Preview: Bulls at Hornets

[December 08, 2017]  The Charlotte Hornets have endured an uneven homestand without their head coach and hope to get back in the win column when they host the Chicago Bulls on Friday. With coach Steve Clifford out indefinitely for health reasons, the Hornets split the first two games of the four-game stay at the Spectrum Center, falling 101-87 to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

"I thought we started the game out pretty slow. At the beginning of the second quarter we weren't getting the ball moving offensively and playing with the right pace," associate head coach Stephen Silas told the media. "We finally got it going a little bit at the end of the second quarter with some pace. ... Those guys made big plays down in the stretch but to hold that team to 101 points isn't all bad." Despite the loss, the Hornets are still 8-4 at home, compared to a woeful 1-10 opening on the road that includes a 123-120 loss at Chicago on Nov. 17. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they've dropped 10 in a row since that triumph, including six straight on the road, the latest a 98-96 setback at Indiana on Wednesday. "This one, it stings a lot," coach Fred Hoiberg told the media after the loss. "It's a really, really hard (loss) because we had control for the majority of it and played really good and hard unselfish basketball. The big message to our team is if we continue to play with that type of effort, if we continue to play the right way, and unselfish, we're going to start winning games."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN Chicago, FSN Southeast (Charlotte)

ABOUT THE BULLS (3-20): Three of the last four losses for Chicago have come by two points or fewer and a dismal stretch run against the Pacers was the culprit on Wednesday, as the Bulls had a 13-point lead with just over seven minutes to go. "When adversity hits, we just aren't handling it like a mature team," forward Denzel Valentine told reporters. Valentine was one of six Bulls in double figures with 15 points, a group led by Kris Dunn, who is averaging 16.4 while shooting 55.6 percent over a five-game span.

 

ABOUT THE HORNETS (9-14): Charlotte was playing its second game with star point guard Kemba Walker back from a shoulder injury, but it suffered a pair of injuries along the front line with reserve big men Frank Kaminsky (ankle) and Cody Zeller (knee) exiting Wednesday's loss. "I don't know," Silas told the media. "Hopefully those guys will be OK because we got some home games coming up and we'll need them." Walker is averaging 26.5 points since returning from the injury and he had a season-high 47 points in the loss at Chicago last month.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Hornets C Dwight Howard is averaging 17 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 12.7 rebounds at home.

2. Dunn is 9-for-14 from 3-point range in his last five games to bump his percentage up to 44.4 after shooting 28.8 percent from long distance as a rookie last season.

3. Chicago won three straight meetings while averaging 118.7 points.

PREDICTION: Hornets 110, Bulls 104

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