The Chicago Bulls will get the chance to return to above .500 with a win tonight against the Charlotte Hornets. Chicago will be playing the second half of back-to-back games after winning last night against the Brooklyn Nets, 108-99. On Halloween, Charlotte finished their small two-game home stand with a loss to the Sacramento Kings, 115-108.
Matchup to Watch
PJ Washington vs Patrick Williams
With Terry Rozier unlikely to play and LaMelo Ball out tonight against the Bulls, the best scoring option for Charlotte is PJ Washington. PJ Washington is averaging 17.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in seven games this season. Washington has scored at least 28 points in the last two games and shot 55% from the field. Patrick Williams will get another tough challenge against a player who will need to play well for Charlotte to have a chance of winning.
Patrick Williams has gotten comfortable with his role on the Bulls in the last four games. In the Bulls’ last four games, Williams has scored in double-digits and shot at least 50% from the field three times. With Zach Lavine possibility being out, Williams will look to have a double-digit point performance against a Hornets team that has allowed opponents to score at least 105 points in every game this season.
Keys to the Game
Transition Defense/Rotations
Let’s be honest; after the first three quarters Tuesday night, Chicago did not deserve to have any chances of winning. Chicago made the proper adjustments in the fourth quarter and won because of Zach Lavine doing great things and their defensive energy. Nobody can beat Chicago if they get back on defense, match up fast, and rotate correctly.
Tuesday night, Almost every possession when Kevin Durant got the ball in the post, any Bulls player will come and double-team Durant, which led other Bulls players to struggle to rotate to the shooters from the outside, which resulted in Brooklyn getting open shots. Rotations must be on point, especially when rotating to a three-point shooter.
The other issue last night for Chicago was their transition defense. When the Bulls miss a shot, everybody, besides one or two players, must get back in defense and match up. That only happened a little in the fourth quarter. There were times when Brooklyn got wide-open shots, and no Bulls players were communicating on who they were guarding. Remember, Charlotte is seventh in the NBA, shooting 39% from three.
Aggressive Nikola Vucevic
Nikola Vucevic got post touches in Tuesday’s night matchup against Brooklyn but was not aggressive enough as a big man. Even though Vucevic got 15 rebounds, he struggled to be firm in the post and paint defense. Instead of dominating in the post, he chose to pass out most of the time. He was one reason for Brooklyn outscoring Chicago 44-32 in points in the paint. Vucevic has not recorded a block in the stat column since last Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers. He was the only starter not to score in double-digits, with seven points on 3-for-8 shooting.
Vucevic will get a great chance to have a good bounce-back game tonight against the Hornets’ big man, Mason Plumlee. Vucevic will live in the post and should attack Plumlee. Sometimes Vucevic will pass to an open shooter, but he must go to work to get easy buckets to keep his confidence high. Charlotte has allowed the fourth most points in the paint at 54.9 per game.
Do not fall asleep against Charlotte
Just because you won against a solid Brooklyn Nets team the night before does not mean you can fall asleep against a Charlotte Hornets team without LaMelo Ball. So far this season, Charlotte has won against a couple of good teams, the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks. Charlotte ranks top ten in assists (28.4) and three-point percentage (39%). If the Bulls get out to another slow start, Chicago can be in trouble, and the Hornets can find themselves with another upset win.
Injury Report
Bulls
| Player | Injury | Status |
| Lonzo Ball | Knee | Out |
| Zach Lavine | Knee Management | Playing |
| Andre Drummond | Shoulder | Out |
| Coby White | Quad | Out |
Hornets
| Player | Injury | Status |
| Terry Rozier | Ankle | Doubtful |
| Coby Martin | Quad | Doubtful |
| LaMelo Ball | Ankle | Out |
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