Chicago Bulls lose at Charlotte, still searching for right chemistry
The Chicago Bulls fell into a dependable routine during their three-game road trip. Hang close in the first half, then go in the tank, so to speak, and lose handily.
On Tuesday night in Charlotte, the Bulls were tied at halftime but ran their losing streak to five in a row with a 118-103 loss to the Hornets.
The rebuilding Bulls (20-41) clearly are not trying very hard to win down the stretch, so it's hard to tell whether this is cause for concern. Coach Fred Hoiberg pointed to some costly mistakes in the second half.
"We're playing some really good stretches," he told reporters after the game. "We're not sustaining it. When you turn it over 12 times in the second half, against a team that's hot like this, on the road, you're not going to win.
"At the same time, you've got to take positives out of this when you're trying new things out there. We've been pretty darn solid in first halves. I'd love to see us get off to a great start. If we do that, hopefully that would get us playing 48 minutes of basketball."
One goal for the final 21 games is to build some chemistry between Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen, and it's not happening. LaVine sat out Monday in Brooklyn, since it was the first leg of back-to-back games and he returned in January from ACL surgery.
With LaVine out, Dunn scored 23 points and Markkanen snapped a shooting slump with 19 points against the Nets. With the trio back together Tuesday, LaVine led with 21 points, but Dunn hit just 2 of 11 shots from the field and Markkanen had an ordinary game with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
"They will hopefully get it going on the same night," Hoiberg said. "It hasn't happened yet, but they're obviously fully capable of doing that.
"Now it's about hopefully growing and getting some chemistry with those three guys. It would be great to get all three of them going. I'm confident that will happen."
The Bulls' second-leading scorer was Denzel Valentine with 14 points. Center Cristiano Felicio was a pleasant surprise, hitting all 6 of his shots in the first half, before going scoreless after halftime. He finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
"We didn't anticipate Cris coming out and hitting 3 18-footers to start the game," Hoiberg said. "He rose up with confidence. I thought his rim-rolls were better tonight. We watched a big edit on screening this morning. His screens were more effective. This is one Cris can certainly build on."
After a poor shooting night in Brooklyn, backup point guard Cameron Payne came back with a team-high 6 assists and 6 points Tuesday. Bobby Portis finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
After starting in place of LaVine in Brooklyn, Justin Holiday went back to sitting out as the Bulls try to focus on their younger players. Kemba Walker led Charlotte (28-33) with 21 points.
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