Chicago Bulls: 2 studs, 1 dud from resounding win over the Hornets

A nice win for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls came at an opportune time heading into a manageable portion of the schedule later this week. Donovan and the Bulls were able to get a nice road win over a struggling Charlotte Hornets team and rising star point guard LaMelo Ball at the Spectrum Center on the night of Feb. 9.

This win over the Hornets snapped a two-game losing skid for the Bulls before they return home to the United Center for games that will mostly come in Chicago for the rest of the month.

It was back and forth between the Bulls and Hornets on Feb. 9 for the first 12-15 minutes. At the end of the first quarter, the Bulls were behind the Hornets by one point. But the Bulls really started to open this one up later on in the second quarter before taking a 58-45 lead into the locker room at halftime.

36 points from DeMar DeRozan lift the Chicago Bulls over the Hornets on Feb. 9

The Bulls did what was needed to close this one out. While they didn’t beat the Hornets just purely in terms of scoring margin in the second half, they still attained this win in the end by the convincing final score of 121-109.

This win over the Hornets helps the Bulls stay near the top of the Eastern Conference standings ahead of a stretch of winnable games throughout the rest of February. With that in mind, here’s a look into two studs and one dud from the Bulls’ resounding 12-point win over the Hornets on the road on Feb. 9.