Charlotte Hornets vs Chicago Bulls preview and game info

Who: Charlotte Hornets (25-26) vs Chicago Bulls (27-23)

Where: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC

When: 7 p.m. EST

How: FOX Sports South, WFNZ 610 AM

Ugh.

Just one day after a tough Super Bowl loss for the Carolina Panthers, the Hornets have a game.

The Charlotte Hornets are finishing up their four-game home stand tonight with a game against the Chicago Bulls.

The Hornets are currently 2-1 on their home stand, with wins against the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers and a single loss to the Miami Heat. Their next game is against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, after which the team's given a break until a few days after All-Star Weekend.

In contrast, the Bulls are winners of just three of their last 10 games, due much in part to the absence of Jimmy Butler. Butler, who's nursing a strained right knee. In turn, Derrick Rose has had to step up and mitigate the loss of Butler. He's averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 assists in the two games Butler has missed.

The Bulls, as per usual, are a decent defensive squad, even without Tom Thibodeau. They limit opponents to a league-best 43 percent shooting from the field (coincidentally, the same figure as the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, who're tied for first). It's their offense that holds them back:They shoot 43.6 percent from the field and have a paltry offensive rating of 100.9. Head coach Fred Hoiberg was lauded in the offseason as being a great, creative offensive coach, but we haven't seen anything like that from his team just yet.

The Hornets have played the Bulls three times this season. two of which were wins and the other a loss. The Hornets will once again only be without center Al Jefferson, meaning the starting lineup of Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marvin Williams, and Cody Zeller should be a go. Man, it feels good to have the squad together again.