The Chicago Bulls play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at United Center on Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers (46-27) had an incredible win in their most recent game but they also suffered one of their worst losses of the season. While they got a victory in the standings sheet, Portland lost Jusuf Nurkic for the season. That injury was downright hard to watch, as Nurkic suffered a compound fracture of his fibula and tibia. While they did grab that double-overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets, the loss of Nurkic is way more valuable. Making up the presence of Nurkic will nearly be impossible, as he's averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.4 blocks per game this season. What he really gives them is a presence down low on both ends of the floor though and that's something that simply can't be filled. What makes it even worse is the fact that C.J. McCollum is expected to miss at least another week, as he continues to recover from a knee injury of his own. Portland has catapulted themselves up to the four-seed in the west but it's hard to see them getting far with all of these injuries dismantling their roster. The only bit of good news is the Trail Blazers comes into this matchup rolling, winning seven of their last eight games in total.

The Bulls (21-54) have one of the most promising young cores in the NBA but it simply hasn't led to many wins. The injury bug is really hitting them too, as they played Tuesday night without Kris Dunn, Otto Porter and Zach LaVine. That's the core-three headed forward and Chicago was forced to start players like Ryan Arcidiacono, Wayne Selden Jr. and Shaq Harrison. While those are all fine role players, it's simply not good enough to compete in the NBA. It may be time to just rest those aforementioned young studs and let these role players fight for jobs for next season. Losses wouldn't be the worst thing for this franchise either, as adding a top pick in next year's draft could make this a dangerous team in the future.

This is the second and final meeting between these teams, with Portland winning the first matchup, 124-112.