Just two days after getting blitzed by the New York Knicks in NBA Cup action, the Charlotte Hornets are back at it in Uptown Friday night, taking on the Chicago Bulls, who are winners in three of their last five.

So far this season, the Bulls have been among the better three-point shooting teams in the association, connecting on nearly 38% of their attempts, which doesn’t bode well for the Hornets, who rank dead last in defending the three. Nine Bulls shoot over 36% from range, but surprisingly, it’s been the big man Nikola Vucevic who’s led the way at a blistering 40.7%.

There are some questions, though, as to who will be available for the Bulls in this one, with Coby White (rest), Kevin Huerter (pelvic contusion), Patrick Williams (wrist), and Vucevic (knee) all listed as questionable, in addition to Isaac Okoro (back) and Dalen Terry (calf), who are already ruled out.

With their latest loss, the Hornets are now 10 games under .500 and appear to be barreling toward another lottery pick. This will only be the fifth time that the Hornets have had the whole crew together, so there is a chance this thing gets turned around, but the early returns have not been good.

LaMelo Ball has not been the same offensively since his return, shooting a dreadful 33% from the floor and 21% from deep in the month of November. Rookie Kon Knueppel has had to carry the load most nights, where ideally, he should be the third option behind Ball and Brandon Miller.

The defensive end is where the issues lie for the Hornets, and until they start playing longer stretches of competent basketball on that end, the struggles will continue.

Key matchup: The perimeter

As previously mentioned, the Bulls can really stroke it from beyond the arc, and the Hornets have not pressured the ball well enough to take away those attempts from deep. Conversely, Charlotte hasn’t shot it well from range this season (34.9%), some of which can be attributed to the health of the roster, but some of it is shot selection as well.

The Hornets and Bulls will tip things off at 7:30 p.m. ET on FanDuel Sports Network Southeast.

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