The 2019-2020 NBA regular season is finally upon us. Can the Charlotte Hornets start things off right with a home win over the Chicago Bulls?
Well, for better or worse, the Charlotte Hornets‘ regular season begins tonight. I know most don’t have much faith in the team, but true fans will support them regardless of their level of play. There will no doubt be some frustration this season, but the team could surprise some folks. Stranger things have happened.
Their first matchup of the season will be against the Chicago Bulls, who have some young talent coupled with a few wily veterans. This will be a tough matchup, for sure, but the Hornets have won the last two matchups against Chicago. Of course, that was a vastly different team.
Charlotte went 2-1 against the Bulls last season, with two of those games being decided by seven points or less. The Bulls were 22-60 last season, finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference. This will be the first of four meetings between the two teams.
Charlotte Hornets vs Chicago Bulls
7:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast
Stream: Fubo.tv
Injury Report:
CHA:
None
CHI:
Chandler Hutchison – Hamstring (Out)
Shaquille Harrison – Hamstring – Game-Time Decision)
Things to watch for:
It’ll be interesting to see what the starting lineup looks like for the Hornets. Coach Borrego has already confirmed that Cody Zeller and Terry Rozier will start, but what of the other players? Will they keep the same lineup they used for most of the preseason? I’m assuming Dwayne Bacon and Miles Bridges start as well, but what about the fifth spot? Will Nic Batum come off the bench?
It’s definitely an unfamiliar situation and provides some challenges for both the coaching staff and the players. Here’s hoping they worked out most of the kinks in the preseason.
Keys to the game:
Preseason numbers should be taken with at least a small grain of salt, but offensively, the stats for the Bulls aren’t the greatest. Chicago shot just 41.6% from the floor in their five preseason games, good enough for 29th in the league. I don’t know if that will continue into the regular season, but Charlotte would do well to not sag off Chicago’s shooters.
Something Chicago did do well, however, was rebound the ball. They ranked 5th in the NBA in rebounds per game, snagging 50 per contest. Charlotte needs to box out under the rim and establish position around the basket because if Chicago does shoot poorly, the Hornets will need to limit second-chance points.
The start of the post-Kemba Walker era begins in Charlotte Wednesday night. It was a tough summer for Hornets fans, but the team must move on. A lot of questions surround this team. Could some of them be answered against the Chicago Bulls? It certainly seems likely.