Hornets Dominate Bulls Early and Often

The Charlotte Hornets seemed like they had their sights set on the play-in tournament, while the Chicago Bulls put forth another lackluster performance, their worst effort in recent games.

The Hornets built a lead from the outset of the game and they never relinquished it, beating the Bulls, 133-117 on Friday.

“It’s fantastic, for us to have a winning season this year,” coach James Borrego said. “There were a number of things that went against us. But we still have one to go and even more after that. … I want us to stay hungry and stay aggressive.”

Charlotte started the contest flawlessly, getting anything they wanted from the field. They forced Chicago to use a timeout ninety seconds in, after generating two turnovers and making three consecutive shots.

LaMelo Ball hit three bombs from downtown after two baskets in the paint, to help build an early advantage. The Hornets made their first eleven field goal attempts, along with two free throws and did not miss a shot until they scored 28 points, when Terry Rozier launched from the great beyond, but missed everything, with seven minutes gone by in the quarter. The Hornets scored an impressive 39 points and had a nine-point edge at the end of the first period.

The good times continued to roll for Charlotte in the second quarter. Jalen McDaniels scored five additional points before Ball knocked down two three-pointers, The Hornets got a few strong interior finishes and wide open 3-pointers to build from there. The Bulls had to burn another timeout after an uncontested McDaniels’ dunk put the Hornets ahead 67-39, with a little under four minutes left in the half.

The teams exchanged baskets into halftime and the Hornets went into the locker room with a 79-51 lead. They shot 65.9% from the floor, while making 11-of-21 from three-point range. Ball was on fire, finishing the half with 24 points and six assists with five three-pointers made.

The Hornets picked up right where they left off starting the third quarter. They quickly extended their lead to 37 points, their largest lead of the game, three minutes into the quarter. That sequence of plays did not sit well with Bulls fans and they peppered the team with boos.

“I always try to be very uplifting and try to see the bright side,” Zach LaVine said. “But I’m tired of talking. We say a lot of words and we say the right things. But we’ve got to figure it out. And we’re not doing that, plain and simple. Everybody, top to bottom, coaching staff and everybody involved. We just have to do a better job. … We can’t let this happen. It’s embarrassing.”

Both rosters experienced a cold spell before Chicago went on a mini-run and trimmed Charlotte’s lead. Montrezl Harrell finally missed a shot, after hitting eleven straight across two games. A Cody Martin three put the Hornets up by 31. Coby White hit a three at the buzzer for the Bulls to cut the lead back down to 28 points, 111-83.

The Bulls scored five straight points to open the final quarter, before a standstill jump shot and another basket from Kelly Oubre Jr. stopped the bleeding. The game slowed down and lost a lot of its energy, which was a sign that the contest was all but over. With the Hornets up by 27, both teams inserted their benches. The Bulls made an irrelevant run to make the final score look more respectable.

Ball scored a team-high 24 points, all in the first half for the Hornets. He also had five rebounds and nine assists. Bridges scored 20 points, had three rebounds, one assist and one block. Oubre added 18 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Rozier finished with 15 points, four rebounds and eight assists.

LaVine had a team-high 23 points, with four rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls. White added 19 points, with one rebound, four assists and one steal. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, had one rebound and one assist. Ayo Dosunmu finished with 16 points, one rebound, three assists and two steals.

The Bulls travel to Minnesota to take on Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves on Sunday. The Hornets host Kristaps Porzingis and the Washington Wizards on Sunday.