Chicago Bulls lose to Charlotte Hornets 112-99
Miles Bridges had 26 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Charlotte Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls 112-99 Saturday night at the United Center.
Brandon Miller scored 22 points for the Hornets and Kon Knueppel finished with 18. LaMelo Ball added 17 points and seven assists.
The Hornets had lost three straight and five of seven. They improved to 5-2 on the second day of back-to-back games.
Nikola Vučević had 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Matas Buzelis scored 17 for the Bulls, who had won two in a row and seven of nine.
Photos: Charlotte Hornets 112, Chicago Bulls 99
The Bulls closed a home game 3-3 after beating the Magic 121-114 on Friday night.
The Hornets trailed by 15 before taking the lead with a big third quarter, outscoring the Bulls 32-17 in the period. Miller made three of the Hornets’ seven 3-pointers in the third, and the Bulls shot 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from the field in the quarter.
Miller’s 3 made it 82-73 with 49.3 seconds left, but Ayo Dosunmu’s driving layup cut the Bulls’ deficit to seven heading into the fourth. Dosunmu finished with 16 points coming off the bench.
The Hornets broke away with a 10-0 run in the final quarter. Miller capped the decisive sequence with a fadeaway jumper that made it 105-87 with 4:01 left.
The Hornets outscored the Bulls 52-43 while playing with a depleted frontcourt. Moussa Diabaté (wrist), Ryan Kalkbrenner (elbow), Mason Plumlee (groin surgery), Grant Williams (knee surgery) and Tidjane Salaun (ankle soreness) have been sidelined with injuries.
Bulls guards Josh Giddey (left hamstring) and Coby White (right calf) each missed their third straight game after being injured in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Jalen Smith left in the third quarter after a collision with Ball, and the Bulls said he was being evaluated for a concussion.
The Bulls led 58-50 at the break. Dosunmu scored 14 points in the first half on 6-for-7 shooting, including a half-court buzzer-beater late in the first quarter.
To be continued
- Bulls: At the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
- Hornets: At Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night.
