The Chicago Bulls are hosting the New Orleans Pelicans tonight in Chicago. The game will be live streamed online at 8 PM ET.
The Pelicans suffered the same fate to their best player last night that the Bulls had experienced last week (and last season) with their top performer.
Anthony Davis, the leading scorer and rebounder for the Pelicans (8-8), suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left hand in the first half of Sunday's 103-99 win over New York. It's unclear how long the injury will keep the Chicago native sidelined.
"I was going up for a lob, got fouled and then hit my hand on the rim," said Davis, who came in averaging 19.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and a league-leading 3.9 blocked shots. "I haven't found anything out yet. Most definitely I hope it's a short-term thing. I didn't think it would keep me out, but it did."
The Bulls lost their superstar, Derrick Rose for the second consecutive season to a badly injured right knee. Rose will be out for the entire season, once again, after undergoing knee surgery last week.
With Davis out, Ryan Anderson becomes even more important to the Pelican lineup. Anderson scored a season-high 31 against New York, knocking down seven 3-pointers on 11 attempts. Despite coming off the bench, he's averaging 20.7 points and shooting a career-high 53.8 percent from 3-point range -- one of the best marks in the NBA.
"When Ryan comes into the game, he doesn't think like a bench guy," coach Monty Williams said. "He thinks like 'I'm playing 35 minutes and I've got to do my job.' Obviously we don't expect him to score 31 points, but I will take it."
The Pelicans are 4-1 when he scores at least 18.
The Bulls (7-8), who have won nine of the last 10 meetings, will likely be happy to return to the United Center after a 1-5 road trip. They're 5-0 in Chicago, joining Oklahoma City and Indiana as the only remaining unbeatens at home.
"Just because we're coming home doesn't mean anything," forward Taj Gibson said. "Teams tend to get a chip on their shoulder when they come into Chicago, so we have to be ready."
They suffered a 97-93 setback in Cleveland on Saturday, not able to complete a comeback try that saw them take a one-point lead with 3:59 left after trailing by 12 earlier in the fourth quarter.
Though Chicago is just 1/3 since losing Rose again, but players like Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Jimmy Butler, and Kirk Heinrich are expected to raise their level of play.
