Bulls vs. Bucks: Open Thread

No, Redd's leg wasn't amputated

Gametime: 7:30 pm CT
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Bucks Lineup: Mo Williams / Michael Redd / Desmond Mason / Yi Jianlian / Andrew Bogut
Bobcats Lineup: Kirk Hinrich / Ben Gordon / Luol Deng / Tyrus Thomas / Ben Wallace

Bucks Injuries: Awvee Storey is still out with a hip injury. Or maybe not. It's tough to tell given he's going to be inactive anyway.
Bulls Injuries: Joakim Noah is day-to-day with the sprained ankle he suffered in the second Bulls/Bucks preseason game.

06/07 Series: Bulls 4, Bucks 0. It's not hard to figure out the Bucks' record against Central teams since they were 0-15 last year against their division after their opening night win in Detroit.  The highlight of the Bulls/Bucks series was the Bulls' 126-121 OT win in Milwaukee last year. Redd and Gordon got into a personal shootout, scoring 100 points between them.

Key Points:

• For the Bulls' perspective, check out fellow SBN site Blog-a-Bull.
• Both teams should come out focused tonight, as they each enter the game 0-2. The Bulls are coming off a shocking loss to the Sixers last night in their home opener, after losing their road opener in OT to the Nets.  
• Tyrus Thomas had a big game last night with 21/12 while Ben Gordon has averaged 26 ppg and 7.5 rpg in the first two games (though he's also averaged 5 TOs and shot .395 fg%). Deng and Hinrich combined for just 18 points on 7/24 fg last night.
• Redd averaged 38 ppg in three games against the Bulls last year, while Gordon averaged 31 ppg and 5 apg in the Bulls' four wins.  
• Bogut has always struggled against Wallace, whose strength and quickness have generally made Bogut a non-factor. Wallace averaged 15 rpg against the Bucks last season, but has only collected 9 rebounds in the Bulls' first two games. Bogut averaged just 7 ppg and 7 rpg on only 39% from the field last year against the Bulls, so here's to hoping Bogut might be able to turn the corner tonight.
• Keep an eye on Mo Williams, as he's probably very eager to put last night behind him.  Watch out for Charlie Bell getting extended minutes should Mo struggle again.
• Defensively, Desmond Mason will have his hands full tonight against Luol Deng. The Thomas/Yi matchup should be an interesting one to watch as well--Yi will likely need to make his living on the perimeter given the strength of the Bulls' interior defense.
• Mason had a nice game last night offensively, scoring a number of times out of the post, but let's hope he doesn't get too cocky about it and shoot 15 times tonight. Bobby Simmons and his surgically repaired heel face their first regular season back-to-backer, but after only playing 14 minutes last night he'll hopefully be relatively fresh.