The Chicago Bulls come out of their Christmas break on Tuesday night when they face the Atlanta Hawks. According to reports, they may be without center Nikola Vucevic. He is listed as "questionable" with a left adductor contusion.
This game is important as the Bulls are coming off a 109-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they also saw themselves move up to the 10 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Hanging on just barely ahead of the Hawks in the standings, a win will give them a one-game cushion going into the back half of their current home stand.
The Bulls should still have a quality chance for success without Vucevic. Atlanta has a smaller lineup, which the Bulls typically have had success against this season. Plus, Bulls backup center Andre Drummond has had solid showings the past couple of games, lending his size to play in the Bulls' favor.
In addition, the Atlanta Hawks are listing star guard Trae Young as questionable with a right AC shoulder sprain. Young is the centerpiece of the Hawks' offense and without him, the Bulls won't have to do as much on the defensive end to be disruptive.
Regardless of who is in or out, a win against the Hawks would show that this current Bulls' hot streak without Zach LaVine isn't a stroke of luck. They are a team that will be consistent and compete to be a lower/mid-tier playoff team.
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