A pair of Eastern Conference teams looking to move up the playoff ladder take the floor in search of a victory in the Windy City. The Charlotte Hornets are on the road as they make the trip to take on the Chicago Bulls Friday night. Charlotte dropped Sacramento 111-104 on the road in their previous game Tuesday night, winning outright as a 15.5-point underdog. Chicago was on the road against the Knicks Wednesday night in the second game of a back-to-back situation, falling 116-100 and failing to cover the line as an 8.5-point underdog. In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Bulls own an 80-46 advantage and have won the last three meetings. That includes a 111-100 home win in the first meeting this season on December 6, 2023.

Charlotte Hornets Seeking Back-to-Back Wins

Charlotte snapped an 11-game skid as they dropped the Kings on the road in the second game of a back-to-back situation Tuesday night. The Hornets improved to 8-24 on the season and stood fourth in the Southeast Division standings, 11 games behind the Heat for the top spot. They were 13th in the Eastern Conference, 10 games behind the Magic for the final guaranteed playoff spot and 5.5 games behind Atlanta for the final spot in the play-in field. Against Sacramento, Charlotte trailed by 10 in the first quarter only to close the stanza on a 17-3 run to lead by four after 12 minutes. The Hornets were down five at the half and by three after three quarters before outscoring the Kings 36-26 in the fourth to come away with the victory. Charlotte shot 51.2% from the field, including 12 of 34 from three-point range, and forced 20 Sacramento turnovers in the contest. Terry Rozier finished with 34 points and six assists to lead the Hornets in the victory.

On the season, the Hornets are 27th in the league in scoring offense with 110 points per game. Charlotte is 27th in the league in rebounding as they collect 41.1 boards per contest and 24th in assists with 25.3 dimes per contest. The Hornets are 25th in scoring defense as they allow an average of 120.6 points per game. Terry Rozier is second on the Hornets in scoring with 24.1 points plus 3.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game this season. Gordon Hayward (14.5 points, 4.7 boards, 4.6 assists), LaMelo Ball (24.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 8.2 assists), Miles Bridges (20 points, 7.1 rebounds), P.J. Washington (13.4 points) and Brandon Miller (14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds) are solid contributors on the offensive end of the floor. Mark Williams (12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds), Theo Maledon, JT Thor, Cody Martin and Nick Richards are looked at to provide rotational depth for the Hornets. Charlotte is 21st in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 46.7% from the field as a team. The Hornets are 27th in threes per game with 11.3 per contest and 19th in three-point field goal percentage by shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc.

Frank Ntilkina (leg) is out until mid-January after breaking his leg in preseason. Ball (ankle) last played on November 26 against the Magic and is expected to be out until mid-January. Williams (back) remains out indefinitely after last taking the floor on December 8 while Hayward (calf) last played on December 26 and is slated to be out until late January. Miller (hip) missed Tuesday’s game and is questionable here so watch for any new information.

Chicago Bulls Look to Prevail at Home

Chicago finished up their back-to-back road set by squaring off with the Knicks in the Big Apple Wednesday night. The Bulls entered Thursday 15-21 on the season and stood fourth in the Central Division, 10 games behind the Bucks for the top spot. They were 11th in the Eastern Conference, five games behind Orlando for the final guaranteed playoff spot and half a game behind the Hawks for the final spot in the play-in tournament. Against New York, Chicago trailed by two after the opening quarter, led by as many as 10 in the second quarter and held a four-point lead at the half. The Bulls were outscored 35-23 in the third quarter to trail by eight points. Chicago got within one with 9:09 remaining but gave up a 9-2 run to trail 99-91 and that sealed things up for the Knicks. The Bulls shot 41.6% from the field, including 13 of 32 from three-point range, and allowed the Knicks to shoot 51.7% from the field in the contest. DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 28 points in the loss.

For the year, Chicago stands 28th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 109.2 points per contest. The Bulls are 21st in rebounding as they collect an average of 43.3 boards a night while they are 29th in assists by handing out an average of 23.3 dimes per contest. Chicago is 10th in scoring defense as they allow an average of 112.1 points per game this season. Zach LaVine is second on the team with 21 points per contest on the year. DeMar DeRozan contributes 22.4 points, 3.8 rebounds plus 5.3 assists a night while Nikola Vucevic (16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds) and Ayo Dosunmu each are valuable options. Alex Caruso (10 points), Coby White (17.8 points, 4.8 assists), Andre Drummond, Torrey Craig, Jevon Carter and Patrick Williams (10 points) are looked at to provide valuable minutes as well. As a team, Chicago is 28th in the league in field goal percentage as they knock down 45.2% of their shots on the year. The Bulls are 24th in the league by knocking down 11.6 three-pointers per contest while they stand 20th by hitting 35.5% of their attempts from beyond the arc on the year.

Lonzo Ball (knee) has yet to take the floor this season and hasn’t played since January 14, 2022. He has been shut down for the remainder of the season. LaVine (foot) last played on November 28 and is expected to be out until early January. Craig (heel) is slated to be out until late February after being diagnosed with an acute sprain of his plantar fascia. Vucevic (groin) last played on December 23 and is expected to be out until mid-January.