What: Charlotte Hornets (9-28) (3-15 away) at Chicago Bulls (18-23) (8-14 home)
When: 8:00pm Eastern
Where: United Center; Chicago, IL
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Bulls-Statement (black)
Game Lines: Hornets +3.5, Hornets money line +140, O/U 235.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Mark Williams-probable (knee), Brandon Miller-questionable (wrist), Moussa Diabate-questionable (illness), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Bulls: Coby White-probable (neck), Ayo Dosunmu-probable (leg), Talen Horton-Tucker-questionable (knee), Josh Giddey-questionable (hip), Torrey Craig-out (lower leg), Adama Sanogo-out (knee)
The Hornets vs Bulls was supposed to be one of the feature games of the NBA calendar each season. Not because the teams are any good, but because the Ball brothers draw eyeballs. Unfortunately for everyone, both of them have spent a lot of time sidelined because of injuries the last few years.
Believe it or not, the last time both LaMelo and Lonzo Ball played in the same game was November 29, 2021. It’s been over three years since the two played against one another. LaMelo has swept the series in terms of individual production, and in rather convincing fashion. However, Lonzo’s teams are 2-1 in the meetings.
Even though the Ball brothers are going to get lot of attention, Lonzo is mostly a role player for the Bulls acting as a sort of defensive specialist off the bench. Zach LaVine is still the biggest threat Chicago has on the roster. His usage is down from his other healthy seasons in Chicago despite the departure of DeMar DeRozan, but the tradeoff is that he’s having the most efficient season of his career. He’s shooting 51.6% from the field and 45.5% from three. He’s averaging 30 points per game in the month of January, though he’s slumped in the last two.
After LaVine, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic shoulder the majority of the offensive workload. Like LaVine, Vucevic is having his most efficient scoring season of his career. White isn’t, but we’ve seen him catch fire and carry the offense on any given night.
Despite the firepower at the top of the rotation, the Bulls have a mediocre offense because of how top heavy they are. They only have three scoring threats. Their counting stats are inflated because of how fast they play. Defensively, they’re not very good.
The Hornets have to slow the game down and make the Bulls score in the half court. That also means they need to take care of the ball better and not commit the amount of live ball turnovers they’ve been prone to at various points throughout the season. They should be able to get good looks on offense, so the opportunity to score points will be there. It’ll be a matter of taking care of the ball and making the Bulls play at the Hornets’ pace.
