Charlotte Hornets lose to the Chicago Bulls 115-109 Monday night. Charlotte’s drop the season series against the Bulls with the loss while the Bulls snapped a season-high five game losing streak. Rajon Rondo returned to the starting lineup for the Bulls, replacing Jerian Grant as the starting point guard. While Hornets fans were able final see Briante Weber play in the third quarter, replacing Brain Roberts as the backup point. Weber is on his second 10-day contract with the Hornets. Charlotte starting shooting guard Nicolas Batum was out this game due to a migraine, Jeremy Lamb took his place in the starting lineup. Hornets did get back Frank Kaminsky, who had missed last five games with a shoulder sprain. A day after the Bulls scored a total of nine points in the first quarter against Boston Celtics, the Bulls scored 36 points in the first quarter of this game. Bulls team who average six threes’ a game, made eight three-pointers in the first quarter to help them build a 12-point lead. Hornets fought back from 16 points down to tie it up in the third quarter at 69 apiece but would never able to re-take the lead. Every time Hornets got close, Mirotić seemed to hit a big shot for the Bulls.
The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Jeremy Lamb who scored a career-high 26 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point line. In three games as a starter this season, Lamb was averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds before this game. Lamb has been playing great off the bench the past few weeks, giving Clifford someone to rely on scoring when Kemba and Batum are on the bench. But, Lamb still needs to work on his defense, biting on Wade’s fake pump to many times and just making some terrible decisions on the defense side. But Lamb can be dangerously good for the Hornets, with his ability to shoot the ball from deep, driving down the line and make difficult layups, to hitting floaters and being able to grab the rebound, Lamb can be a good starter for the Hornets if he’s able to work on his defense. The biggest reasons why Charlotte lost, was first the Hornets bench play, the Bulls reserves outscored the Hornets reserves 38-16. One of the Hornets biggest weaknesses all season long has been from the bench playing terribly. Right now, the Hornets do not have a true center with Miles Plumlee missing 3-weeks with a calf strain. Due to that, the Hornets are putting Frank Kaminsky/Marvin Williams as the backup center. Frank doesn’t play like a center and the other team center just bullying him on the block. Marvin does a decent job, yet again he’s not a true center, so when he’s in as center that means the Hornets are going small so the other team big man takes advantage of it. The drive and kick game for the Bulls killed the Hornets all game long, for whatever reason the Hornets cannot defend that this season since that’s how the Pistons beat us twice so far this season. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 22 points, Kemba Walker with 21 points 10 assists, Marvin Williams with 13 points 18 rebounds and Cody Zeller with 11 points. The leading scorers for the Bulls were Nikola Mirotić with 24 points 11 rebounds, Jimmy Butler with 23 points 11 assists, Dwyane Wade with 23 points and Rajon Rondo with a season-high 20 points. Charlotte Hornets (29-38) travel to face off against the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night.
The Hornets should never use that lineup where Marvin Williams it at the 5. It leaves them too exposed on the defensive end. Frank K. Needs to play like he did at Wisconsin.A big man who can play with his back to the rim, and stretch the floor with the 3. He'll need to get stronger and be more confident in the paint. Nevertheless, it's over for the Hornets.
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