Home cooking was the theme of the game for White.
Coby White, who is emerging into a star in front of our very eyes, continued his hot stretch, scoring 37 points and the visiting Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets 131-117 for a three-game winning streak Sunday afternoon.
White shot an efficient 12-for-16 (75%) from the field, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range, in a return to his home state of North Carolina. He also stepped to the line and made all seven of his free-throw attempts.
Josh Giddey was just two assists shy of his seventh triple-double of the season, contributing 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Nikola Vucevic collected his 201 double-double in a Chicago Bulls uniform, second in franchise history only behind Artis Gilmore with 208 and finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Patrick Williams had 15 points off the bench for the Bulls (36-42), who shot a red-hot 53.5 percent from the field. Kevin Huerter, aka ‘Red Velvet’ added 13 points and Matas Buzelis had 10 points.
The Bulls came into the contest fighting for Play-In position, one game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets (19-59) have been on a downward spiral, losing eight of their last nine games. Big man Mark Williams, who returned to the lineup after sitting out Friday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings with muscle spasms, contributed 22 points and nine rebounds and Jusuf Nurkic and KJ Simpson each poured in 18 points for Charlotte. Seth Curry had 10 points.
Embed from Getty ImagesCharlotte’s inefficiency on perimeter shooting continued as the Hornets were putrid 8-for-30 from beyond the arc. That included Miles Bridges going 0-for-4 to dip to 19-for-83 on outside shots across a 12-game stretch, while reserve Nick Smith Jr. went 0-for-7 on 3s.
As stated previously, White continued to have success in Charlotte, a few hours from where he grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and later played college basketball for the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In his last four games against the Hornets at the Spectrum Center, White has averaged 30.5 points.
White, a 6’4 guard, was Chicago’s leading scorer for the 11th time in the last 13 games. He has surpassed the 30-point mark in five of the past nine games.
White drilled two 3-pointers in a 27-second span early in the second quarter and Giddey’s 3-point basket punctuated a 12-2 run for a 15-point lead, 58-43, with less than four minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bulls had a commanding 20-point lead, 75-55 at halftime, helped by a dominant 46-point second quarter. Other than closing within 13 points early in the third quarter, the Hornets never mounted a serious comeback. They were within eleven, 97-86, early in the fourth quarter and then went more than two minutes without scoring.
The Bulls, who improved to 20-19 in road games, won three of four meetings with the Hornets this season.
Both teams take the floor again on Tuesday night. The Bulls are on the road at Cleveland to face Darius Garland the Cavaliers, while the Hornets wrap up their home schedule against Davin Baines and the Memphis Grizzlies.
