Three Things to Watch: Bulls-Pelicans

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Back to back

Fred Hoiberg's young group has dealt with plenty early in the season. Not having Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis crippled the frontcourt depth. Cameron Payne is still out and Kris Dunn is just returning from a dislocated finger. The Bulls have already faced the Cavaliers, Spurs and Thunder....and the Raptors and Heat are nothing to scoff at, either.

One thing Hoiberg's group hasn't faced yet? A back to back. Saturday night will mark the first time this young, inexperienced group has played two straight nights. Yes, fresh legs compared to older teams make this easier, but it's also mentally taxing to compete for 48 minutes two nights in a row. The good news is the Pelicans will also be on the second half of a back-to-back. They, like just about every team the Bulls will face this year, are more experienced.

Boogie and The Brow

It hasn't resulted in many wins for the Pelicans, but there isn't a better 1-2 punch talent-wise in the NBA than Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Entering Friday night's action, Davis and Cousins were ranked 2nd and 6th, respectively, in PER. The raw numbers are just absurd, so we'll let them do the talking:

Davis: 27.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 2.6 assists, 1.4 steals, 53.2% FG

Cousins: 30.1 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.3 blocks, 2.1 steals, 48.8% FG

Yeah. Not bad, fellas.

Lauri's biggest test yet...and it ain't close

So the Bulls are on a back-to-back. And they'll face the best 1-2 frontcourt in the entire NBA. Guess what that means? Lauri Markkanen gets the steepest test to date, and maybe the toughest one he'll face all year long. Markkanen has shown he's up to the task thus far, but with Davis hounding him all night he'll likely need to defer to his teammates to get the job done.

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