Daily Bulls

The Chicago Bulls will look to avoid their first three losing streak of the season when they face the Brooklyn Nets tonight on TNT. Chicago will be playing on TNT for the first time this season. Brooklyn will get the chance to win consecutive games for the first time this season after winning last night 116-109 against the Indiana Pacers.

Matchup to Watch

DeMar DeRozan vs Kevin Durant

Earlier today, the Brooklyn Nets let go of head coach Steve Nash after a 2-5 start to the 2022-23 season. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were not fans of Nash, and this move was expected. With that said, Durant will be on a mission tonight to prove to Steve Nash that they can win without Nash as their head coach. Durant has averaged 2.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in his first seven games this season.

DeMar DeRozan will look to get his team back at .500 and back to scoring 25+ after scoring under 25 points in two out of the last three games. DeRozan will be double-teamed many times throughout tonight’s game, but he got a combined five assists in the last two games. Last Wednesday against Indiana, he got six assists alone.

Keys to the Game

Early Post Touches for Vucevic

After dropping the last two games in two nights, Chicago should get back to the basics by getting Nikola Vucevic post touches early against Brooklyn tonight. Getting Vucevic touches early in the game will allow shooters to get open shots for shooters and will get him motivated to play defense. On Saturday, it seemed he did not want to try against superstar Joel Embiid. That allowed Embiid to go off for 25 points and had the game-winner late on Saturday.

Nikola Vucevic is the key for the ball move instead of depending on isolations. If Brooklyn switches, Chicago must take advantage of the mismatches with Vucevic and get some easy buckets. Nikola Vucevic has averaged 17.0 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 7 games this season.

Limit the Nets from deep

Especially on the road, the Bulls can not allow the shooters from Brooklyn to take off early in the game and take a double-digit point lead in the first quarter. The Bulls have the worst first-quarter defensive rating in the NBA at 131.4. With no Andre Drummond and Coby White questionable, Chicago can not depend on their bench to get them back in the game.

The good news is that their main weapon from deep, Seth Curry, will be out, but don’t forget about Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Both players will play their first games of the season without head coach Steve Nash.

Injury Report

Bulls

Player	Injury	Status
Zach Lavine	Left Knee Management	Out
Andre Drummond	Left Shoulder	Out
Coby White	Unknown	Questionable
Ayo Dosunmu	Chest	Questionable
Lonzo Ball	Knee	Out

Nets

Player	Injury	Status
Seth Curry	Ankle	Out
Ben Simmons	Knee	Out

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