Which Chicago Bulls players will help extend the win streak tonight?

The Chicago Bulls are in the middle of their first win streak of the season and get a favorable matchup against the Warriors tonight. Who will play well?

Tonight presents a great opportunity for this young Chicago Bulls team in a season that’s just 6 weeks old and hasn’t even gotten close to its midpoint yet (crazy, right?). The Bulls currently sit just 2.5 games out of the playoffs, believe it or not, and some key players are starting to really turn up the heat.

The Golden State Warriors are the opponent tonight at 7 PM central, and they just happen to be owners of the worst record in the entire league. Yet, we all know what happened the last time these two teams met: an embarrassing Bulls performance and loss.

However, tonight I am willing to wager that the Bulls will have a far better showing and will most likely win, extending their win streak to three games. Here’s the four Bulls players, in order of importance,  that I think will have the biggest nights for the Chicago Bulls if we snag the revenge win.

Key Player #1

Zach LaVine – This one is obvious, but absolutely the most crucial. This is Zach LaVine’s team, and as he goes these days so do the Bulls, seemingly. Over the last four games, Zach is putting up all-star level scoring numbers, averaging a shade over 29 points per game on a shade under 49% shooting. In three of the last four games, he’s shot over 50% from the field. Combine this offensive explosion with the fact that the Warriors are ranked second to last in the league at defending the shooting guard position according to rotowire.com, and you have yourself a recipe for a VERY big night. The Warriors also give up a whopping 18.9 points off turnovers per game, according to NBA.com, bad enough to place them as the 5th worst league in the team in that category. Zach just happens to be averaging 4.2 points off turnovers this season, the highest in his career. Prediction: It would not surprise me to see Zach over 30 points in this one, with some highlight reel fast break dunks to boot.

#2

Lauri Markkanen – Lauri actually showed life in his last two games, albeit against very subpar defensive teams. Over the last two, he’s averaging 17.5 points on 52.8% shooting and 50% shooting from beyond the arch. I wasn’t originally going to include him on this list as I think he should put up similar numbers again and they aren’t really that impressive against such favorable matchups, but with the news that Thaddeus Young will miss tonight’s game for personal reasons, Lauri should have no problem seeing the floor for an extra 5 or more minutes tonight. His shot has looked really good in the last few games, and his confidence seems to be back. Prediction: Lauri plays at least 35 minutes and puts up at least 20 points tonight. 

#3

Tomáš Satoranský – Sato has been en fuego, as my Spanish friends might say, over the last half dozen games (it means “on fire”). He’s scored in double digits in the last six in a row, due in most part to his added agression on offense. In the first 8 games of the season, Sato averaged 6 shots a game, but over the last six he’s stayed aggressive and put up 10 shots a game, really dialing up the pressure on the defense and taking the pressure off of Zach and Lauri. While he isn’t yet hitting the shots at a high clip, I have faith he’ll do so tonight against Ky Bowman and a team that ranks 23rd in blocked shots. Sato’s biggest contribution in the last 6 games, however, has been his ability to find the open man. He’s averaging just under 7 assists per game in that time frame. Prediction: Sato puts up double digit assists for the first time this season and nabs his first double-double. 

#4

Kris Dunn – I’ll admit, I have been a KD skeptic since about midway through his first season with the Bulls. However, the 25-year-old guard has played some of his best basketball in a bench role with our Bullies in his 4th season. He is tied for 9th in the league in steals per game which has contributed a great deal to the Bulls leading the league handily in that stat. Sans Otto Porter and Chandler Hutchison, Dunn has been averaging almost 28 minutes per game for the Bulls over the last 3 games and has had a positive impact in multiple facets of those games. Prediction: KD goes for 3 steals in this game, leading to fast break points for the Bulls.