A major home win over the Eastern Conference leaders Toronto Raptors on Monday could only bolsters the Chicago Bulls’ morale for Tuesday’s meeting at Washington Wizards.
It will be the first of the four meetings between two top East teams, and the first meeting since their first-round series.
The Wizards (19-7), the No 3 team in the conference ahead of the Bulls (18-9), come from a 104-92 home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, and aim for a win to close the gap on the Atlanta Hawks (20-7), which will take on the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Wizards have been off to a strong start this season, and two best players on the team, John Wall and Bradley Beal – aged 24 and 21 years old respectively – are doing great.
Wall’s team-high 17.8 points per game could be put to the test against a Bulls team, known for its tough and aggressive defence.
Unexpected team-leader scorer, Jimmy Butler – he averaged 22.1 points per contest – is the man Wizards defence will try to stop in order to improve their home (13-3) record.
Few could explain the two teams’ rivalry than Wizards Coach Randy Wittman.
“It’s always an intense game anyway because you got two teams that are playing hard like we do,” he said.
“It’s going to be intense. It doesn’t need to be, you guys call it, history with the preseason and the playoffs. But even without that, it’s going to be an intense game.”
