Markkanen, Dunn help Bulls snap losing streak

The Bulls' most recent victory came against Charlotte back on Nov. 17 at the United Center.

So they had reason to bring confidence to a rematch with the Hornets, despite a 10-game losing streak.

The Bulls finally ended their skid with a 119-111 overtime victory at the Spectrum Center. Lauri Markkanen (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Kris Dunn (20 points, 12 assists) were the stars of the game, but coach Fred Hoiberg wanted to spread credit around.

"I thought it was a total team effort tonight," Hoiberg told reporters after the game. "I thought everybody that stepped on the floor made a contribution, I thought our bench to start the fourth was excellent."

The Bulls (4-20) began the fourth quarter trailing 79-75, but a lineup of Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis, David Nwaba, Jerian Grant and Paul Zipser went on a 10-2 run to put the Bulls in command.

Mirotic made his season debut after recovering from facial fractures and a concussion suffered in an Oct. 17 practice altercation with Portis. Mirotic produced 6 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. His first basket was a layup and 3-point play. His last basket was a corner 3-pointer that gave the Bulls an 88-83 lead with 8:10 left.

Mirotic and Portis shared the court with the second unit, which might demonstrate how the relationship has healed a bit.

The Bulls made some good plays down the stretch, but watched Kemba Walker tie the score at the foul line with 5.3 seconds left. No matter. In overtime, Dunn and Markkanen went back to work.

Dunn did a nice job of controlling the offense, knowing when to go to the hoop and get some big baskets and when to kick it out to Markkanen, who knocked down a couple of clutch 3-pointers late in the game.

"We just played the way we've been playing the last couple games," Dunn told reporters after the game. "We've been playing hard, tough and gritty. The last couple games we just didn't get the stops we wanted down the stretch. This game we did. We finally got the monkey off our back."

David Nwaba played most of the way in the fourth quarter and overtime. Now back at full speed after missing a month with a sprained ankle, Nwaba has the athleticism to make a variety of big plays. He finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

"The big thing, it was important for our young guys to go out there and get a win," Hoiberg said. "I think it's huge for our confidence. For our guys to show the fight to continue to go out there and fight was an important step."

Markkanen hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Dunn to put the Bulls up 113-108 with 2:08 left in overtime. A minute later, Markkanen hit 2 free throws to keep the lead at 5.

"You could see, he had very good bounce tonight," Hoiberg said. "He was really getting up on his rebounds. To go out there and have 24 points and 12 rebounds and hit shots in the clutch, shows again he's going to be a heck of a player in this league, a guy that we can go to down the stretch."

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