DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls will be playing against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans tonight. As Bulls fans should be aware, their team hasn’t gotten off to a particularly good start for the 2023-2024 NBA season and currently holds a record of 6 wins and 14 losses. That gives Chicago the 13th position in the Eastern Conference standings.
Their opponents for tonight will be the Pelicans. New Orleans has started off the season much better when compared to the Bulls. This makes sense since Williamson finally appears to be healthy and on the court for his team. The Pelicans have a record of 11 wins and 9 losses, giving them the 8th spot in the West.
As both these teams get ready to face off, let us take a closer look at the injury reports and expected starting lineups for this game. Additionally, a prediction regarding the outcome will also be made available.
DeMar DeRozan is listed as questionable for the Chicago Bulls vs New Orleans Pelicans game
Bulls fans will be disappointed to hear that DeRozan might not play in this game against the Pelicans. According to the injury reports, DeMar is dealing with an ankle injury and is listed as questionable for this game. This is certainly bad news for his team considering that he is one of their best scorers and expert midrange shooter.
Not having DeRozan healthy for this game means that the Bulls will have to make the most out of the players they have available. That said, here are the injury reports and expected rosters for this game.
Chicago Bulls injury report
- Lonzo Ball (out)
- Zach LaVine (out)
- Onuralp Bitim (out)
- DeMar DeRozan (questionable)
Chicago Bulls expected starting lineup
- Coby White
- Ayo Dosunmu
- Patrick Williams
- Alex Caruso
- Nikola Vucevic
New Orleans Pelicans injury report
- Larry Nance Jr, (out)
- CJ McCollum (out)
- Jose Alvarado (questionable)
- Matt Ryan (out)
New Orleans Pelicans expected starting lineup
- Herb Jones
- Trey Murphy III
- Brandon Ingram
- Zion Williamson
- Jonas Valančiūnas
As we can tell, both the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans are dealing with several injuries to players on their roster. Nonetheless, here are the predictions for this game.
The Pelicans are favored over the Bulls tonight
Although players such as CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. do not look healthy for this game, the Pelicans are still significantly more healthy and in a better position when compared to the Bulls. Having a healthy Zion on the court greatly increases the ceiling and potential for the Pels.
Since both DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are not expected to play in this game, we do not see the Bulls defeating the Pelicans tonight. While Chicago might be able to catch New Orleans off guard, they are not expected to do so in this match.