2. Hawks vs. Bulls — Mon., Dec. 15

The Chicago Bulls have their superstar back!

Derrick Rose is finally healthy for the Bulls and will get his first chance to take on the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on December 15th. The All-Star point guard, Rose, looks to be back in MVP form after great performances in Team USA practice and scrimmages.

The Chicago Bulls will be looking to finally get another chance at a championship this year after suffering through a litany of injuries in the past couple of years.

Chicago will be entering this game against the Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back, the first game being against the Miami Heat.

What To Watch For

The Atlanta Hawks are predicted by most to fall somewhere between the 3rd to 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Or could they actually end up even higher than that?

The Hawks will have a chance to potentially prove they deserve a top two seed in this mid-seson match-up against the Bulls.

Atlanta Hawks fans should be looking to see if this team is finally in mid-season form. If they are struggling and continue to struggle up to this point, it could be a long season.

Hawks fans should also look out for two specific match-ups, Jeff Teague versus Derrick Rose and the Atlanta bench versus the Chicago bench.

Derrick Rose seems to be up to form and if that is the case this match-up provides Jeff Teague with a huge opportunity as he gets to match-up with one of the best point guards in the game. Look for this game to show if Jeff Teague has made any progress and whether he deserves a chance at the All-Star game.

The match-up of Atlanta’s bench and Chicago’s bench is also an interesting one. The Atlanta Hawks have one of the best benches in the league and could win this game with solid contributions from their reserves. Chicago also has a talented bench which makes this match-up intriguing. Look for the team whose bench performs well to come out with the W, unless Derrick Rose goes off that is.