CHICAGO (670 The Score) – It was anything but elegant, but a Bulls team in need of any style of win grinded out their third straight victory Wednesday evening.
The Bulls overcame a brutal final six minutes of the second quarter to earn a 111-100 win against the Hornets at the United Center in a contest they otherwise controlled throughout. It was a game added to the schedule just a week prior as part of the NBA’s formula to match up teams of similar stature as the league filled out schedules with pool play done in the In-Season Tournament, and it played out as you might expect.
The Bulls led by as many as 16 in the first half before the Hornets – who shot 2-of-18 on 3-pointers in the first half – clawed within 48-44 at halftime after Chicago went the final 5:58 of the second quarter without a field goal. The Bulls responded with a strong third quarter as they outscored the Hornets, 35-20, in the frame.
“We started turning the ball over a little too much,” said Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan, who had a game-high 29 points. “We kind of got a little sloppy. We just buckled down and told ourselves to stop turning the ball over, be aggressive, get stops, continue to play.”
The Bulls played and won without star guard Zach LaVine for the third straight game as he deals with right foot soreness, an ailment that will keep him out another three or four weeks, the team announced late Wednesday. Leading the way for the Bulls in LaVine’s continued absence DeRozan, center Nikola Vucevic (20 points, 12 rebounds) and guard Coby White, who set a franchise record by making at least three 3-pointers in his ninth straight game. White finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
“It’s given us a lot of confidence,” White said of the experience the younger Bulls are gaining with bigger roles with LaVine out. “I think it’s given us a lot of confidence. Obviously, with Zach out, being the caliber of player that he is, it allows for more opportunity. But you can’t replace Zach LaVine. So for us, we just try to do it as a collective and try to make up for what he does on the floor.”
The Bulls will visit the Spurs, who have lost 15 straight games, on Friday evening. They'll do so with a team that's slowly building confidence after it improved to 8-14.
“We try to build our identity throughout the year, and I feel like right now, we’re playing a lot faster,” White said. “We’re playing a lot faster, and we’re making quicker decisions. But like I said, at the beginning of the year, a lot of those shots that we’re making now, we wasn’t making at the beginning of the year. We were still getting those same open looks. We just weren’t hitting them. It’s a make-or-miss league at the end of the day.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.