What: Charlotte Hornets (19-58) (12-27 home) vs Chicago Bulls (35-42) (19-19 away)
When: 1:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: NBATV, FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Statement (purple), Bulls–Association (white)
Game Lines: Hornets +9.5, Hornets money line +320, O/U 227.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Mark Williams-questionable (back), Nick Smith Jr.-questionable (ankle), Josh Green-out (shoulder), Damion Baugh-out (hip), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Brandon Miller-out (wrist), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Bulls: Dalen Terry-probable (illness), Lonzo Ball-questionable (wrist), Ayo Dosunmo-out (shoulder), Tre Jones-out (foot)
It’s the second to last home game of the season, so by rule, I have to use the word penultimate.
The two teams come in with contrasting objectives. The Hornets have nothing to play for and would rather lose than risk the health of future contributors. The Bulls, meanwhile, are playing for play-in positioning, which is seemingly exactly where they want to be every year. They’re locked into a play-in spot, but all four spots are pretty fluid right now. The Hawks have fallen back lately, which means the Bulls can realistically finish anywhere between seven and ten. That’s the difference between needing to win one game or two or getting a home game for the first play-in game. All of that makes a big difference.
To their credit, the Bulls are coming on very strong down the stretch. They’ve won six of their last eight and are scoring approximately a billion points per game. Their offense has simply been pretty good but they’ve played at a torrid pace, by far the fastest in the league. They’ve been shooting a terrific ball from three, which is somewhat terrifying for a Hornets team that tends to give up a pretty hefty helping of attempts from that range.
Coby White and Nikola Vucevic have been leading the charge without Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan to take up all the shots. Rookie Matas Buzelis has had a good stretch of play that surely won’t be a sour talking point for any Hornets fans.
Charlotte is just trying to make it to the finish line. Miles Bridges is going to try to make the team competitive mostly on his own. Seth Curry continues his pursuit of the 3-point percentage crown. Taj Gibson goes for 1000 games. That’s about all we’re watching for.
