Bulls Cruise Past Hornets in Summer League Matchup

Shooting woes and turnovers to blame as Hornets never really get it going offensively, dropping game four in Las Vegas 89-73 to the Bulls.

Author:
Jon Yeager
Jul 14, 2022 8:14 PM EDT

Las Vegas, NV- After waiting over one thousand days to taste victory in NBA Summer League action, the Charlotte Hornets were able to make it two in a row yesterday evening by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers. A few rotation decisions seemed to spark what was their best offensive performance against Cleveland. Sitting down Summer League veteran Nick Richards allowed Kai Jones and Mark Williams to share minutes at the center spot. This move seemed to really help Kai bring out his best play as the floor spacing on offense around him was much better and he was able to be the primary screener and rim roller. Overall, he seemed much more comfortable at the five spot scoring 11 points on an efficient 5/7 shooting on Wednesday, and JT Thor was then able to shift down to the four position which seemed to really help his game as well. Unfortunately, the Hornets were not able to keep up their good play on Thursday as they fell to the Chicago Bulls 89-73.

Charlotte opened up the first quarter with some excellent ball movement ending the first possession with a nice big to big pass from JT Thor to Mark Williams for a dunk. Jalen Crutcher had it going early for the Hornets as he knocked down two three-pointers and had a solid blow by and finish at the rim for a quick eight points. Thor continued to flash his on-ball defense with a few strong possessions on that end. Marko Simonovic has had a very stellar showing here in the Summer League for the Bulls, and the early portion of this game was no different. He had eight early points with a few impressive finishes over looming Charlotte shot-blockers.

Besides the quick burst from Crutcher, Charlotte had a pretty slow opening quarter offensively. On certain trips down the floor, the ball movement was really good resulting in open shots that just wouldn't seem to go down more often than not. However, there were a few possessions where the ball seemed to stick on one side of the floor with too much individual dribbling. They shot just 29% from the floor including 2/9 from beyond the arc and committed four turnovers. The Bulls led 20-14 at the end of one.

The teams traded turnovers to open the second quarter and the Hornets brought their shooting struggles with them for the next frame. Some of these long misses led to quick buckets in transition for the Bulls who increased their lead to 10 at the 7:03 mark. The Hornets came out of the timeout with back-to-back turnovers which has been a problem for them all week long. Charlotte could not seem to get anything going offensively at this point as Chicago's defense was contesting everything and making life extremely difficult. The lead for the Bulls got as high as 19 and they entered halftime with a 42-24 lead. Dalen Terry, first round pick of the Bulls, led the way with 11 points and represented the only player in double figures on either team.

Charlotte scored just 10 points in the second quarter as they went 1/12 from three and had 8 turnovers bringing their total to 12 turnovers in the first half. Perhaps it was the tired legs being on the second night of a back-to-back, but it was a first half to forget for the Hornets.

We saw a nice teachable moment for Mark Williams early in the third quarter as he caught the ball in transition running down towards the basket. Instead of going right up to finish, he dribbled the basketball a few times and attempted a cross court pass to McGowens on the wing that ended up going out of bounds. In the future, you would like to see Mark go straight up and finish at the rim. With that aside, Mark still showed tremendous defensive potential all game long with his rim protection and interior defense.

McGowens began to get extremely aggressive offensively towards the midpoint of the third quarter, attacking the basket a few possessions in a row. He was able to get to the foul line two separate times, but the length and activity of Chicago's defense continued to give him trouble at the rim. He had multiple shots blocked, but you still love to see that fearlessness off the dribble. The highlight of the night came yet again from Kai Jones towards the end of the frame. Crutcher missed a three-point attempt from the corner, but Jones came flying in for the put back slam showing off his impressive athleticism.

After a three from Brady Manek and McGowens to open up the final quarter, Mark Williams made an excellent dump off pass to LiAngelo Ball off of a baseline spin move. That play highlighted the most impressive offensive stretch of the night for Charlotte as they were able to cut the lead down to 13 at one point. The team definitely showed some signs of life with their best shooting quarter of the game, 9/19 from the field, but there was too big of a hole to climb out of. Charlotte ultimately fell by a final score of 89-73.

Dalen Terry was extremely impressive for the Bulls all night long showcasing his extremely high defensive potential and making things miserable for the Hornets' offense. He also had a good day on the other end of the floor, pouring in a game-high 20 points on just 12 shots. Bryce McGowens led in the scoring column for Charlotte with 15 points on 4/18 shooting. Overall, the Hornets went 26/76 from the floor and just 24% from three. On the bright side, they did really pick things up in the second half offensively.

Charlotte will now have to wait and see how the rest of Thursday and Friday's action goes before they will know who they will play over the weekend as the 2022 Summer league winds down. At a 2-2 record through four games and the development they have seen from some of their key players here in Las Vegas, the Hornets should feel pretty good about the improvement they have shown over the week thus far. They will get one more crack at it over the weekend to show improvements and experiment with certain lineups and responsibilities. There will not be a Summer League championship to celebrate in Charlotte, but there is plenty to be excited about when it comes to the young guys in the system.

Team Stats by Quarter

1Q:

CHI: 8/17 FG | 1/3 3FG | 14 REB | 3 AST | 4 TOs

CHA: 6/22 FG | 2/9 3FG | 10 REB | 4 AST | 4 TOs

2Q:

CHI: 9/20 FG | 2/7 3FG | 11 REB | 7 AST | 4 TOs

CHA: 3/15 FG | 1/12 3FG | 11 REB | 1 AST | 8 TOs

3Q:

CHI: 9/19 FG | 3/6 3FG | 8 REB | 7 AST | 4 TOs

CHA: 8/20 FG | 1/5 3FG | 13 REB | 5 AST | 2 TOs

4Q:

CHI: 8/16 FG | 1/3 3FG | 9 REB | 3 AST | 3 TOs