Chicago Bulls vs. Washington Wizards game preview

The Chicago Bulls travel to D.C. to take on the Wizards and here’s what you need to know.

The Chicago Bulls are in our nation’s capital tonight to take on the Washington Wizards at 7:00 p.m. eastern and will look to get back on track after an embarrassing 119-94 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Wednesday night.

The Wizards may be the only team that is more dysfunctional than the Bulls at the moment, though it’s a very close race. Petty feuds and in-fighting among teammates have been the hallmark of their season, with players even cussing out Scott Brooks, their head coach.

Despite the drama, they have still managed to squeeze out four more wins than the Bulls, although they do have a veritable star in John Wall, even if he has been the subject of possible trade rumors along with his running mate, Bradley Beal.

However, the Wizards will be without their superstar Wall, along with Otto Porter and Markieff Morris when they take on Chicago.

Under normal circumstances, this would be great news for the Bulls. Unfortunately, these are not normal circumstances for the Bulls who ironically, can’t afford to win this game. As ridiculous as that sentence reads, it’s true for a team who would be best served by securing a top-three overall pick in next year’s NBA Draft, rather than eking out a few extra wins and dropping down to No. 7 or 8.

That’s the situation they find themselves in tonight. The Bulls are currently tied for the second-worst record in the league, just one game out of the last spot. With so many players out for the Wizards, it almost assures a victory for the Bulls, who may have been better off resting Zach LaVine tonight who is coming off an injury, by having him come off the bench, rather than inserting him back into the starting lineup.

So the Bulls only hope to keep pace in the Zion Williamson chase might be to hope that their dysfunction is a little stronger than the Wizards. As crazy as that might seem, you’re always in the game (or out of it in this case) when you have Jim Boylen as your head coach.