Pre-Gamin’: Bulls at Hornets (6:30 CT) – Broadcast Info, Projected Lineups, What to Watch For
When this season started, I didn’t think we would need to talk about late-January must-wins in Charlotte, but thanks to the latest infuriating loss on a growing list of them, here we are.
Game Info
Chicago Bulls (22-25) at Charlotte Hornets (13-36) – 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago (TV) and 670 The Score (Radio)
Projected Starting Lineups
Chicago Bulls
- Ayo Dosunmu
- Zach LaVine
- DeMar DeRozan
- Patrick Williams
- Nikola Vučević
Injury Report: Goran Dragic OUT (conditioning/illness), Javonte Green OUT (knee), Lonzo Ball OUT (knee)
Charlotte Hornets
- Bryce McGowens
- Terry Rozier
- Gordon Hayward
- P.J. Washington
- Mason Plumlee
Injury Report: LaMelo Ball QUESTIONABLE (knee), Gordon Hayward QUESTIONABLE (hamstring), Terry Rozier PROBABLE (illness), Cody Martin OUT (knee), Kelly Oubre Jr OUT (hand)
Odds
The Bulls come into tonight as 6-point favorites against the Hornets at both PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook and FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook. Click on either link to sign up and pick the Bulls to cover (… or pick the opposite …)!
What to Watch For
- Where to begin after Tuesday’s loss? I guess we can start with Zach LaVine – how healthy is that hand exactly? Eli did a great job taking a deeper dive into that this morning. But over the last five games, since that hand injury was announced, Zach has shot just 37.5% from the field and 16.7% from three. That’s…not good. Look, Zach is an excellent basketball player and incredibly important to any sort of run the Bulls want to make, but if the hand injury is affecting him this badly it might be time to take a few games off. Zach playing hurt isn’t helping himself or the team, so if the hand is hurting that bad, let’s take some time off to get it right.
- In Tuesday’s pregame, I called for more of the 18 & 10 version of Patrick Williams we saw against Atlanta. For the first half against the Pacers, we got that! He put up 5 points and 5 rebounds in just under 16 minutes of play and was on pace for back-to-back double-doubles. Then, in the second half, poof! Just like that, he disappeared. In just under 12 second-half minutes he put up just two points and didn’t record a single rebound. He was hardly the only one that went on cruise control, so much so that it sparked yet another team meeting postgame. Zero rebounds in a half for P-Will is unacceptable.
- Speaking of unacceptable second-half efforts, Vooch not grabbing a single rebound and only putting up 8 points isn’t great. That said, his dunk down the stretch was big at the time and he needs to be a guy that gets more looks in close games during crunch time.
- Not a whole lot on Charlotte, LaMelo Ball is still questionable but he’s missed the last three games. The Hornets have allowed 116+ points in each of the last nine games. The Hornets have allowed opponents to shoot 40% or better from three in four of their last five games. Seems like the perfect spot for a get-right game.
- It feels like I’m Charlie Brown trying to kick the football here, but let’s hope that the Pacers debacle was enough to wake this team up and consistently put in 48 minutes of intensity.
