Charlotte Hornets vs Chicago Bulls Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 08/01/2024, 00:32  by Kennedy Kechula in NBA Predictions

The Charlotte Hornets will be at home to close out an NBA doubleheader with the Chicago Bulls. Both teams are struggling in the Eastern Conference but 10th placed Chicago is faring much better than 13th-placed Charlotte. The Hornets lost 104-91 in the first match of this back-to-back and have now lost triple the number of games they have won. Steve Clifford’s men have lost 25 times in 33 outings and coming into this match have won only one of their last 13 fixtures. They possess the fourth-worst record in the league and are ranked in the bottom five for both points per game and points allowed. Charlotte has been decimated by injuries and this has hampered their output. For this match, they will be without five players. LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Mark Williams, and P.J Washington have all been ruled out.

The Chicago Bulls have now won four in a row against Charlotte following the most recent success at home. This coupled with Charlotte's struggles should have Billy Donovan’s men confident of getting another crucial win here. The Bulls have been in good form since the start of December and 11 of their total 16 wins have come in the last month or so. This has allowed them to claw their way back to the playoff places and are now 5.5 games from the top six. The Bulls were boosted by the return from injury of Zach Lavine in the last match. The forward had been out for more than a month and dropped 15 points in his return. He remains on the injury report though and is listed as ‘Questionable’ alongside Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, and Alex Caruso.