Chicago @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 17, 2019 ) Chicago 102, Sacramento 129

The Chicago Bulls are not off to a great start on their three-game road trip and will try to salvage the finale when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Monday. The Bulls are losers of three straight overall and seven of their last nine with the offense struggling for consistent production from anyone other than guard Zach LaVine.

Chicago finally hit the century mark after averaging 92 points in a pair of losses but could not hit the big shots or make the right plays down the stretch in a 107-103 setback at Portland on Friday. "The wins will come," Bulls coach Jim Boylen told reporters. "Wins are always good, but we're building this thing. We've got the blocks being laid. I liked our effort tonight, I liked our togetherness, and I liked our competitiveness." The Kings are coming off a big win after battling from 17 down to force overtime before knocking off Denver 100-97 at home on Saturday. Sacramento is riding a five-game winning streak at home and got a season-high 30 points from small forward Harrison Barnes in Saturday's triumph.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Chicago-plus, NBCS California (Sacramento)

ABOUT THE BULLS (6-14): Chicago moved some pieces around due to injury on Friday and pushed Kris Dunn into the starting lineup, giving the team an extra ball handler alongside LaVine and Tomas Satoransky. Dunn delivered nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds in 29 minutes but also committed a team-high five turnovers. "Once the fourth quarter hits, we have to pay attention to detail more, rebounding, getting stops," Dunn told reporters. "But if we move the ball like we did tonight, good things will start happening. There's three more quarters (of the season) left; it could change like that."

ABOUT THE KINGS (8-10): Barnes is averaging 16.7 points but is picking up his pace of late and pushed that number to 22.5 points on 56 percent shooting over the last four games. Barnes' uptick in production is helping the team survive a slump from leading scorer Buddy Hield, who is 16-of-44 from the floor, including 6-of-25 from beyond the arc, in two games since exploding for 41 points and knocking down a franchise-record 11 3-pointers at Boston last Monday. Both wings are awaiting the return of point guard De'Aaron Fox, who sat out the last nine games with a sprained ankle and has yet to advance past shooting drills in practice.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Chicago SF Chandler Hutchinson (shoulder contusion) will miss his second straight game.

2. Kings PF Richaun Holmes collected 13 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday for his sixth double-double.

3. Sacramento took both meetings last season, including a 129-102 drubbing at home.

PREDICTION: Kings 106, Bulls 94