At 12:00 p.m. ET the Brooklyn Nets (9-18) will open up the packed Christmas slate of NBA games against the injury-riddled Chicago Bulls (10-16) at the beautiful Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on ESPN. Live stream the action free here. Bulls fans can listen to the game on ESPN 1000, while Nets fans know they can tune in to the radio broadcast on 101.9 WFAN FM.
NBA matchmakers surely thought they were pairing two Eastern Conference heavyweights with this matchup. Instead, they will be featuring a Bulls team playing without former MVP Derrick Rose, and a Nets squad minus All-Star center Brook Lopez. Both men have been lost for the remainder of the season with knee and foot injuries, respectively.
Today's game will be especially tough for the Bulls, who expect to be without Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler and Kirk Hinrich due to an assortment of ailments. In their absence, newcomer D.J. Augustin will be leaned on to provide some of the missing offense.
"As we get bodies back, D.J. gets comfortable, I said all along that I have great belief in this team," coach Tom Thibodeau said.
In Brooklyn, the Nets have dealt with their own rash of maladies, but new head coach Jason Kidd thinks his players are using it as a crutch, and have begun to be okay with losing. "We're kind of getting comfortable with losing and we've got to make a stand with that because when things get tough, do we just give in?" Kidd said. "And most of the time right now we do."
Paul Pierce showed some nastiness in Brooklyn's most recent game against Indiana, getting ejected for clotheslining Pacers point guard George Hill. The Nets will need more of that fire if they are going to turn this season around.
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