GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Atlanta (6-18, 3-10 on the road) at Bulls ( 8-17, 4-9 at home)
TV: NBCSC: Neil Funk and Stacey King 7PM CT
RADIO: 670 The Score. Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, and David Schuster. 6:45 CT pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 22 ppg. ATL: Young: 28 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 9 per. ATL: Parker: 6 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Satoransky: 5 per. ATL: Young 8 per.
LAST MEETING: November 6. Bulls 113, Hawks 93: Satoransky-27 points.
PREVIEW: The Bulls took Tuesday off after a rough back to back schedule losing at Miami on Sunday then dealing with airplane issues which caused a delay with the team arriving at 4 AM, 15 hours later the Bulls tipped off against the Raps only to lose a heartbreaker 93-92. The Bulls meet a Hawks team that is giving up tons of points. They also get a Hawks team that played last night in Miami; sound familiar? The Bulls entertain the Hawks twice in the month of December. Trae Young leads Atlanta in scoring and assists. He's fourth in the NBA in scoring averaging 28 per game. Former Bull, Jabari Parker leads Atlanta in rebounding averaging six per game. The Hawks are dead last in three-point field goal percentage at 32% on the season. The Hawks also lead the NBA in turnovers committing nearly 17 per contest. Atlanta opponent's average 118 points per game, third-most in the NBA behind Washington and New Orleans.
Tomas Satoransky and Zach LaVine each posted double-double games against the Raptors. Lauri Markkanen through five games in December is averaging 19 points per contest shooting 50% from the field and 43% from three-point range.
Denzel Valentine has three straight double-figure scoring games and seen his playing time increase in that span.
24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Miami 135, Atlanta 121 OT: The Heat outscored the Hawks 18-4 in the extra period as Miami remains unbeaten at home going to 11-0, winning their second straight OT game. Three Miami players scored 30 or more: Kendrick Nunn (36) Duncan Robinson (34 - tied a franchise record with 10-3s) Bam Adebayo (30-11-11). Jimmy Butler with his third triple-double in the last five games: 20-18-10. The Heat scored 22 points down the stretch, then opened the OT on a 16-0 run.
Philadelphia 97, Denver 92: The 76ers are 13-0 at home.
Portland 115, New York 87: The Blazers led by as many as 32 points. The Knicks have dropped 10 straight, 4-20 overall.
Charlotte 114, Washington 107: Davis Bertrand scored a career-high 32 for Washington but the slumping Wizards fell for the sixth time in the last seven games.
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