Chicago Bulls vs Charlotte Hornets

Josh Giddey and the Bulls head to Charlotte on a seven-game losing streak, while the Hornets have dropped three of their last four and sit at 7-17, making this a matchup of teams trying to stop the bleeding rather than extend momentum. Chicago is still patched together, with Coby White and Zach Collins on the injury report and Jalen Smith plus rookie Noa Essengue sidelined, but Charlotte’s situation is arguably worse: Grant Williams and Tre Mann are out, Moussa Diabate is day-to-day, and LaMelo Ball and Collin Sexton both recently missed the Denver loss, leaving their backcourt depth shaky even with Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller carrying the scoring load. In the Nov. 28 meeting here, Miller dropped 27 and Bridges went for 22-8-7 in a 123-116 Hornets win, but Giddey nearly triple-doubled (25-11-9) and Vucevic controlled the glass, and most projection models still make Chicago closer to a low-60s win percentage, higher than what -140 implies. With the Bulls owning the more balanced roster and desperate to stop the slide, I’ll pay the road favorite tax and back Chicago on the moneyline at -140 for a B-grade play, acknowledging the recent form and injuries keep it short of premium status. Odds and availability are subject to change; This bet was made at 12/12/2025 09:37.([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/chi/chicago-bulls))

LaMelo Ball’s recent absence, combined with Charlotte’s 3-7 slide over its last 10 and Chicago’s seven-game losing streak, hints at offenses that have been far less consistent than these shaky defenses suggest, especially with both teams grinding through confidence issues. The Hornets are missing Williams and Mann with Diabate banged up, and Ball and Sexton only just working back around the lineup, while Chicago is without Smith and Essengue and managing nagging issues for rotation guards, all of which chips away at ball-handling and spacing on both sides. Season-long numbers show the Bulls scoring 117.3 and allowing 122.6 per game and the Hornets at 114.2 for and 118.3 against, a combined scoring profile closer to 231–232 than the 233.5 total, and even their prior 123-116 clash in Charlotte was fueled by hot shooting (15 made threes for the Hornets alone) that’s tough to bank on again. With both coaches emphasizing fixing defensive breakdowns after recent blowout losses and a slightly inflated number relative to average output, I lean to Under 233.5 at -110 as a C+ play—worth a small position but not something to hammer given how volatile these defenses can be. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 12/12/2025 09:37.([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/chi/chicago-bulls))

Nikola Vucevic’s interior edge looms large against a Hornets front line that’s thinner without Grant Williams and with Moussa Diabate on the injury report, and that, combined with Chicago’s desperation to snap a seven-game skid, makes laying the short -2.5 intriguing despite the Bulls’ ugly recent form. Charlotte is only 5-7 at home and 7-17 overall, and while they already beat Chicago 123-116 here behind big nights from Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, that result helped inflate the perception gap between these rosters, which still tilts toward the Bulls when Giddey, Vucevic and a mostly intact wing corps are on the floor. Chicago’s 3-9 road record and 1-9 ATS stretch in its last 10 games are real red flags, but the market has reacted by keeping this spread under a key number, and most forecasting models still have the Bulls favored by closer to three to four points, suggesting a sliver of value in aligning the spread with the moneyline edge. I’ll ride Chicago -2.5 at -110 for a B- grade, banking on their size and playmaking to finally finish a close one, while acknowledging the ATS profile makes this more of an elevated lean than a top-tier wager. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 12/12/2025 09:37.([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/cha/charlotte-hornets))