Swarm and Sting
Fansided

Charlotte Hornets look to end losing streak with a road win against the Chicago Bulls

By Elijah Edwards

CHARLOTTE, NC - FEBRUARY 27: Jeremy Lamb
CHARLOTTE, NC - FEBRUARY 27: Jeremy Lamb /
facebooktwitterreddit

The NBA season is quickly coming to a close and with it, so is the Charlotte Hornets’. With four games left, pride is ultimately the only thing left for which to play. Will their pride take a hit when they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls?

Unfortunately, the Charlotte Hornets (34-44) will not make the playoffs. It’ll be the second straight year they’ll miss the postseason. There are still games left to play, however, and their next one will be against the similarly struggling Chicago Bulls (26-51).

This will be their fourth and final matchup against the Bulls this season. Chicago has won two of the first three against Charlotte, including an overtime win back in December. The Hornets’ last game was a 102-119 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. They currently are 10th in the East.

The Bulls are coming off a 113-94 win over the Washington Wizards. They are 12th in the Eastern Conference. The Windy City team is only 3-7 in their last 10 games and have lost four of their last five games at home.

More from Swarm and Sting

Charlotte Hornets at Chicago Bulls
8:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018
United Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

Jeremy Lamb – Foot (Probable)
Dwayne Bacon – Ankle (Out)
Michael Carter-Williams – Shoulder (Out)
Treveon Graham – Concussion (Out)
Cody Zeller – Knee (Out)

CHI:

Paul Zipser – Foot (Out)
Kris Dunn – Toe (Out)
Zach LaVine – Knee (Out)
Antonio Blakeney – Wrist (Out)

Things to keep an eye on:

Kemba Walker is averaging almost 33 points a game against the Bulls this season. With Kris Dunn out with an injury, you’d expect the captain to unleash on them in this game as well. It’ll be interesting see how both coaches handle all of these injuries, especially Steve Clifford. If Jeremy Lamb doesn’t play, that’ll put even more pressure on the backcourt to perform. Malik Monk will surely see increased playing time. Let’s hope he makes the best of it.

Keys to the game:

The Chicago Bulls are dead last in the NBA in field goal percentage. That bodes well for the Hornets, but they absolutely cannot play down to the Bulls’ level and somehow let them get on fire. Every dog has its day and quite a few times this year, that dog has been a Hornets opponent. You can’t overlook any team. Rebounds will also be an important facet of this game as both teams are in the top ten in total rebounds per game. Then again, the one game the Hornets did win against the Bulls, they got outrebounded 44-35. In fact, the Hornets have only snagged more boards once against the Bulls this season. They’re going to need more effort on the glass.

Next: Re-picking the Hornets last five drafts

You’d think that as bad as the Bulls have been this year, Charlotte would have had the upper hand, but so far, it’s been mostly Chicago’s series. Hornets fans will see if they can change that Tuesday night in the United Center.

Home/Hornets News