Bulls fend off Hornets for overtime win |
CHARLOTTE - Nothing comes easy for the Chicago Bulls (15-18) right now, but a win is a win. Looking to make it two straight victories, the Bulls hit the road for a game at the Spectrum Center, where the Charlotte Hornets (7-25) were waiting.
As bad as the Bulls are, they are playing much better than most expected, which doesn't bode well for keeping their first-round pick later on. Even with the Bulls struggling to put wins together, there are some games that this team needs to win, and facing off against one of the worst teams is one of the games that the Bulls had to have. Things didn't get off to a great start as the Bulls offense struggled to get much of anything going offensively and were held to one of their lowest first-quarter point totals of the season with 17 points. Fortunately, their defense kept them in the game as they only trailed by seven before an offensive explosion that saw the Bulls outscore the Hornets 37-22 in the second and put Chicago in front by eight. Had it not been for that quarter, Charlotte would've run away with this game as the Hornets dominated the second half of play and climbed back to force Overtime with things knotted up 98-98. That was when it looked as if the Hornets started running out of gas as the Bulls outscored them 17-10 in the extra period to secure the 115-108 win. It was a happy homecoming for Coby White, who slowly started to look like the player the Bulls were hoping he could be. The all-time leading scorer in North Carolina High School history returned to where it all started as White paced the Bulls with 23 points. He did that despite going 1-11 from distance, but with 10 rebounds and nine assists, he came one assist away from posting the Bull's second triple-double in as many games. White may have been the only Bull with 20 points, but Chicago did have a pair of players step up in a big way to help pick up the victory. Torrey Craig came through with his best season showing as he led the Bulls' second unit with 18 points. Like Carter, Craig is starting to see an increase in minutes in recent games, and he rewarded the Bulls in a big way by connecting on five of his seven triples as the Bulls knocked down 18 total triples. Another player who finally broke through in a big way was Patrick Williams, who has now put together a nice little run of good games. Williams was second among the Bulls starters with 17 points, with most of his production coming from his five-made triples. Sticking with the Bulls staters and, you had Mr. Double-Double Nikola Vucevic do more of the same with 16 points and 13 rebounds, with Josh Giddey making it three players to record double-doubles as he finished with 13 points and 12 boards. Jalen Smith rounded out the strong showings for the Bulls with 11 points as they managed to pick up a big win without their leading scorer, Zach Lavine, who was inactive for this game. When you look at this Hornets roster, it's hard to believe they have only seven wins. They are an extremely young team, but a team that has plenty of talented players who are capable of going off at any moment. LaMelo Ball remains the engine of the Hornets offense, but with Ball still missing time due to an injury, the Hornets are lost. In his absence, Miles Bridges has taken it upon himself to try and shoulder the load, and with a game-high 31 points and 12 boards, he continued to be the leader the Hornets need as he helped will them into Overtime. Double-doubles were the theme for both teams in this one, as Mark Williams finished his game with 20 points and 12 boards, making it five double-doubles in one contest. Throw in 17 points from the lesser-known Curry in Seth Curry, and the Hornets had enough firepower to keep things close, which is all you can ask for from them. Josh Green added 14 points to give Charlotte four double-digit scorers, but with a bench that struggled to get things going, it wasn't enough as the Bulls battled back and held on for the win. Chicago continues to navigate through one of the softest stretches of its schedule as it travels to Washington to take on the Wizards on Wednesday.
