After many months of bickering, the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers are actually going to play some basketball
Where: Conseco Fieldhouse
When: Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Watch: WGN for Chicago, FSIHD for Indiana.
Listen: ESPN 1000
Betting Line: Chicago -2.5, according to BetOnline.com
Key Injuries
Both teams appear to be fully healthy as they get set to embark on the lockout-shortened preseason, but it sounds like the Pacers are going to play it safe with newly acquired forward David West.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said on Wednesday that he will likely hold West out.
"It's only because the game will just be days after he signed with our team," Vogel said. "He's still learning the system and he's got to improve his conditioning because he was holding himself back some since he was a free agent."
West's 2010-2011 season ended in March after he tore his ACL.
What's At Stake
It doesn't matter which team wins this game, but the preseason is more important this year than it's ever been. Both of these teams only have two preseason games to get ready for the regular season, so they need to make the most of them.
What They're Saying
It's not just me who thinks these teams are going to take their preseason games a little more seriously Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau went on record saying that his team is going to play very hard during the shortened preseason.
"We want to establish who we are," he said, per the Chicago Tribune. "The minutes will be different. I want our guys to go hard. You have to get to your rotation. You don't have the luxury of eight preseason games. Under those circumstances, you can give guys games off. We approach (them all) with the idea we're preparing for that first game."
When the Bulls begin the season, they will be looking to make yet another deep run in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Pacers could very well do the same. As Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star pointed out, this Pacers team is good enough to compete with the best of 'em in the Eastern Conference:
The Pacers should not only make the playoffs this season, but should grab no lower than a fifth seed and even make a run at home court in the first round. They're not going to challenge Miami, Boston and probably Chicago in the Eastern Conference, but they can duke it out with Orlando, Atlanta, the Knicks and Philly (with other teams' hopes still to be determined by whom they add or lose).
The Pacers will need a few things to go right, but Kravitz has a point. Don't underestimate this team's talent.
Bulls Player to Watch
Who else but Derrick Rose? He won the MVP last season, and he could easily make a run at the award this year. Regardless, we know for a fact that he's going to be exciting to watch, as few players can make plays quite like he can. It will be fun to seem him back in action.
Pacers Player to Watch
You can never get enough Danny Granger. He wasn't as strong last season as he had been in prior years, but that's because he had more help around him. He doesn't have to do it all anymore, but he remains one of the league's more underappreciated players.
Key Matchup
During last year's playoffs, Frank Vogel started using Paul George to guard Derrick Rose, and the results were tremendous. George was 6'8" then, bu the word from the Indianapolis Star is that he grew two inches over the summer and is now 6'10." He now has even more length with which to bother Rose.
Prediction: Bulls 95, Pacers 85
I'm going to take Thibodeau's word for it that the Bulls are going to play hard. Expect the extra effort to give them the edge.
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