Game 13: Sacramento Kings (Jan. 24)
With the Chicago Bulls somehow just one game behind the Magic for the eight seed in the playoff race in the East, they turn their focus to a game where they could rack up a two-game winning streak. This Jan. 24 showdown comes at home against the struggling Sacramento Kings. While the Kings are getting healthier and their young core is gelling together better by this point, they have already dealt sharpshooting two guard Bogdan Bogdanovic via trade.
Another solid outing from LaVine gets the Bulls a key regular season series sweep over an at least decent opponent from the West. The Bulls get their 20th win of the regular season, and actually move into a place where they’re neck and neck with the Magic in the playoff picture.
Score Prediction: Bulls 107, Kings 104 (Record 20-27)
Game 14: at Cleveland Cavaliers (Jan. 25)
A number of trade rumors keep swirling around the Cavs organization with the deadline drawing near at the end of the month. The Portland Trail Blazers are making a big push to bring K-Love to his home state. While it looks like Thompson is going to stay in Cleveland through the remainder of the regular season, he’s not entirely happy with his situation.
The Bulls are able to take full advantage of all the chaos circling around the Cavs at the end of January, and get a win here despite the back-to-back. This is also one of the shorter travel schedules the Bulls have in store for any back-to-back games this season.