several players in the four assist range. Tomas Satoransky with 4.8, White with 4.7, and Thaddeus Young with 4.4 per game. The Bulls have plenty of players who can find their teammates for open baskets and that can prove problematic for the Cavaliers defense.
