Preview: Bulls at Lakers

[January 29, 2015]  Pau Gasol makes his return to face his former team when the Chicago Bulls visit the sinking Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. Gasol is enjoying a terrific season with Chicago after playing six-plus seasons with the Lakers and is about to make his fifth All-Star game appearance. Los Angeles is dealing with a nine-game losing streak that is the franchise’s longest skid since losing the final 10 games of the 1993-94 campaign.

The Lakers’ string of losses reached nine with a 98-92 defeat to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, and posting victories figure to get even tougher with Kobe Bryant (shoulder) out for the season. Chicago began a six-game road trip with an impressive 113-111 overtime victory over Golden State on Tuesday as point guard Derrick Rose hit the game-winning jumper with 8.4 seconds left. “Looks good on the resume. I’m not running away from those shots, I’m not turning them down,” Rose told reporters. “If anything, my teammates are going to give me the ball to take the shot, so that’s a good feeling.”
 

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, CSN Chicago

ABOUT THE BULLS (30-17): Rose and Gasol have begun to play well together in January as both players picked up the pace of their personal performances. Rose scored 30 points in the victory over the Warriors and has led Chicago in scoring in seven of the past eight games, while Gasol had 18 points and 16 rebounds for his seventh consecutive double-double. “A big positive for us to see Derrick getting better and better,” center Joakim Noah told reporters. “As the season’s gone on, the way he’s moving out there health-wise, the way he’s into it is just great for our team, definitely a positive.”

ABOUT THE LAKERS (12-34): With Bryant sidelined, journeyman Wayne Ellington has moved into the starting lineup and he poured in a career-best 28 points in the loss to Washington. Ellington was 12-of-20 from the field against the Wizards and has put together four consecutive double-digit outings. “I made up my mind – I’m going to come out aggressive,” Ellington told reporters. “We are a team that needs to be hungry. We have gotten off to slow starts the past few games. We need to change that.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Chicago has won six of the past seven meetings, including a 113-93 victory on Christmas Day.

2. Bulls SG Jimmy Butler (illness) missed the Golden State contest and is questionable.

3. Los Angeles SF Nick Young (ankle) could miss his second straight game.

PREDICTION: Bulls 102, Lakers 88

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