Following their loss on Wednesday night at home to John Wall and the Wizards, in a game that they got off to a hot start in before fading in the second half, the Bulls fell to 14-14 overall on the season, and are respectively, 3-7 in their last 10 and 6-10 over their last 16 games. Not good for a team that started out winning their first three games of the season and then was also 8-4 through their first 12 games, which had the entire league on notice with some impressive wins over more than a few of the league's elite teams.
Entering tonight's tilt, Butler and the squad are sitting in the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, which has them 7.5 games behind the defending-champion' Cavaliers for the top spot -- but also, they're a mere half-game out of being out of a top-eight seed and in the ninth spot. Just like last years' team that fell within games of making the postseason, this team has been beating the good and elite teams (Cleveland, San Antonio, Boston), but has also lost to the teams they should have beaten (LA Lakers, Dallas, Minnesota, Milwaukee). In other words, it just goes to show the inconsistency that has been going on through these first 28 games.
As for Charlotte, the Hornets enter tonight owning a 16-13 record, which has them in the fourth spot in the East and six games behind Cleveland for that top spot. They have also won two straight games and are an even 5-5 over their last 10 games overall. The Bulls enter the first meeting of the season between these two with a road record of 6-8, while the home-town Hornets are 9-6 at home inside the Spectrum Center.
If the Bulls are going to pull off the upset (according to Vegas) in a game where they are 4.5 point underdogs in, Jimmy Buckets and Flash will not only need to do their thing, but the bench will also have to step up -- and yes, that means you guys, Niko and McDermott. The Hornets, much like Washington with John Wall, have a lightning-quick point guard in Kemba Walker that can be unstoppable when he is on. Mix in him with the likes of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams and Cody Zeller -- this team is an underrated group that can flat out play.
While I usually don't call many games in the month of December a 'must-win' in the NBA, I do believe it is a pretty fair assumption for the Bulls in this spot tonight. With their next game being in San Antonio on Christmas day against the Spurs, a win tonight would not only be huge for the standings, but for the confidence of this team during a big-time stretch in the schedule that has them playing some elite teams. One thing is for sure, the Bulls need to walk out of Charlotte tonight with a much-needed win.
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