Chicago Bulls vs San Antonio Spurs Prediction & Match Preview - March 27th 2021 | NBA Season 2020-21
Two sides that have lost six of their past ten matchups meet on Saturday as the San Antonio Spurs play host to the Chicago Bulls at the AT&T Center.
Eager to keep their star Zach LaVine happy, the Chicago Bulls had an extremely busy trade deadline day and will now look to bolster their bid for a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Coming into this matchup, both sides will look to return to winning ways. The Chicago Bulls lost two games at home to the Jazz and the Cavs this week, while the San Antonio Spurs have let four games slip by without a win.
Match Details
Fixture: Chicago Bulls vs San Antonio Spurs | NBA Season 2020-21.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 27th; 8:30 PM ET (Sunday, March 28th; 6:00 AM IST).
Venue: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX.
Chicago Bulls Preview
The Chicago Bulls' new-look front office receives an A for its efforts on deadline day to improve the quality of the roster. Trading for Orlando Magic star Nikola Vucevic was a major coup for the Chicago Bulls, as the player could be an excellent partner for fellow All-Star Zach LaVine.
Meanwhile, Daniel Theis and Troy Brown Jr from Boston should be solid reinforcements for the Chicago Bulls wings, which proves that the franchise is heading in the right direction.
Now for the Chicago Bulls season, the only way is up. The East is extremely competitive below the top three sides this season. With the Bulls only three games behind fourth place, who knows what their revamped outfit could achieve.
Key Player - Zach LaVine
The acquisition of Vucevic is a statement of intent from the Chicago Bulls to Zach LaVine.
The All-Star could have looked for moves in the off-season, as he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2022. However, that may change, as LaVine will now lead a Chicago Bulls' big three with Coby White and Vucevic.
LaVine has been electric this season, racking up 28 points and five rebounds a night.
He has been the primary source of the Chicago Bulls' wins, with a share of 4.9 and an offensive rating of 116. He has an effective field-goal percentage of 61.1 and ranks first among starting shooting guards for 3-points made (43.3%).
Chicago Bulls Predicted Lineup
Point Guard - Tomas Satoransky; Shooting guard - Zach LaVine; Power forward - Lauri Markannen; Small forward - Patrick Williams; Center - Thaddeus Young.
San Antonio Spurs Preview
With losses in their last four games, the San Antonio Spurs have dropped to 8th seed in the West and a game behind the Dallas Mavericks with whom they have been jostling with all season.
During this period, the San Antonio Spurs have been held to under 102 points in three of their matchups, highlighting their inconsistency at the offensive end. Their 85-98 loss against a depleted LA Clippers side on Thursday was a prime example of what is going wrong in San Antonio at the moment, as it marked their worst points tally on the season.
Looking at the bigger picture, the San Antonio Spurs have had another solid season and are far better off than many thought they would be. However, without making any substantial moves prior to the trade deadline as they look to a rebuild and with LaMarcus Aldridge potentially bought out, the Spurs could have a difficult run-in compared to that of last season.
Key Player - DeMar DeRozan
In an inexperienced San Antonio Spurs side, DeMar DeRozan has been as consistent as ever. He has lead the franchise on their unexpectedly positive season so far.
DeRozan is shooting the ball at an elite clip of 49.1% and is averaging over 20 points a night. With his fair share of ball-handling duties, DeRozan has improved his overall game, dishing out a season-high 7.1 dimes per matchup and shooting a personal best from the line (88.2%).
DeRozan is one of the league's best at getting to his spot on the floor and draining mid-range jumpers. Ahead of the summer, it is expected that the star could part ways with the San Antonio Spurs. If so, he will undoubtedly have many suitors when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
San Antonio Spurs Predicted Lineup
Point guard - Dejounte Murray; Shooting guard - Derrick White; Small forward - Keldon Johnson; Power Forward - DeMar DeRozan; C - Jakob Poeltl.
Bulls vs Spurs Match Prediction
The game could be coming too soon for the Chicago Bulls' new stars, but this matchup could nevertheless be a tight affair between two mid-table offenses.
The Chicago Bulls will look to capitalize on the San Antonio Spurs' offensive woes and score over 100 points for the first time in three games.
It may not be a high-scoring matchup. Even though the San Antonio Spurs have a losing record on home court, they could just edge this one, making it 2-0 on the season against the Chicago Bulls after beating them 106-99 ten days ago.
How to watch the Bulls vs Spurs matchup?
This match will be telecast locally on Fox Sports Southwest and NBC Sports Chicago. This game can also be live-streamed with an NBA League Pass.