Bench Play Helps Bulls Get Revenge from Last Thursday’s Road Loss to Hornets
It might have been Groundhog Day on the calendar, but it wasn’t in the metaphorical sense for the Charlotte Hornets in their second meeting with the Chicago Bulls in eight days, which this time, resulted in a 114-98 road loss on Thursday night.
Keeping the Hornets afloat particularly in the second half was Terry Rozier, who finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-21 shooting, eight rebounds and three steals, marking his fourth consecutive 20-point showing. Mason Plumlee went for 16 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting, 11 rebounds and five assists for his third double-double in four games and 21st of the season.
Ahead by four at the break, Chicago nearly quadrupled its lead after winning the third quarter 32-19, thanks to the Hornets shooting 35% and 1-of-10 from 3-point in the frame. Charlotte eventually collected itself in the closing 12 minutes and pulled to within seven multiple times, but never pieced together any momentum-swinging stretches to really threaten the soon-to-be-victorious Bulls.
“It was really like the first minute-and-a-half [of the third],” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “They went 9-0, I believe and after that, we regrouped. We gave ourselves a chance late. We had the right idea tonight, the right intent. We played with good effort, good energy. We didn’t shoot the ball well. We’ve got to keep playing no matter what when the ball’s not going in the basket. That to me was a big factor in the game.”
Charlotte’s seven 3-pointers on 35 attempts (20%) marked the fourth time in six outings that the team has failed to reach double-digit makes from behind the arc. Chicago finished 11-of-28 from deep (39.3%), with much of its offensive damage coming at the rim (40 points on 74.1% shooting) and in the paint (54 points on 69.2% shooting).
LaMelo Ball followed up his record-breaking triple-double in Milwaukee two nights ago with 19 points – 12 in the fourth quarter – on 8-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists, while Mark Williams added 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench. Ball’s night ended a bit early with his first career ejection following a pair of technical fouls late in the fourth quarter in response to a dubious no-call on a Zach LaVine block attempt.
Ayo Dosunmu led the Bulls with a season-high-tying 22 points on an almost-flawless 9-of-10 shooting, although didn’t have a single rebound or assist. Reserve Coby White totaled 20 points and centers Nikola Vučević (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Andre Drummond (15 points, 11 rebounds) each double-doubled as Chicago’s bench outscored its Charlotte counterpart, 44-25.
The Hornets will close out their back-to-back and three-game road trip against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, Feb. 3 beginning at 7 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ FM 92.7.
