Charlotte, NC Feb 10 (BUS): Demar DeRozan scored 36 points, Nikola Vucevich added 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and the Chicago Bulls made the Charlotte Hornets lose for the sixth time in a row, 121-109 on Wednesday night.
Zach Lavigne scored 27 points for the Bulls (34-21), who snatched in game one the Miami Heat’s leading Eastern Conference, the Associated Press reported.
Lamelo Ball scored 33 points and nine rebounds for Charlotte, who continued to struggle with her 3-point shot and only scored 13 of 43. During their six losing streak, the Hornets shoot 27.9% (66 of 236) from behind an arc.
Charlotte (28-28) lost her last six games averaging 11.8 points and finished her home with a 0-4 record to drop to ninth in the conference.
Both teams entered the match narrowly.
The Bulls played without Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosonmo and Derek Jones Jr., while the Hornets were missing Gordon Hayward, Cody Martin and Galen McDaniels.
The Bulls opened a 15-point lead in the final minute of the second quarter behind a three-pointer disputed by DeRozan, who was 8 of 11 for 18 points off the field in the first half.
Chicago had a double-digit lead for most of the game, hitting LaVine with a 3 at the end of the third quarter to give the Bulls an 89-76 lead after the Hornets made a run.
Chicago expanded its lead to 21 in the fourth quarter as DeRozan and LaVine continued to defeat jumpers. The Bulls shot 56.1% from the field of play, including 48.5% from a three-point ground.
Hint INS
Bulls: 14 turns that lead to 25 Hornets.
Hornets: Made only 16 of 23 free throws.
next one
Bulls: host Minnesota on Friday night, start six games with home
Hornets: In Detroit on Friday night.