Three Things to Watch: Bulls square off against Rubio and the Jazz

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Here are Three Things to Watch when the Bulls take on the Utah Jazz on Sunday on NBC Sports Chicago+ and streaming live on the NBC Sports app. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. with Bulls Pregame Live.

1. This is an entirely different team without Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert is the best post defender in the NBA, and he's the main reason Utah has one of the best defenses in the league every year. But a bone bruise in his right knee has kept him out since Nov. 11, and he was slated to miss four-to-six weeks when first diagnosed. The Jazz had the NBA's third best defense (100.2) at the time of the injury. Since then Utah's defense rating has skyrocketed to 106.9, good for 21st best in the NBA over the last two weeks. The Bulls have struggled on offense this season, but without Gobert they should be able to get inside more and score a few easy buckets.

2. Ricky Rubio dazzles every time out

It seems as though Ricky Rubio has been around forever, but he's still just 27 years old. And in his first season away from the Timberwolves he's enjoying one of his best seasons. He's up to 13.2 points per game with Utah, and while his assists are at a career-low (5.1) he's still leading a Jazz offense that has been top-10 since Gobert's injury. He's also one of the league's best defenders, so Kris Dunn and Jerian Grant will get all they can handle against him.

3. Great time to see them

The Jazz are without their leader in Gobert and are just coming off a four-game East Coast road trip in which they went 1-3. After a 5-3 start they have lost eight of their last 10 games and are just settling back in. If there was ever a perfect time for the Bulls to be seeing the Jazz it's now. Of course the Bulls will be playing on a back-to-back, but this is as close to best-case scenario as you're going to get against Utah.

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