The set-up: The Chicago Bulls were embarrassed Sunday at Boston on ABC, losing 100-80 to the Celtics. It was the team's fifth straight loss (a season-high) and now it's on to Charlotte to take on the 29-37 Hornets, who are two games back of the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings Chicago is 10th at 31-35 and Charlotte 11th, with both teams chasing 32-35 Miami and all three teams chasing 32-33 Milwaukee, which currently owns the final playoff spot in the East.

Chicago: It doesn't get much worse than it was for the Bulls on Sunday, as they scored nine first-quarter points and had just 26 at the half. All Star Jimmy Butler (23.4-6.2-5.1) was limited to five points on 2-of-11 shooting, as Chicago was held under 100 points for the sixth straight time. Dwyane Wade (18.7-4.6-3.9) joined Butler with a poor performance of his own Sunday, as he was held to eight points and failed to hand out an assist for the first time since Nov. 5.

Charlotte: The Hornets know all about slumps, as they lost 12 of 13 from Jan. 23-Feb. 23. However, since a six-point overtime loss in Detroit, the Hornets are 5-4. Still, by going 6-16 in their last 22 games, the Hornets has dropped to 11th, two games behind Chicago and 3 1/2 behind Milwaukee. I'm not sure what to make of the Hornets, who opened 8-3 and looked like a solid playoff team early on. Walker (23.2-4.1-5.4) is an All Star and backcourt partner Batum (15.4-6.7-5.9) has produced excellent numbers. The team has excellent depth but the whole seems less than the sum of this team's parts.

The pick: The Bulls scored nine points in the first quarter on Sunday plus missed their first 12 shots and 19 of their first 22 attempts, all in front of a national television audience. That makes five straight losses (three by double-digits) and six straight games of failing to reach 100 points. It CAN'T get worse, right? The underachieving Hornets, who are on a 7-14-2 ATS run, may be just what the doctor ordered. Make Chicago a 10* play.