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Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons - GAME DAY PREVIEW
The Chicago Bulls (27-30) host the lowly Detroit Pistons (8-49), hoping to snatch a victory before embarking on a brutal nine-game stretch where they’ll face off against teams that are in the upper echelon of the Eastern and Western Conference standings.
Coming off a morale-boosting win
Despite being severely undermanned, the Bulls went to New Orleans and defeated the Pelicans 114-106. Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, Ayo Dosunmu, and Coby White had superb games, overhauling a 12-point third-quarter deficit to eke out the morale-boosting victory.
Chicago will need more of the same effort on Tuesday, as they’ll remain without Torrey Craig, whose return from a knee sprain is uncertain. The team already doesn’t have Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams, who are out for the season due to foot surgeries.
After the Detroit game, the Bulls will go through a gauntlet of games against some of the best in the league. This includes matches against Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento, Golden State, Indiana, Dallas, Utah, and Cleveland. This stretch of games could very determine if they’ll make it to the Play-in Tournament.
A pissed-off Detroit squad
The Bulls would do well to be wary of the Pistons on Tuesday. Detroit is coming off a tough 113-111 loss to the New York Knicks in a game marked by a controversial no-call near the end of the game. With the Pistons clinging to a 111-110 lead, Detroit wingman Ausar Thompson picked off a pass by Donte DiVincenzo and was on his way to the other end when DiVincenzo barrelled into him and pried the ball loose.
Jalen Brunson then picked the loose ball up and passed it to Josh Hart, who scored an and-one to give the Knicks the lead and, eventually, the victory.
Afterward, an emotional Monty Williams called the non-call the “absolute worst call of the season.”
In a pool report after the game, the game’s crew chief, James Williams, admitted a foul should have been called on DiVincenzo on that play.
