Football Previews
The Chicago Bulls will host the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, November 16, at 8pm. ET. The game will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams, Indiana won the first meeting, and three out of four meetings last year, but the Bulls didn’t have star point guard Derrick Rose who missed the season while recovering a torn ACL injury.
The Pacers are the only undefeated team in the NBA, at 8-0; they are off to the best start in franchise history. The Pacers have been winning in large part due to their defense; they are first in the league in points allowed per game, averaging 84.5 points per game. They are led on offense by Paul George who is averaging 24.9 points per game, and by Roy Hibbert on defense, he is averaging 9.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per game.
The Pacers are still waiting on the return of All Star Danny Granger who missed most of last season with an injury, and is expected to be back in the line up soon. His return will take some of the scoring pressure off Paul George and make them a more dangerous team.
The Bulls are just starting to get used to playing with former MVP Derrick Rose again, they started the season slowly at 1-3, but have won 2 straight games and are now back to .500 and are second in the division behind the Pacers.
The Bulls are also playing great team defense, and are second in the league allowing 91 points a game. Their offense is near the bottom of the league at 27th, they score an average of 92.3 points per game which isn’t going to get it done if they want to be considered serious contenders. They will face teams like the Miami Heat and New York Knicks in the playoffs, teams that can light up the score board, and will have to be able to make some baskets when it counts.
Luckily the Pacers are having just as much problems as the Bulls are scoring points, and are 23rd in the league, scoring 94.9 points per game, so they shouldn’t have any problems keeping the game close. Derrick Rose is also only getting better as the season progresses, so expect him to play better than he did the first game.
The Bulls and Pacers have historically been one of the best matchups in the NBA since the days of Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan, the rivalry was renewed again before Derrick Rose suffered his ACL injury, so don’t be surprised if the Bulls hand the Pacers their first loss of the season.
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