In the interminable six-month season that the NBA unfortunately has become, it's rare indeed that you find a compelling, inspiring early-season matchup.

	Co-rookie of last year Elton Brand is getting frustrated with a lack of scoring help.

We had to wait until late-February last year to get the Lakers and the Blazers in that epic game in the Rose Garden. This year, we are much luckier. We have one on the docket as the first month comes to an end: a dual train wreck in Georgia.

Yes, it's Atlanta and Chicago in their widely anticipated first meeting of the season. A battle between two ex-college coaches, Tim Floyd and Lon Kruger, who took the money and jumped off the cliff. You might even call it the Eddy Curry Bowl, for the loser stays on course to have the NBA's worst record and the best shot at the No. 1 pick in 2001.

But that's getting a little ahead of ourselves.

If all those tired and weary vote counters in Florida need a break, we suggest they travel to Atlanta tonight for a far easier, less demanding chore: counting the people in the seats at the Philips Center. We could make it exasperating for them by asking them to count the empty seats, but that might not survive a court challenge for cruel and unusual punishment.

The Hawks took some of the allure out of this must-see matchup with their unlikely 27-point win at Washington on Tuesday. That gives them two more wins than Les MiseraBulls, who merely have lost nine straight and are on target to match last year's gem of a 17-win season. It's been three weeks since they won their only game.

You almost have to wonder if Jerry Krause and Tim Floyd have the proverbial incriminating Polaroids somewhere. But what's owner Jerry Reinsdorf worried about? Even more amazing than the Bulls' precipitous -- and ongoing -- decline are the basketball fans in Chicago. After what they witnessed in the 1990s, why on earth are they inclined to go to the United Center these days? Some 22,000 plus were supposedly on hand Tuesday to see Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves. I know KG played his high school ball there for ONE WHOLE SEASON, but does that translate into a building filler?

The Bulls may well lead the league in attendance this season, a shocking prospect given they have little chance to win and have no one worth seeing. And unlike last year, when they started 2-26, they at least could look to Toni Kukoc to come back. This year, what you see is what you get, or, as Floyd so often likes to say with almost Calvinistic zeal, "we are who we are."

Floyd has insisted on keeping the triangle offense, which looks more and more like a Skinner box every game. Chicago averages 81.3 points a game, down from last year's ultra-anemic 84.8. It's even less than the 81.9 they scored during the lockout season, which remains the standard of futility in the shot-clock era. Last year's Bulls team is No. 2 behind the 1998-99 ensemble.

Their shooting percentage is the lowest since 1958-59 and they are being outscored by 30 percent more per game than the 9-73 Philadelphia 76ers, the previous standard bearer for outright ineptitude. They started 1-13 last year. They're 1-13 this year. Could someone please tell Reinsdorf that, uh, it's not working?

The Hawks are only marginally better than Chicago, despite having thrice as many wins. In fact, Rick Pitino, coach of that vaunted Eastern Conference juggernaut in Boston, went so far as to call his team's win over Atlanta "counterfeit" because his team played so poorly. We sort of had an idea Atlanta might be in for a tough season when Kruger brought four returnees and No. 1 pick DerMarr Johnson to a summer league and saw his team lose to a Boston team with no NBA players.

In addition to their shocking win at Washington (whose sorry play is a story for another day), the Hawks also made news this week by meeting with that noted wrecker of franchises, David Falk. He represents Dikembe Mutombo who, as we speak, has the mobility of Mark Eaton, the lift of Vitaly Potapenko and the touch of Chris Dudley. That's due in part to his recovery from malaria. Mutombo is a free agent-in-waiting, the franchise's most valued and valuable asset.

Atlanta is basing its immediate future on next summer. The Hawks could have loads of cap room depending on what they do with Mutombo and, well, all they have to do is look to Thursday's opponent for guidance. The Bulls have had two straight summers of free agency fiascos. The best they could do two years ago were Will Perdue and BJ Armstrong. This year, it's Ron Mercer and Brad Miller. You almost wonder if the Bulls ought to replace their trademark introductory music with Britney Spears' 'Oops I Did It Again.'

Much like the Celtics, whose current state of affairs elicits little sympathy or solace because of their great run, so it is with Chicago. Reinsdorf made it clear that when the champion Bulls had their run, he didn't want the situation to plummet to the point where Chicago would have to do what Boston did. Well, it didn't. The Bulls didn't stoop to Boston's level. They passed it.

So for you dish people out there, settle into a comfy chair Thursday and chart the points with your nearest available abacus. But don't get too excited over the outcome. The rematch comes Dec. 15 in Chicago, where, presumably, thousands will be watching. It may be the Bulls' best chance for win No. 2.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.