LaMelo Ball, Hornets hand reel Bulls another loss

LaMelo Ball had 26 points and nine assists and Mark Williams recorded a double-double of 19 points and 19 rebounds to lift the visiting Charlotte Hornets to a 125-123 victory over the slumping Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Charlotte opened the fourth quarter on a 21-2 run before holding on to win back-to-back road games for the first time this season. The Hornets have won back-to-back games just once before this season, a pair of home games on November 6th and 8th.

A late Bulls run didn’t make it easy. Nikola Vucevic scored 13 points during a 16-3 Chicago spurt that brought the hosts within 124-123 with 16 seconds left.

Charlotte’s Vasilije Micic sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Bulls one last chance at victory, but the team missed three attempts at a win or tie before the final buzzer, starting with a clean Vucevic look on a trey from the top of the ​the key.

Vucevic posted a double-double of 40 points and 13 rebounds while going 17-for-25 from the floor. Zach LaVine (19 points) and Coby White (18) followed.

Miles Bridges scored 21 points for Charlotte. Seth Curry and Nick Smith Jr. got 15 points each.

Chicago has lost five of six to fall six games below .500. After beating Washington 138-105 on Jan. 10 to kick off a season-high five-game homestand, the Bulls dropped each of the next four games.

The Bulls took a 103-98 lead into the third quarter Friday, but sputtered to start the fourth, surrendering the first 12 points of the quarter, including six from Williams.

Trailing 73-71 at halftime, Chicago stayed close thanks to strong ball movement that led the Bulls to 21 assists on 29 field goals in the first half.

Brandon Miller (sprained right wrist) missed the game for the Hornets, while Torrey Craig (right calf contusion, right ankle sprain) and Talen Horton-Tucker (sprained left knee) were out.

Patrick Williams tallied five points for Chicago in the first four-plus minutes of the game, but went zero after that.

–Field-level media