National Basketball Association

Charlotte Hornets vs Chicago Bulls: Preseason Game 5

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Charlotte Hornets look to start a win streak as they face the Chicago Bulls today at eight this evening in the United Center.

Last Game:

The Charlotte Hornets got their first win of the preseason last week against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Last game was by far the best that the Hornets have played. A lot of that can be attributed to the return Kemba Walker.

*Cody Zeller was finally cleared for full contact last week

Welcome Back Walker

Steve Clifford finally lifted the minutes restriction off of Walker. This allowed for Kemba to take over the game in typical fashion. Kemba paced the team while putting up 15 points on 54.5% shooting, five rebounds, and two assist.

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The Tank Keeps Rolling

Frank Kaminsky is currently playing like a man possessed. He continued his excellent playing streak by putting up 17 points on 46.2 percent shooting (4 of 8 from 3pt), and four rebounds. Kaminsky finally showed off his range this game. He shot a solid 50% from the three-point line. As he’s post up game begins to develop, hopefully he will become a matchup nightmare against opposing bigs. This is the player that Rich Cho and Michael Jordan envisioned when they passed up on notable wing players in his draft class.

Shooting Woes Continue

Marvin Williams is now 1 for 14 from deep (7.1%). Marco Belinelli is shooting 3 for 11 from the field (27.3%) and has yet to hit a three pointer (0 for 3). Ramon Sessions is now 0 from 4 from the three-point line. These trends are alarming considering that Belinelli and Williams are expected to space the floor for Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist driving lanes. Hopefully both will regress to their normal percentages before the regular season starts.

Ramon Sessions has never been known as a shooter but he makes this notorious list because he is expected to fill in the role vacated by Jeremy Lin‘s departure. Admittedly, Lin was streaky from deep last year but he was still a viable threat on ball reversals and kick outs. 81.6% of his threes were assisted last season. Ramon Sessions, has not been able to keep his defender honest and this can lead to problems later on in the season.

Matchup to Watch

Dwyane Wade vs Nic Batum/ MKG

I’m not sure if the Hornets have a rival against the Miami Heat or just Dwayne Wade in particular. What I do know is that purple shirt guy and Dwayne Wade have some unfinished business. Especially when Wade comes visits Charlotte during the regular season. Batum vs. Wade was the primary matchup during the playoff series last season and now Hornets fans will be able to see how Wade handles being defended by MKG as well as Nic Batum. Wade is averaging 12.3 ppg and 21.1 mpg during the preseason. It will be interesting to see how he has adjusted his game to fit in with the rest of the bricklayers (Rajon Rondo, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams) that the Bulls have employed.

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