The Chicago Bulls visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night and they’ll be looking to continue the best start to their annual Circus Road Trip in 20 years.
It can’t really be overstated – the Bulls are winning again and doing it at times and places they haven’t been able to win going back to the days of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Perhaps, it’s more appropriate than we realize since Jimmy Butler is putting up stats that haven’t been equaled since Pippen.
Chicago blew the Trail Blazers out of the water on Tuesday night, using a huge first quarter to establish an insurmountable lead.
On Thursday, the Bulls benefited from the Utah Jazz holding out two of their starters – George Hill and Derrick Favors.
It hasn’t been all luck that has led the Bulls to a season-high four-game win streak. Butler has being playing at an entirely different level than ever before and Robin Lopez has combined solid interior defense with something fresh for Chicago in a consistent offensive presence at center.
Los Angeles is going to be a two-day affair, first up are the Clippers. The Bulls enter Saturday nights’ game with a record of 8-4, good enough to put them in the top five of the Eastern Conference. Their LA opponents are 11-2, best in the league. It looked like the game in Portland was lining up to be a real test of Chicago’s merit, instead the game might have done more to explain just how disappointing the Blazers are this year. Utah could have been a test, but the Jazz absences drastically reduced that opportunity.
There’s a lot of known quantity about the Bulls, but this will be a real test. No way around it, even if the Clips are on the second game of a back-to-back after being pushed to the limit by the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Let’s take a look at a few keys to this game.