Ball, Bridges Lead Hornets to Win Over Bulls

The younger brother, LaMelo, had the last laugh and won the long-awaited reunion on the court between the Ball brothers, and this time his Charlotte Hornets were able to beat Lonzo’s Chicago Bulls, 125-123.

The Hornets got out to a fast start on the road with their starting unit despite a rocky first stint from their best player LaMelo Ball. In a shocking turn of events, considering their lack of production this season, it got even better when the reserves streamed in. They were on fire, putting up 21 first quarter points, led by sharp shooters Seth Curry’s 11. The Hornets as a team were not messing around, filling up the scoreboard with 36 points to lead by seven after one.

The second quarter was wild and crazy like street ball. Both teams played at an electric pace and both teams knocked down a lot of shots. Nick Smith Jr, who cracked the starting lineup for the first time in his career, buried a couple of triples and a floater over Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic to lead the Hornets. The offense began to stagnate as halftime approached. On the other hand, the Bulls did not have such issues. They went on a 17-4 extended run to vault into the lead. The teams went back and forth exchanging that lead a couple of times before the half came to a close with the Hornets up two, 73-71.

The Hornets created some small separation to open the second half, but they had to endure a predictable hot shooting spurt from Zach LaVine. That combined with a third quarter cold streak allowed the Bulls take a lead that they held through the end of the third quarter.

However, things shifted in a hurry. The Hornets took control of the game, blitzing the Bulls to open the final frame. They scored the first 14 points of the quarter with six of those coming from emerging center Mark Williams playing volleyball on a cold night in Chicago at the rim. The surge extended to 17-2 and it appeared that the Hornets could coast all the way to victory, but like most young teams, they have trouble putting teams away. Vucevic went on a heater while the Hornets started shooting themselves in the foot. Cody Martin airballed a wide open three and blew an uncontested layup. Josh Green mishandled a pass. LaMelo Ball had his dribble poked away. The offense went stale just like they did at the end of the game against Phoenix Suns. The Bulls used a 14-2 run to erase the 17-2 run the Hornets started the quarter with to set up a classic finish.

Williams, who was coming off a career-high 33 points, got called for his fifth personal foul reaching in on LaVine in the final minute, but the Hornets successfully challenged the call to set up a jump ball. The Hornets won the jumpball, but they could not put the final nails in the coffin. Vucevic swished a pair of free throws and Vasa Micic could only sink one out of two on the other end to set up a possession with the Bulls down by two and 12 seconds remaining on the clock. Vucevic and LaVine missed jumpers, and the Bulls could not get an open look off an offensive rebound.

LaMelo Ball scored 26 points, Miles Bridges had 21 for the Hornets in the win.

Vucevic, who has been the subject of trade rumors, increased his value by scoring a season high 40 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter and collected 13 rebounds, but Chicago lost a season-high fourth straight, and it might be time for coach Billy Donovan to pack his bags.

Lavine scored 19 points and Coby White added 18 for the Bulls. Lonzo Ball, playing against his younger brother, had 6 points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Hornets are now at the 10-win mark on the season. They get the weekend off to celebrate before a noon (ET) tipoff against the Dallas Mavericks on MLK Day.

The Bulls begin a three-game road trip at Portland taking on the Trail Blazers on Sunday.