Chicago Bulls Beat Charlotte Hornets in Preseason, 101-96
Final. 101. 24. 96. 170
Preseason basketball continued last night with the Charlotte Hornets paying a visit to the Chicago Bulls in the United Center. With the exhibition season starting to wind down, Coach Steve Clifford narrowed his rotation to ten men against the Bulls. Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh were held out and did not play. Jannero Pargo and Jason Maxiell also saw no time on the court.
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The Bulls won 101-96 behind a big scoring night from former Kansas Jayhawk Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich came off the bench to shoot 26 points. Other Bulls in double figures included backup point guard Aaron Brooks, starting point guard Derek Rose, and starting power forward Pau Gasol. Gasol and backup forward Taj Gibson both had ten rebounds on the game.
Hornets scoring was fairly balanced. Shooting guard Lance Stephenson led the way with 14, but all five starters reached double figures on the night. They were joined by backup shooting guard PJ Hairston who scored 12 points. Gary Neal was quiet for the first time all preseason with only six points on the night.
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Coach Steve Clifford was pleased with the Hornets effort and how they adjusted at the half. He felt they made many fewer mistakes in the second half. The big question surrounding the Hornets is how they will integrate the injured players Henderson and Vonleh. Both expect to be big players in the rotation and neither saw any game action thus far in the preseason.
The Hornets play their only back-to-back of the preseason schedule tonight when they visit the Atlanta Hawks in Phillips Arena. The Hawks are the divisional rivals of the Hornets and so it will be a game that should gauge how the two teams measure against each other. The Hornets finish preseason action on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers at home.