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 They won the rebound battle 57-45, made more than twice as many
trips to the free-throw line as a result and beat the Hornets 102-97
to rebound from a 25-point loss on Nov. 3 in Charlotte.
"I just wanted to bring some energy tonight," said Bulls center
Joakim Noah, who pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds, including 11
on the defensive end. "This was an important game for us, especially
with the way we played the last time we played this team. We showed
some character tonight."
They showed anything but character during the previous loss to the
Hornets, a poor rebounding team that out-boarded the Bulls 52-33 in
the first game. This time, the Bulls (6-3) flipped the script.
Boosted by the wide rebounding differential, the Bulls made a
season-high 31 trips to the free-throw line and converted 24.
"This game was a rebounding game," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford
said. "We got dominated on the glass and that led to a domination on
the free-throw line."
The Bulls weren't able to rout Charlotte, but did make sure to get
some payback with a strong fourth quarter. They seized the lead
early in the final quarter with a 13-4 run, and held on late to
overcome the Hornets' last-ditch effort to tie.
Trailing 100-97, Charlotte couldn't pull even in the final minute on
3-point shots by Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb. Bulls guard Jimmy
Butler sealed the win with 5.4 seconds left by coaxing in a jumper
that hit the rim and backboard before falling through for the final
margin.
Butler scored 27 points to lead four Chicago players in double
figures. E'Twaun Moore added 11 points, Taj Gibson chipped in 12
points, Derrick Rose finished with 10 points and Pau Gasol recorded
his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13
rebounds.
"We just did our job," Gasol said. "We got into them. We tried to
get them out of their comfort zone. They hit some tough shots, but
that's part of the game."
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Batum led all scorers with a season-high 28 points, and the Hornets
(4-5) got double-figures scoring from Lamb (12 points), Kemba Walker
(16 points) and Marvin Williams (14 points).
Chicago led 50-46 at halftime, after outscoring the Hornets 27-23 in
the second quarter. Gasol had his double-double by that point, with
11 points and 10 rebounds. His ninth rebound was his 1,000th with
the Bulls, just nine games into his second season playing for
Chicago.
It was a tough game for players on each team with ties to France,
where a terrorist attack Friday left more than 100 people dead.
Noah's father, Yannick, still lives in France, while Batum was born
in France.
Noah said nobody from his family was injured in the attack, while
Clifford said Batum used the tragedy as inspiration.
"He played great," Clifford said. "He was emotional because he's
from France. He's a real good player. The way he plays, there won't
be many nights that he does not play well."
NOTES: Starting PG Kemba Walker (heel) played for the Hornets.
Walker's availability was questionable coming into the game Friday
at the Bulls. ... F Cody Zeller did not play for Charlotte because
of a nagging left ankle injury. "He hurt his ankle the other night
and tried to go through shootaround (Friday) morning, and it was
just sore," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "He can't jump, so
Frank (Kaminsky) will get more of a chance (against the Bulls)." ...
Hornets F/C Spencer Hawes (right ankle sprain) was available to
play. ... Bulls C Joakim Noah (knee soreness), played after missing
one game because of the issue. ... Chicago F Mike Dunleavy (back)
missed his ninth game, while G Kirk Hinrich (toe) sat out for the
sixth time.
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