The Charlotte Hornets beat another playoff competitor when the Bulls visited last night.
The Charlotte Hornets are neutral again. Not good. Not bad, just neutral. They achieved this important milestone by defeating the Chicago Bulls at home by ascore of 108-91. This moves the Hornets into just a half game back of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Chicago Bulls team did not look much like the Bulls team that the Hornets had faced down earlier in the season. This Bulls roster was missingDerrick RoseandJoakim Noah. There was noJimmy Butler, the particular bane of the Hornets when they have played the Bulls. This is why a strong game forPau Gasolultimately made little difference for the Bulls. They were just missing too many pieces.
Of course the Hornets are well familiar with the problem of having too few pieces. They are starting to get out of that problem now asAl Jeffersonis the only remaining player who is still out. The Hornets had their most complete starting lineup yet. This was the first real alliance betweenKemba Walker,Nicolas Batum, andMichael Kidd-Gilchristin the back court.
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Batum had a second straight near miss at a triple-double, going nineteen points, thirteen rebounds, and eight assists.
While Batum is more of a known quantity in the Hornets’ scheme, one of the big questions was how Kidd-Gilchrist would fit in the new scheme. His improved shooting and the ability for space in the lane has somewhat answered those questions. The small forward has stepped right in and been productive right out of the gate. The Bulls game showed this as well with Kidd-Gilchrist put in twenty points and seven rebounds.
The scoring engine of this game was once again Walker. Walker seems to shaken the Miami Heat game out of his mind as he poured in thirty points of his own. He also had eight assists, showing the good ball movement that marks a good Hornets game.
The Hornets look to return to the land of the winning when they visit the Indiana Pacers.
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