LDN - Sports

Rondo paces Bulls in win over Hornets

[March 14, 2017] CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Chicago Bulls were in dire need of a spark, and Rajon Rondo provided it.

Rondo moved back into the starting lineup for the first time since late December and led the way as the Bulls snapped a five-game losing streak with a 115-109 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

The 11-year veteran guard finished with a season-high 20 points while adding seven rebounds and six assists. He hit three 3-pointers, but more important, he got the Bulls' offense running smoothly again.

Coach Fred Hoiberg decided to make the change after the Bulls' woeful 100-80 loss at Boston on Sunday afternoon, and it clearly paid off.

"We had to make a change," Hoiberg said. "We had five straight losses and we had to shake things up, and that's what we decided to do to try to inject some pace into our team. Hopefully he'll play well the rest of the year and hopefully he'll continue to inject life into our team."

Hoiberg said this performance was a blueprint for how he would like to see the offense operate the rest of the season. The Bulls had assists on 29 of their 41 field goals.

"It was a beautiful thing to watch," Hoiberg said. "I said put this thing on a loop because this is how we want to play. We were sharing it. We were making the unselfish play. It wouldn't stick in a guy's hands. We were getting into the paint, kicking it out with great spacing on the back side -- that's how you want to do it. It was fun to see, and it all started with Rondo."

Said Chicago's Dwyane Wade, who scored 23 points, "What Rondo brings to the game is his pace, which allows us to get the ball up the court and we're moving the ball and our bodies are moving as well. It's easy basketball to play, so it becomes contagious. It starts at our point guard, and then it goes down the line."

Nikola Mirotic, who wasn't even active for the Sunday loss at Boston, came off the bench to lead the Bulls with 24 points and 11 rebounds. He hit five 3-pointers on a night when the Bulls were 14 of 40 from 3-point range (35 percent), coming within one 3-pointer of a season high.

The Bulls also got 23 points, 11 assists and six rebounds from Jimmy Butler, and 11 points from Denzel Valentine.

Butler hit three free throws in the final 20 seconds and Valentine tacked on two more as the Bulls never let the Hornets get closer than three in the final minute.

The Bulls led by as many as 16 in the first half, although they watched that advantage evaporate completely by midway through the third quarter. They regrouped to lead by 10 going into the fourth quarter and never let the Hornets get all the way back from there.

Mirotic was pleased to contribute and be back in Hoiberg's good graces, but he too pointed to Rondo as the catalyst.

"It was very, very positive," Mirotic said. "From the beginning, Rajon set the tone. It was kind of a different game for us, and I think we enjoyed it a lot. A long time we didn't enjoy playing basketball, and today was one of those days where we enjoyed it again."

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Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) shoots the ball as Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) defends in the second half at Spectrum Center. The Bulls won 115-109. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulls (32-35) hit eight of their 3-pointers in the first quarter, pulling out to a 36-24 lead after one period.

The Hornets (29-38) lost their second home game in three nights and continue to see their playoff hopes fade.

Jeremy Lamb led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points, starting in place of Nicolas Batum, who was out due to a migraine. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 22, Kemba Walker had 21 points and 10 assists, Marvin Williams had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Cody Zeller scored 11.

"At the end of the day, obviously, we couldn't guard them," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "This is on me now. We play with no discipline defensively. We don't. That has been our calling card for three years. We've been smart, hard to play against, don't beat ourselves. But we're anything but that right now. It's mistake after mistake."

Walker said, "We've just been making too many mistakes as a whole. A lot of game plan stuff where we're just not executing our game plan stuff. Usually when we're good, we do what we have to do defensively and take advantage of our game plan. But we haven't been doing that, especially for a full 48 minutes."

NOTES: The Hornets got F Frank Kaminsky (AC joint) back after he missed the previous five games. But they were without G Nicolas Batum (migraine), C Miles Plumlee (calf), F Johnny O'Bryant (ankle) and G Ramon Sessions (knee). ... Bulls G Dwyane Wade left the game with a leg cramp in the third quarter, but he returned. ... Charlotte coach Steve Clifford was so upset with the Hornets' defense early that he called a timeout just 1:29 into the game. Chicago led 5-3 at the time. ... The Bulls outscored the Hornets 18-2 in fastbreak points. ... This was the third and final game between the teams this season. They had split the first two, so the Bulls will have the tiebreaker if it comes into play. ... The Bulls will return home to face Memphis on Wednesday. ... The Hornets closed out a three-game homestand. They will play at Indiana on Wednesday.

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