Javonte Green poured in 17 points off the bench and the Chicago Bulls gained late energy to pull away for a 106-88 victory against the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
Patrick Williams and Goran Dragic both scored 16 points, Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Derrick Jones Jr. and Zach LaVine each added 10 points for the Bulls, who were coming off a victory a night earlier at Brooklyn.
Green made all seven of his shots from the field, including 3-for-3 on 3-pointers.
Kelly Oubre Jr. racked up 24 points for the Hornets. Jalen McDaniels and Mason Plumlee both notched 11 points and Dennis Smith Jr. supplied 10 points. Plumlee also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Oubre scored 22 of Charlotte’s first 61 points, pulling the Hornets within three points early in the third quarter. Chicago responded with a 20-7 run later in the quarter, with Jones scoring seven of those points.
The Bulls had almost half of their points through three quarters scored by a trio of reserves, accounting for 39 of the 84 points.
Chicago’s advantage reached 96-76 with more than eight minutes remaining on LaVine’s 3-pointer. LaVine posted 20 fourth-quarter points at Brooklyn, but managed only three in the final quarter Wednesday night.
By game’s end, reserves Green, Dragic, Jones and Alex Caruso combined to make eight of their 11 attempts from 3-point range.
Oubre and Smith have been in the starting lineup for the Hornets as the backcourt duo of LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier remains out with injuries.
One of Charlotte’s objectives — limiting the Bulls’ opportunities on free throws — was fairly successful. Chicago went 16-for-18 on foul shots, a season-low for attempts.
The Bulls led 61-52 at halftime, shooting 9-for-16 on 3-pointers and 10-for-11 on free throws. Chicago had 17 assists on 21 field goals.
The Hornets were fortunate to be as close as they were, however, hitting just 25 percent of their 3s in the half (4 of 16) and half of their free throws (4 of 8).
–Field Level Media
