Road games have been a common theme for the Los Angeles Lakers in the month of December, and such is the case yet again on Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls.
Monday felt like a rare home game when the Lakers hosted the New York Knicks, which some viewed as a must-win due to a disappointing loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Unfortunately, L.A. struggled to find consistency on both sides of the floor and lost to the Knicks, 114-109.
Now the Lakers find themselves heading into a challenging stretch to close out the year. It begins with a three-game road trip to take on the Bulls, who are 11-17 this season. However, Chicago is coming off a huge road win against the Philadelphia 76ers, so they’ll be confident heading into Wednesday’s matchup.
The Bulls are involved in a lot of trade rumors, particularly with Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso, who have all been linked to the Lakers as a potential destination. That makes the matchup a bit more interesting with the rumors swirling around both teams, but L.A. is in desperate need of a win to start the road trip strong.
A big development for the Lakers is this will be the first time this season all of their rotation players are healthy and available. Gabe Vincent was listed as probable and is suiting up for the first time since October 30.
That allows for Lakers head coach Darvin Ham to have the full rotation at his disposal, and it will be intriguing to see the kind of lineups he uses or experiments with against the Bulls. Vincent is expected to be on a minutes restriction but regardless, it is a huge boost for the Lakers to be whole for the first time as they have struggled since winning the In-Season Tournament.
Chicago is without LaVine due to a right foot injury, but Coby White has become an explosive scorer as of late, averaging 24.8 points, 6.4 assists and 5.9 rebounds on 50.3% from the field and 48.9% from deep in his last 10 games. That is accompanied by DeRozan scoring 22.2 points a contest and Nikola Vucevic with 16.7 points and 10.5 rebounds.
The Bulls also have scrappy, defensive-minded players in Caruso and Patrick Williams who are guarding the opposing team’s best players, so look for them to spend a lot of time on LeBron James.
While Chicago is without LaVine, the Lakers cannot let White get going early and build upon his recent scoring surge. The same goes for DeRozan, but thankfully with the likes of Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Vincent, the Lakers have the personnel to keep both of them in check.
Los Angeles Lakers (15-12) vs. Chicago Bulls (11-17)
5:00 p.m. PT, Dec. 20, 2023
United Center, Chicago, Illinois
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers starting lineup:
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Cam Reddish
SF: Taurean Prince
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
Key Reserves: Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes
Projected Bulls starting lineup:
PG: Coby White
SG; Alex Caruso
SF: DeMar DeRozan
PF: Patrick Williams
C: Nikola Vucevic
Key Reserves: Ayo Dosunmu, Andre Drummond, Javon Carter
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