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The Chicago Bulls (19-12) will face the Toronto Raptors (21-13) at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday.
The Bulls have won their last two games without both starting point guard Derrick Rose, out with tendinitis, and big man Joakim Noah, who suffered a shoulder injury and has now missed five consecutive games. Starting in Rose's place is veteran guard Kirk Hinrich, but is only getting about 13 minutes anyways, but rookie Bobby Portis has seen a big uptick in minutes in Noah's absence. The Bulls will likely rely a lot on Jimmy Butler for their offense if neither Rose nor Noah is able to play. They will get one day of rest before traveling to Toronto.
The Raptors only have one injured player, their electric point guard Kyle Lowry. Lowry injured his ankle, but was able to practice on Saturday and it doesn't seem likely that he will miss any time. DeMar DeRozan and Lowry are the highest scorers for the Raptors, DeRozan scoring 22.9 per game this season. The Raptors lost to the Bulls just last Monday 104-97, but with the Bulls facing injuries, they may be able to take advantage of the defensive holes left by Rose and Noah, that is, if they aren't able to play.
The Atlanta Hawks (21-13) will face the New York Knicks (15-19) in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The Hawks have won seven of their last eight games, including their last game on Tuesday in Houston. They will enjoy a rare four-day rest period before playing in New York on Sunday. Al Horford exploded last game for a team-high 30 points, reaching the fifth game this season in which he was the highest scorer. The Hawks don't have a super consistent high scorer, but last time the Hawks faced the Knicks, Paul Millsap scored team highs in three categories (22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists). It was hard for the Knicks to find an answer for the openings in their defense that Millsap created.
The Knicks will not be as rested, playing their last game against the Bulls on New Years Day. They struggled offensively, as they have done many times this season, scoring just 81 points in the blowout loss to Chicago. Carmelo Anthony was the team's highest scorer with 20 points, but didn't receive much help from anyone else. The key to success for the Knicks may be to find some offensive flow, particularly from their slumping shooting guard Arron Afflalo, who is averaging 6.8 points in the last week, but was averaging nearly 16 points in the first half of December.
The Hawks have won both of the previous meetings between the two teams this season. This game is the start of back-to-back games against each other, as they will meet again on Tuesday.
The Miami Heat (19-13) will take on the Washington Wizards (15-16) at the Verizon Center in the nation's capital on Sunday.
Miami is clearly one of the best teams in the east and this will be a great test for them against a potent offense. The Heat are ranked second in numerous defensive categories and much of that can be attributed to Hassan Whiteside, who leads the league in blocks. They also play at one of the slowest paces in the NBA and that should make for an interesting contrast of styles against a Washington team who is one of the fastest-paced teams in he league. Dwyane Wade was strangely scratched in the teams most recent game with a sickness, but made a surprise appearance off the bench in the second quarter. He scored 10 points and dished out seven assists in just over 20 minutes of action and looks likely to return to the starting-five here.
Washington hasn’t quite lived up to expectations this season and they are really missing Bradley Beal. They're not only missing him for his elite jumper, but for his underrated defense. The team ranks 24th in points allowed and 28th in rebounding this season. John Wall is playing at a career-high level, but he needs more help from the others if they are to compete in the Eastern Conference this season. In fact, Wall has at least eight assists in 11-straight games and is proving to be one of the best distributors in the NBA. This should be a close game as well, as the Wizards comes into this matchup as a one-point favorite.
The Portland Trail Blazers (14-21) will battle the Denver Nuggets (12-22) at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on Sunday.
The Blazers have been without Damian Lillard for a couple weeks now, but are playing some of their best basketball of the season. C.J. McCollum has stepped up in his absence and has been posting All-Star type numbers. Portland has won three of their last four games and the key has been defense, as they are allowing under 96 points per game in that span. Most people consider Lillard a poor defender, but it's really interesting when you factor in that they are playing their best defense of the season without him in the starting lineup. To assume they are a better team without him is silly though, as he's clearly one of the best point guards in the NBA. He is questionable headed into this matchup and it seems like a good bet that he'll make his return here.
The Nuggets are coming off one of their best games of the season, despite it being a loss. They took a 31-2 Golden State Warriors team to overtime in their home building and nearly pulled off a miracle win as a 15-point underdog. They got back Danilo Gallinari and Jusuf Nurkic in that game and it appears things are finally turning around. They did lose Kenneth Faried late in that game to an apparent neck injury though and it appeared to be serious, as he was stretchered off the floor. That's been this Denver season in a nutshell, as right when things start to turn around, they lose yet another key player. Both games with Portland have been close this season, so look for another close game as Denver come into this matchup as a small favorite.
The Phoenix Suns (12-24) will play the Los Angeles Lakers (7-27) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday.
Things looked bad for the Suns last week, but it may be getting worse. Not only did they lose their best player for the season, they appear to have no fight in them at all. In their most recent game, they allowed 142 points to the Sacramento Kings in an embarrassing loss. That's been the issue all season, as they rank in the bottom-five in points allowed on the year. The one positive to the Eric Bledsoe injury is that players like T.J. Warren and Devin Booker have been asked to fill the void and have been playing well. In a year where Phoenix thought they would compete for a playoff spot, they are obviously rebuilding now playing these youngsters so many minutes to build for the future. It's sad what has happened to this once exciting team, but that's the harsh reality of the NBA at times. The Suns come into this game with a lengthy eight-game losing streak on their ledger as well.
The Lakers are one of few teams in the NBA who look worse than the Suns. The one thing on their side though is that they have won two-straight coming into this and have not had any serious injuries. The defense is still a nightmare though, as they rank 28th in points allowed. With these two bad defense on display, there should be well over 200 combined points scored in this game. The Lakers actually come into this game as a small favorite, which is one of the first times all season they have been a favorite. Look for Kobe Bryant to return for this game as well, as he missed the last game with some sort of shoulder issue.
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