Chicago Bulls: Blueprint for Chicago as Team Prepares to Host Red-Hot Knicks

The Chicago Bulls will host the New York Knicks on April 11 following back-to-back losses to the Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors.

On one side of the coin, the Bulls have been dealing with injuries for a majority of the season and will be without the services of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and possibly Luol Deng as well.

In contrast, the Knicks are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, having posted 13 consecutive wins and recently clinching the Atlantic division title for first time since 1994.

Despite the fact the Bulls last five losses have come against teams with losing records, there are a few factors that could potentially swing the game into their favor.

Let’s take a quick glance.

Injuries

As mentioned before, the Bulls will be without several players in this match up, but the Knicks are missing a few key pieces as well.The Knicks were already without Amare Stoudemire, Marcus Camby, Rasheed Wallace and Kurt Thomas.

In addition to that, Tyson Chandler (neck) and Kenyon Martin (sprained ankle) have been ruled out of the game against the Bulls as well.

Taken that into consideration, the Knicks will be thin up front, which will allow players such as Carlos Boozer, Nazr Mohammed and Malcolm Thomas to dominate the paint on both ends of the floor.

 

Offense

While Chicago ranks near the bottom of the league in points per game (92.8) and three-point field goal percentage (34.5), those numbers are much better when they play against the Knicks.

In the last three meetings, Chicago has scored over 103 points, while connecting on over 47 percent of its shot attempts from beyond the arc.

While I would not advise the Bulls to consistently settle for the long-range jump shot, they should make a concerted effort to capitalize on it when the opportunity presents itself.

Success Containing Carmelo Anthony

Melo is one of the top scorers in the league and he is a big reason why the Knicks have put together a nice winning streak.

During the month of April, Anthony is averaging over 40 points and eights rebounds per contest, while shooting a blistering 61 percent from the field, including 58 percent from distance.

Per Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times, Bulls’ coach Tom Thibodeau had this to say about the Knicks’ forward:

"

“He’s been a great player in the league for a long time. Probably one of the top three premier scorers in the league. He can score so many different ways: He can shoot, he can post, he can drive. Guys like that, they get into a rhythm, and they’re hard to stop.”

"

That assessment of Melo is an accurate one, but the Bulls have had an answer for Anthony.

When the teams squared off in late December, Anthony scored 29 points, but shot only 10-of-25 from the field, while his counterpart Luol Deng recorded 29 points and 13 rebounds.

In the last meeting between the two clubs in January, Melo scored 39 points, but connected on just 14 of his 32 shot attempts, including 6-for-16 with Deng guarding him.

Meanwhile, Deng had one of his best games of the season with 33 points (13-of-18 from the floor), to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

The moral here is that Anthony is a difficult player to defend because of his ability to score from multiple spots on the floor, but he is not a great defender.

That said, the Bulls will have success containing Anthony if they make him work for his shot on the defensive end, while going at him on the offensive end.

In the final analysis, the Bulls will have their hands full against a hot Knicks team.

However if they stick to this blueprint, the result will be a win over one of the perennial teams in the Eastern Conference.