Game preview and injury report: Chicago Bulls visit Brooklyn Nets after the Kevin Durant trade

Coming off Tuesday's 104-89 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Chicago Bulls (26-28) visit the depleted Brooklyn Nets (32-22) tonight.

Injury report

Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball (left knee injury) and Javonte Green (right knee soreness) are out; Patrick Williams (sprained right ankle) and Alex Caruso (left midfoot soreness) are probable; DeMar DeRozan (right hip soreness) is listed as questionable

Brooklyn Nets: Yuta Watanabe (back tightness) and Day'Ron Sharpe (right foot soreness) are questionable

Chicago Bulls (26-28) vs. Brooklyn Nets (32-22)

Thursday, February 9 – 07:30 PM ET at Barclays Center

Chicago Bulls

Points Per Game: 114.3 (16th of 30)
Opponent Points Per Game: 113.8 (16th of 30)
Bench Points Per Game: 30.2 (24th of 30)
Pace: 99.8 (13th of 30)
Offensive Rating: 113.5 (21st of 30)
Defensive Rating: 113 (9th of 30)
Net Rating: +0.5 (15th of 30)

Brooklyn Nets

Points Per Game: 114.4 (15th of 30)
Opponent Points Per Game: 112.6 (12th of 30)
Bench Points Per Game: 34.3 (17th of 30)
Pace: 98.7 (20th of 30)
Offensive Rating: 115.7 (9th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 113.9 (13th of 30)
Net Rating: +1.9 (9th of 30)

Contain Cam Thomas

Cam Thomas continued his legendary scoring run on Tuesday with 43 points on 11-of-23 from the field (47.8 percent)—he also had five rebounds and three assists in a 116-112 loss against the Suns.

Thomas became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in three straight games and the first player in Nets history to do so. The 21-year-old guard joined Allen Iverson as the only player to score at least 40 points in three straight games before the age of 22.

The Nets are depleted, especially after trading Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren to the Suns, so Thomas will be the focal point of their offense on Thursday as he looks to continue his historic streak.

Play better to end the game

The Grizzlies flipped a switch on Tuesday, outscoring the Bulls 32-14 in the fourth quarter to secure a crucial win for them. The Bulls were held to just 14 points in the last 12 minutes and didn’t have answers for Jaren Jackson Jr.

The overall offensive numbers for the Bulls were not great, as they shot just 36.8 percent from the field (32-of-87) and 20 percent from three-point range (7-of-35). Chicago failed to take care of the ball, committing 18 turnovers, though they won the rebounding battle 49-39.

With DeMar DeRozan out, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic had to step up, but it was evident that the offense fell apart with the game on the line. The Bulls are not an elite defensive team, which means that having offensive droughts — as they did in the fourth quarter — makes it nearly impossible to avoid defeat.

Noteworthy

The Bulls won the last meeting, 121-112, on January 4. DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams led the Bulls with 22 points apiece.

Chicago beat Brooklyn four of the last five times.

The Bulls are 5-5 in the last ten matchups against the Nets.

Bulls’ projected lineup: Vucevic, Williams, LaVine, DeRozan, Dosunmu

Nets’ projected lineup: Claxton, O’Neale, Harris, Thomas, Simmons