What: Charlotte Hornets (6-12) at Chicago Bulls (7-14)

When: 8:00pm Eastern

Where: United Center; Chicago, IL

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Statement (purple), Bulls–Association (white)

Game Lines: Hornets +4.5, O/U 220.5

Injuries:
Hornets: Mark Williams-questionable (back), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (knee), Frank Ntilikina-out (leg)

Bulls: Lonzo Ball-out (knee), Zach LaVine-out (foot), Torrey Craig-questionable (knee), Alex Caruso-probable (toe)

It’s a showdown between two bottom dwellers that are both missing their best players. The Bulls have long been an ill-fitting jumble of B level stars, and the team is finally collapsing under its own weight. There are rumors that a Zach LaVine trade is becoming more likely, though his contract may be prohibitive.

LaVine has been out for two games now, and the Bulls won both of them, and it’s not like they were against soft opponents. They pulled out wins over the Bucks and Pelicans. Coby White has been the fill-in LaVine, scoring 23 and 31 points in the two wins. DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic continue to be the other focal points, but both are having relatively down years compared to where they were in the first two seasons of this group in Chicago.

For the Hornets, Mark Williams was a surprising addition to the injury report with what the team is calling a low back contusion. He must have tweaked something during practice, but hopefully it’s nothing significant.

Either way, the Hornets best bet is probably to win this game from the outside. They’ve been hot from deep lately, hitting a league best 47.2% of their threes over the last five games. For the season, the Bulls have actually allowed their opponents to make more 3-pointers than the Hornets have. The Hornets need to be ready to let it fly from deep.