Game 32 Preview: Nets (8-23) at Chicago Bulls (25-7)

If Brook actually does make his return, then the Nets might have a real shot at snapping their long losing streak. If not,  the streak will continue.

Update: As per the Nets' PR Twitter account, Brook will make his season debut tomorrow night at home against Milwaukee and will not play this afternoon. Derrick Rose will also still be out for the Bulls. Not exactly shocking news regarding Rose but it does give the Nets some semblance of a chance at a win. Nah, I'm just kidding, no way in hell we beat the Bulls today.


For once, the Nets might be the team that is actually getting positive news about their injury situation as there is a roughly 50-50 chance that center Brook Lopez, who hasn't played a game this season due to a broken foot suffered in the team's last preseason game, will return for New Jersey as they face the NBA-leading Chicago Bulls in a Saturday afternoon matinee at the United Center. Even though the Bulls are missing their best player, reigning MVP Derrick Rose, they have the overwhelming talent and momentum advantage over the Nets. The Bulls have won two games in a row overall and are looking to sweep the three-game season series between them and the Nets while New Jersey is looking to snap a season-high eight-game losing streak. Even though Brook might make his first appearance of the season later today, the Bulls are still the class of the NBA even without Rose in the line-up. 

Background on Chicago

Thanks to coach Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls have turned themselves into one of the best teams int he NBA, mainly predicated by their defensive prowess which has been instilled by Thibodeau. Without having Derrick Rose for the past four games (three of which were Bulls wins), Chicago has had to win with back-ups like C.J. Watson and John Lucas III playing big minutes in addition to simply being forced to shut down opposing teams on offense. Like the team the Nets most recently lost to. the Indiana Pacers, much of the Bulls' strength have been from the extreme depth that they possess as they have reserves who would be solid NBA starters for other teams that excel on both sides of the ball (Kyle Korver might just be the best pure shooter in the NBA while Omer Asik piles up rebounds with the NBA leaders). Because of this, they are a hard team to game-plan for especially without their star point guard Rose who serves as the offensive focal point for Chicago when he is in the game.

Previous Game
In their last game, a low-scoring, defensive win over the Celtics on Thursday night, the Bulls continued to show their incredible depth by beating a talented Boston team without their franchise point guard Derrick Rose. Granted, Boston is not even close to a intimidating as they have been in recent seasons due to the age that most of their stars possess but they are still one of the better team in the NBA and will probably win the Atlantic Division this season. Neither team shot well from the field in the game which serves as a result of both team's defensive focus so this game ended up being won down low with a battle of rebounding, which the Bulls overwhelmingly won. Chicago outrebounded Boston by 15  overall and 10 offensively, mainly off the strength of monster rebounding performances by Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah (15 and 16 respectively). Points were harder to come by in this one but they were provided for the Bulls by Luol Deng and Boozer's 23-point performances. 


As many of you know, the Nets lost their eighth consecutive game on Thursday in Indianapolis to the also-struggling Pacers who broke their own losing streak, a five-gamer, with the win. The Nets rehashed their most prominent problems of the season; defensive rebounding, turnovers, shooting inefficiency; in the loss and just couldn't keep up with the Pacers even with 29 points from D-Will and a 24 point-10 rebound double-double from Kris Humphries. Long live the losing streak!

Probable Lineups 

NJN- D.Williams (PG), Brooks (SG), Stevenson (SF), Humphries (PF), She. Williams (C)

CHI- Watson (PG), Brewer (SG), Deng (SF), Boozer (PF), Noah (C)

Three Keys to a Nets Victory

1. With no Brook, establish an alternative interior presence- I vote, obviously, for Kris Humphries to be the candidate for 90 percent of the Nets' post-touches this afternoon because, other than Brook, K-Hump is the only Net who can consistently score inside and maybe even draw fouls on the opposing teams' bigs, which would be very important against the twin towers of Boozer and Noah that the Bulls possess.

2. Kyle Korver can shoot, don't let him- As mentioned too many times on the site, the Nets are terrible perimeter defenders and a crazily talented knock-down shooter like Korver can, in most cases, break out for a 20-point performance against this Nets team. However, if this happens, New Jersey will have a negative chance of keeping this game close enough for a potential win. If Korver can be neutralized, the Nets could potentially make a run at a streak-breaking win in this one because the Bulls just don't have that many consistent spot-up jumpshooters that can put up a lot of points in a hurry.

3. Limit the second chance opportunities for Chicago- Boozer and Noah are amazing rebounders on both the defensive and offensive glasses while the Nets are ok on the offensive side but are terrible with defensive rebounding. If they are able to limit the offensive boards those two and the rest of Chicago get, then a competitive game might not be completely out of the realm of possibility.

Prediction
If Brook plays, then I think that the Nets have a legitimate shot at a win this afternoon. If he doesn't, then the Nets get blown out like they did the last two meetings between themselves and New Jersey. It's that simple. I guess for the sake of predictions, I'll forecast a 95-87 Chicago win but I really hope I'm wrong. Remember Brook, this team misses you more than you can even imagine.