NBA Matchups: December 12

CHI @ CHA | ATL @ DET | IND @ PHI | CLE @ WAS | UTA @ MEM | BKN @ DAL | MIN @ GSW

Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Bulls 116.8, Hornets 113.8

Injury Report: Coby White (P, calf), Isaac Okoro (P, back), Zach Collins (P, wrist), Ayo Dosunmu (O, thumb), Tre Jones (P, ankle), Kevin Huerter (O, groin), LaMelo Ball (O, ankle), Tre Mann (O, ankle), Collin Sexton (O, quad)

Bulls projected starters: Josh Giddey, Coby White, Isaac Okoro, Matas Buzelis, Nikola Vucevic

Hornets projected starters: KJ Simpson, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Ryan Kalkbrenner

Donovan quotes: Said Ayo went to see a doctor and Huerter is still doing treatment, said Okoro’s back is still bothering him and they’ll see how he feels from a harder practice on Wednesday, said they have to play to their identity but some of it is because of injuries, said they have to do more of the little things now that they’re dealing with so many injuries, said they can’t have Okoro just guarding the lead guy and they need better team defense, said they have done well against pressure (mentioned Indy and Brooklyn), said they really need to be better at putting bodies on people to limit rebounds, said they need to be better with their potential assists, said Matas still has a lot of growing to do.

Lee quotes: Said Simpson was decisive and he was active on defense.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Bulls have fallen apart from their hot start. Since Halloween, they are 25th in defense, 25th in halfcourt defense, and they’re giving up the second-most putback points per miss in this span. They’re one of the biggest rim funnels in the NBA, and they have some terrible on-ball defense without Isaac Okoro, too. They’re such an easy team to attack right now. The Hornets have played slightly better on defense, and they have been very good at limiting rebounding from opponents. In their last six games, they’ve only had one bad defensive game, and that was against the hot NYK offense. They have also been better at defending the paint, and they’re allowing the fourth-lowest C&S 3PA frequency. The on-ball Bulls will be in a very good spot here.

*Josh Giddey talked about how teams know how to beat the Bulls lately. “The memo is out on us,” he said. “Crash the boards. Get back in transition. And you can stop the Bulls.” The Hornets’ defense has been OK in transition and they don’t help off much, and Charlotte really lacks an on-ball defensive guy to throw at Giddey. In the last matchup, it was Kon Knueppel on him, and that likely happens again (25/11/9 in 33 minutes). Giddey’s in a pretty big spot with some rest behind him.

*Coby White went through practice this week and should have a chance to get in the 30s for minutes. In the last game, White may have hit 30 minutes against the Warriors had the game been closer. White hasn’t been that effective with a 58.0 TS%, but the usage has been excellent at 31.9%. He’s been driving a ton at 16.0 times per game to lead every player who isn’t at 30 minutes per game on the year. He put up 25 points in 29 minutes against the Hornets last game, and it’ll likely be Brandon Miller on him again. He’s pretty strong here.

*Nikola Vucevic was just mediocre against the Hornets last time with a 13/14/3 line in 30.5 minutes. His role has been fine and nobody has caught him for second in frontcourt touches, but the Hornets being solid on the glass takes away some of the putback output he would need for a huge line. I like the matchup much more for the guards.

*Matas Buzelis gets the worst matchup of the main guys with a competent defender in Miles Bridges set to guard him. With White having such strong usage, it should squeeze Matas a bit.