National Basketball Association
Chicago 98, Charlotte 86
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, March 23, 2015
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials:
#29 Mark Lindsay, #48 Scott Foster, #12 Violet Palmer
Attendance:
21646
By SportsDirect Inc.
Bulls 98, Hornets 86: Nikola Mirotic scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as host Chicago knocked off Charlotte to clinch a playoff spot.
Pau Gasol had 27 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Bulls moved into a virtual tie for third with the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference race. Jimmy Butler returned from a shoulder injury suffered on March 1 to score 19 points but was just 6-of-20 from the field while Aaron Brooks contributed 13 points and 10 assists.
Kemba Walker scored 29 points for the Hornets, who fell a half-game behind the eighth-place Boston Celtics in the East. Mo Williams scored 15 points but was just 4-of-16 shooting and Gerald Henderson added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Butler’s basket gave the Bulls an 86-78 lead with 4:54 to play before Williams made three free throws 57 seconds later to move Charlotte within one. Mirotic hit a 3-pointer to give Chicago an 89-82 lead with 2:34 remaining and followed up with a basket and three-point play to make it a 12-point margin and the Hornets couldn’t recover.
Charlotte was 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half and led 49-48 at the break. The Bulls led by as many as seven in the third quarter before settling for a 74-69 edge entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler grabbed nine rebounds and Mirotic collected eight. … Hornets C Al Jefferson had just three points on 1-of-7 shooting. … Chicago was 3-of-16 from 3-point range while Charlotte finished 8-of-20.
Top Game Performances
Charlotte |
|
Chicago |
Kemba Walker 29 |
Scoring |
Nikola Mirotic 28 |
Mo Williams 5 |
Assists |
Aaron Brooks 10 |
Gerald Henderson 9 |
Rebounds |
Pau Gasol 12 |
Gerald Henderson 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Jimmy Butler 7 |
Lance Stephenson 1 |
Steals |
Taj Gibson 3 |
Bismack Biyombo 2 |
Blocks |
Pau Gasol 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Charlotte
|
86 |
34.6 |
8-20 |
22-28 |
11 |
51 |
8 |
2 |
11 |
Chicago
|
98 |
45.1 |
3-16 |
21-29 |
21 |
46 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
Upcoming Games
-
Chicago will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Bulls have a W/L % of .524 after a win and .700 after a loss.
-
Charlotte will play their next game at home against Brooklyn. The Hornets have a W/L % of .567 after a win and .333 after a loss.