Big game for the Washington Wizards in Chicago tonight
With the former MVP Derrick Rose set to miss 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus, the Chicago Bulls are trying to make the best of their situation and keep their ground as one of the top two or three seeds in the Eastern Conference without him. The Washington Wizards must take advantage of Rose’s absence.
They will travel to the Windy City tonight to take on the 37-23 Bulls, who currently hold the No. 3 seed in the East, with a three game lead over Washington. Grabbing a win on the road would be huge for the Wiz. Even without Rose, Chicago is a tough opponent. However, they are very beatable.
Just take last year’s first-round playoff series for an example. As underdogs coming into the series, the Wizards took care of the Bulls in the first round in just five games. That is all it took. Washington was clearly the more dominate team. Although they are one of the top defensive teams in the league, Chicago just didn’t have enough scoring to sustain themselves in that series.
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The Wizards should use a similar strategy to beat the Bulls tonight – just play defense. Washington’s offense will show up eventually, but Chicago’s might not.
The Bulls suffered another huge blow yesterday, losing shooting guard Jimmy Butler for 3-6 weeks with a sprained left elbow. This team just keeps on getting plagued by injuries, and there is really nothing that the organization or the players can do about it. However, this is what happens and they have to make the best of the situation.
Despite the absences for Chicago, John Wall will still have to remain very focused in order to come out victorious tonight. The Bulls are an extremely tough opponent, especially playing in their home court.
The paint is normally sacred territory for the Wizards where they have an advantage down there in almost every single game, but not this time. Chicago is second in the league in team-rebounds with 46. They are in the top half of the league in every single team statistic. However, most of those were accomplished with Rose on the court.
It should be a hard fought battle in Chicago tonight between two teams that have been going through a rough stretch. Washington just broke a six-game losing streak the other night against Detroit, while Chicago is suffering through injury after injury.
Both clubs are hungry and out to prove something. With 23 games left for Washington, all of the remaining matchups are important, and getting one game closer to the Bulls would make this win even larger.