On the Thursday night NBA slate, the Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-98 despite underwhelming performances by DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. Ayo Dosumnu scored a season-high 22 points, and Coby White added 20 of his own.
White made three 3-pointers, and Dosunmu made nine of ten shots. Andre Drummond had 15 points and 11 rebounds in just under 15 minutes, while Nikola Vucevic had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Having led by four at halftime, the Bulls grew their lead to 85-70 after the third quarter. Despite DeRozan and LaVine not playing up to their usual standards, they stayed ahead of Charlotte for most of the game and got some revenge for a loss one week earlier.
“It’s just a testament to our team,” Dosunmu said. “We have a very deep team. At this point of the season, we’re gonna need everyone to come out and play on both ends.”
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Chicago Bulls & Charlotte Hornets Updates
After being selected to his sixth All-Star game in as many seasons with the Bulls, DeRozan scored 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting. It was a 10-point night for LaVine. Despite the absence of their two best players, the Bulls scored enough points to run away from the team with the conference’s second-worst record.
The Charlotte Hornets were led by Terry Rozier, who scored 23 points. Ball recorded a triple-double Tuesday night, but got ejected with 1:21 left after scoring 19 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing out six assists. Angry over a non-call, he picked up two technical fouls after LaVine blocked his layup. In addition to his 16 points, Mason Plumlee grabbed 11 rebounds.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Chicago Bulls & Charlotte Hornets Updates
The Bulls scored the first 10 points in the second half to grow their lead to four points at 63-49. Vucevic and Patrick Williams made back-to-back threes in the run, which was started by Dosunmu and finished by him making layups.