Miles Bridges had 26 points and 14 rebounds on Saturday, helping the visiting Charlotte Hornets post a 112-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Brandon Miller added 22 points, while Kon Knueppel scored 18 for the Hornets, who snapped a three-game losing streak. LaMelo Ball added 17 points, Collin Sexton chipped in 13 and PJ Hall tallied 10 points for Charlotte, who outscored Chicago 62-41 in the second half.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who saw their two-game winning streak snapped. Matas Buzelis scored 17, Ayo Dosunmu had 16 and Tre Jones totaled 10 points. Kevin Huerter had nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Chicago, which shot 11-for-41 (26.8%) on 3-pointers.
Trailing by eight at halftime, Charlotte opened the third quarter on a 12-3 run, as Bridges’ dunk gave the Hornets a 62-61 lead.
After Huerter’s free throws put the Bulls ahead by three, Bridges hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of Charlotte’s 14-0 run. Vucevic then scored six straight to pull the Bulls within five.
Dosunmu’s floater with 15.9 seconds left trimmed Chicago’s deficit to 82-75 entering the fourth.
With Charlotte leading by eight, Sion James’ triple and Miller’s jumper stamped a 10-0 run to give the Hornets a 105-87 advantage with 4:01 remaining.
Chicago then scored eight straight points, but Miller’s putback layup sealed Charlotte’s win.
After Hall’s layup pulled the Hornets within seven in the final minute of the first quarter, Dosunmu’s dunk and half-court buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 39-27 lead entering the second.
Another Dosunmu trey gave the Bulls a 15-point lead at the 6:09 mark of the second. Charlotte answered with an 8-0 run, holding Chicago scoreless until Julian Phillips’ 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining.
The Bulls led 58-50 at halftime and were led by Dosunmu’s 14 first-half points. Bridges’ 13 paced Charlotte. Chicago tallied 22 first-half assists on 24 made field goals.
