Playing in his home state, Coby White scored 27 points and the Chicago Bulls recovered after a shaky late stretch to defeat the host Charlotte Hornets 119-112 in overtime Monday night.
Chicago scored the first eight points of overtime, with two baskets by Nikola Vucevic.
Andre Drummond supplied 21 points and 15 rebounds and Vucevic also finished with 21 points. DeMar DeRozan added 18 points, though Zach LaVine, in just his second game following a 17-game absence, was held to nine points in 35 minutes off the bench.
The Bulls won consecutive games against Charlotte, with the first of the back-to-back matchups coming Friday night in Chicago.
Hornets guard Terry Rozier poured in 39 points to go with eight assists but he didn’t score in overtime. Miles Bridges had 24 points, Nick Smith Jr. racked up 15 points in a reserve role and Nick Richards had 10 points for the Hornets, who’ve lost 13 of their last 14 games.
Rozier went 7 for 13 on 3-pointers and was 12 for 12 on free throws. He had only 15 points in 36 minutes in Friday’s game.
The Hornets erased a seven-point deficit in the final 3 1/2 minutes of regulation to pull even at 107-107 on Bridges’ jumper with 46 seconds to play. Rozier missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
DeRozan went 0 for 3, including a hurried attempt at the buzzer, with a turnover in the last 1:40 of regulation. The Bulls were without a point in the last 2:46 of the fourth quarter.
Earlier, the Bulls perked up after they fell behind.
The Hornets took a brief lead at 86-85 in the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run. Six of those points came on Rozier free throws when he was fouled on two 3-point attempts. Chicago’s response included White’s 3-pointer to grab a 95-90 lead.
The Bulls used a strong second quarter to build a 51-43 halftime edge.
Charlotte was coming off a 1-5 road trip, but the home court didn’t provide enough help.
–Field Level Media
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