The Charlotte Hornets Look to Blowout the Chicago Bulls… Again

The Charlotte Hornets are set to face the Chicago Bulls for the second time this season after defeating them 130-105 a little over a week ago. The Hornets completely dominated the Bulls in their previous match-up that was in Charlotte but this time the game will be in Chicago and they will want to play a lot better in front of their home fans.

The Bulls are (3-1) at home and are playing much better than they are away from Chicago. They struggled against the Hornets when they played in Charlotte but don’t expect a repeat performance of that game. The Bulls are a great team that is projected to finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff standing. They will play much better than they did last time out.

The Charlotte Hornets also had an absurd game shooting the ball that will be difficult to repeat for the rest of the year. They had one of their best shooting performances of the past few seasons with that win. it almost seemed as if no one could miss during that one.

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The Bulls are a notoriously great defensive team over the past few seasons but since they have changed coaches this year, their defense isn’t as strong as it has been in the past.

In their last outing, Jeremy Lamb dropped a season high 20 points on the Bulls and the Hornets had a total of six players in double figures in that game. Nicolas Batum had 18 points, Jeremy Lin finished with 15 points, Al Jefferson tallied up 14 points, and Spencer Hawes and Kemba Walker both racked up 13 points.

This game will test the Charlotte Hornets and show if the last win against the Bulls was a fluke or not. Can they consistently compete and defeat top tier teams in the east or did they just get lucky last time out?

That will be the question in this one. I think the Charlotte Hornets have proved that they are a revamped team that is different from last season. They have improved for the better. They need to consistently defeat top teams in the Eastern Conference to assert their play and dominance over their competition. If they can take the first two games from the Bulls and win decisively in Chicago, then that would answer a lot of questions that face the team this season. They will show that they can play with the big boys in the East.

Charlotte Hornets (4-4) @ Chicago Bulls (5-3)

8:00 p.m. EST, November 13th, 2015 – United Center, Chicago, IL

Broadcast on FOX Sports Southeast

Injury Update:

CHA: Spencer Hawes – PROBABLE (right ankle sprain), Code Zeller – QUESTIONABLE (left ankle strain), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – OUT right shoulder surgery, missed last eight games

CHI: Mike Dunleavy (back) is OUT … Kirk Hinrich (toe) is QUESTIONABLE … Joakim Noah (right knee) is PROBABLE.

Biggest Story:

The Charlotte Hornets are looking to win their third straight game and get to one game over .500 with a win over the Chicago Bulls.

They Hornets did not win three games in a row until December 22nd of last season but can get three straight this year very early in the season with a win tonight. This would be a huge win for the team and give them a winning streak that they haven’t been accustomed to in the past few years.

This win would get the Charlotte Hornets over the .500 mark for the first time since the opening game of last season.

That is over a year ago since this franchise has been over .500 in the regular season. This would be a huge step forward for this team. They need to be over .500 this year to assure themselves a spot int he playoffs which is their goal this season.

It’s surprising that this team has not been over .500 for over a year but that is where they stand. They are (4-4) and look to improve to (5-4) on the season with a win.

Best Match-up to Watch:

Nicolas Batum vs Jimmy Butler

While I don’t think that they will start the game covering each other as that task will likely be given to P.J. Hairston, these two players are still some of the best two way players in the NBA. Butler broke out after last season when he was given an extended offensive role on the team. Since then, he has gotten a max extension from the Bulls and is now the scoring leader and overall leader for that team.

Batum has been given an expanded offensive role this year with his new Charlotte Hornets team and looks to break out in the same way that Jimmy Butler did. Batum is an all-around offensive talent that can shoot, pass, and handle the ball but he is being put to the test this year and must cut down on his 3.0 turnovers per game which is far too high.

I expect both of these great players to be defending each other to close out the game if it is a close match-up and that would be really fun to watch.

Next: Marvin Williams is the Charlotte Hornets' X-Factor

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