{"id":544956,"date":"2026-01-18T16:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544956\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T16:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:32:18","slug":"nets-vs-bulls-preview-a-busy-sunday-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544956\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets vs. Bulls preview: a busy Sunday in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BROOKLYN,<\/a><\/p>\n

BROOKLYN, NY – JANUARY 16: Nikola Vucevic #9 of the Chicago Bulls grabs the rebound during the game against the Brooklyn Nets on January 16, 2026 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do it again. The Chicago Bulls almost pulled off an improbable comeback, but the Brooklyn Nets escaped with a 112-109 win <\/a>on Friday night. The W snapped their five game losing streak.<\/p>\n

YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Gotham Sports on streaming. Amazingly, this game will tip off after 7 PM. More on that in a bit.<\/p>\n

No Ziaire Williams, Michael Porter Jr, Drake Powell, or Haywood Highsmith.<\/p>\n

Zach Collins and Noa Essengue are out. Patrick Williams is questionable. Josh Giddey has been upgraded to doubtful as he recovers from a left hamstring strain.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn won games one <\/a>and two<\/a>. They\u2019ll wrap up the season series in February.<\/p>\n

Noah Clowney continues to impress. The kid collected a double-double as his 23 points and 11 rebounds paced the Nets frontcourt. The more he plays well, the more he becomes an integral part of the Nets future when they return to playoff contention. Keep at it and the results will be there.<\/p>\n

The Bulls found their three point shooting at the right time on Friday night. They went 6-12 from deep as they made their furious comeback. They\u2019re tenth in threes attempted and 14th in efficiency, which is pretty respectable. For the Nets, they\u2019ve got to make sure they make things tough on the Bulls and limit any quality looks they can generate.<\/p>\n

Nolan Traore got the bulk of the point guard minutes over Egor D\u00ebmin, and it shows the importance of having two decent young guards on the roster. When one doesn\u2019t have it, you can turn to the other one and see if he can bring home. Either way, it serves as a valuable learning lesson for both of them and should help as they continue their careers.<\/p>\n

Without Porter Jr in the lineup, look for Cam Thomas to be one of the team leaders in field goal attempts. If all else fails, Thomas can get shots up at the rim. And with him being unlikely to play on Monday due to the back-to-back, he\u2019ll have even more incentive to hunt for his shot tonight.<\/p>\n

Player to watch: Nikola Vucevic<\/p>\n

When Vucevic has it going, he\u2019s hard to slow down. Vuc has a great touch, is solid in the post, and can stretch the floor. There\u2019s a reason why he\u2019s always given the Nets hell over the years and Chicago will make sure he gets the ball as much as possible this evening.<\/p>\n

Nic Claxton will keep on keeping on. Clax grabbed a season high 14 rebounds on Friday as he helped the Nets to a +6 advantage on the boards against the Bulls. Securing possessions matters a ton in close games and if we have another one that goes down to the wire, Claxton\u2019s work on the glass will go a long way in pushing the Nets to a win.<\/p>\n

I feel very safe saying that just about everybody at the United Center will have their attention on the LA Rams vs. Chicago Bears at Solider Field this evening. It\u2019s the first time the Bears have been in the divisional round in 15 years. With that in mind, let\u2019s take a trip back in time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN, NY – JANUARY 16: Nikola Vucevic #9 of the Chicago Bulls grabs the rebound during the game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6,19734],"class_list":{"0":"post-544956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nets-game-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115917065753635953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}