Chicago Bullies Charlotte
CHICAGO, IL - For the second time in three days, the Charlotte Hornets came out on the losing side of things on the road. Monday night, the Bulls had their way with the Hornets with a 133-119 win.
Terry Rozier led the way for the Hornets with 31 points on 11/17 shooting including knocking down six of seven three-point attempts. This is the third time in the last five games where he has notched at least 30 points.
Despite having a short, eight-man rotation with Mason Plumlee (calf strain) and Cody Martin (illness) out of the lineup, the offense still had success. However, the Hornets had a lot of trouble slowing down Chicago on the other end of the floor.
"We've just got to be better defensively. It's a long season," Charlotte head coach James Borrego said. "These are some good teams that we're playing against. Obviously, disappointed last game against Houston, disappointed tonight in our defense. Our offense is there. It's the defense that's the problem. There's a number of things that we have to get better at but we just have to get better on the ball overall. We've shown we're capable of doing that. I thought we were making strides defensively but obviously missing Mason [Plumlee] and Cody [Martin] are huge - two veterans that know how to play. Savvy veteran players. Unfortunately, we haven't had those two guys the last couple of nights. Even in the Minnesota game, we just outscored them. It wasn't our defense that held us together."
Over the last few games, P.J. Washington has filled in as the center in Charlotte's starting lineup but on Monday night, Borrego opted to go with 2nd-year man, Nick Richards. He struggled early on and saw limited action the rest of the way, appearing in a total of just seven minutes. Washington and Miles Bridges split time at the five for the remainder of the game but the Bulls exposed Charlotte in the paint all night long.
"We're missing depth, IQ, physicality, awareness, pride, and those two guys [Mason Plumlee and Cody Martin give us that. We started a young kid that seen [Nikola] Vucevic for the first time. He's a puppy out there trying to figure this out defensively. It's not his fault, he's just learning on the fly. We're missing two key pieces on our defense in Mason and Cody."
Vucevic finished the night with 30 points and 14 rebounds. Despite posting better numbers, LaMelo Ball wasn't as efficient shooting the ball as his brother, Lonzo was for the Bulls. Lonzo went 6/8 from the field and 4/5 from three. He'll have bragging rights over Melo for the time being.
Up next, the Hornets will head to Milwaukee to take on the NBA defending champs on Wednesday. Tip is set for 8 p.m. EST.
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