Chris Paul and J.J. Redick
Primarily, this is about Paul. He’s one of the best point guards, if not the best point guard, of his generation. His numbers are slightly down early on this season, 17.8 points and 8.6 assists per game, compared to his last three seasons during which he averaged about 19 and 10. Still, Chicago would be happy to get anywhere near that kind of production out of Rondo and Grant combined.
He’s going to create a lot of problems for Chicago. They don’t have a perfect matchup for him defensively. If they run a high pick-and-roll, he’s going to make quick work of Lopez or find Jordan rolling to the rim against a late help from either Taj Gibson or basically not help from Nikola Mirotic or Bobby Portis.
Next: A Tale of Two Bigs: Portis and Felicio
Sidenote: This is going to make an interesting case for the role that Cristiano Felicio plays in this game given he is a much stronger defender than either Portis or Mirotic and could be paired nicely with Gibson or Lopez while those players rest or sit for foul trouble.
Paul is going to have the advantage regardless of how they try to address him in matchups. If you put Butler on him, that’s going to free up Redick and Mbah a Moute, maybe even Griffin. If you put Wade on him, it might not be all that bad, but then you’re forcing a switch with Redick.
Redick is playing great basketball this season, possibly the best of his career. He’s currently shooting 50 percent from 3-point range for the season. He really poured it on over the past two games, scoring 29 and 26, with a combined tally of 13-for-20 from beyond the arc in that span.
Always play a hot hand and Redick is hot right now. LA has set up their starting squad to be one of the most difficult to deal with in all professional basketball. If you find someone on your roster who can track Redick the entire game, they’ve got Paul dishing to Jordan or Griffin or putting up his own 15-17 points per game.
A big game from either of these players could spell trouble for the Bulls. If both players get their games going, the Chicago backcourt will be severely exposed.