There’s a big matchup looming for first-year head coach Billy Donovan and his Chicago Bulls team at home at the United Center on the night of Feb. 26. Donovan and the Bulls will take on one of the best teams out of the Western Conference so far this season in star veteran point guard Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns. The Suns do boast one of the best backcourt duos in the West this season, between Paul and star shooting guard Devin Booker.
To counter the duo of Paul and Booker, the Bulls will need big games from the likes of star shooting guard Zach LaVine and second-year former North Carolina Tar Heels point guard Coby White. LaVine and White have played really well for the Bulls of late, but it will be really difficult to contend with the likes of CP3 and Booker.
This will be the first time that White, LaVine, and the Bulls get set to take on the Suns this season. The next time that the Bulls will face the Suns is on the road on March 31. These will be two tough tests for this Bulls team to overcome.
What the Chicago Bulls backcourt must do to beat the Suns
While it will be important for LaVine to come up big for the Bulls on this night, White might be the x-factor. A solid performance on both ends of the floor from White, and the Bulls will be in good position to pull off the upset of the Suns on this night.
The Suns currently sit as just over a six point favorite over the Bulls just hours ahead of tip off. And the ESPN matchup predictor gives the Suns a 66.0 percent chance to beat the Bulls in the Windy City.
This has to be an efficient night from the combination of White and LaVine to top the Suns. The combined 14 turnovers that those two guards had in the Feb. 24 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime just won’t get it done for them.
White also has to get his looks from beyond the arc going at a higher clip. He’s gone cold of late. But White is still shooting just under 36 percent from beyond the arc on the season as a whole. It feels like he’s due for a solid shooting night in this one.
What White also has to do is show up on the defensive end of the floor stronger than he has for most of the rest of the season to date. He’s got one of the worst defensive box plus/minus ratings of any of the regulars in the Bulls rotation this season (-2.2), and a defensive rating that is not worth bragging about (115).
CP3 is just too good for the Bulls to let him run loose in commanding this Suns offense. Booker definitely has the ability to burn them often too.
White has played at the level in bits and pieces this season that the Bulls will need in this game to pull off the upset of the Suns. Getting to face one of his childhood idols and fellow North Carolina native CP3 in this game might be just the chip he needs on his shoulder to get the win.
The Bulls come into this game with a record of 15-16, following their overtime win over the struggling Timberwolves earlier in the week. Tip off time between the Bulls and Suns on Feb. 26 in Chicago is set for 7 p.m. CT.