FINAL FROM CHARLOTTE: Charlotte 125, Bulls 118 (Bulls: 12-41, 6-21 on the road)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: Portis 33pts. Charlotte: Walker: 37 pts.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen: 9. Charlotte: Lamb: 9.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono: 6. Charlotte: Walker: 10.
CCI RECAP: The Bulls had not one, but two players each score 30 or more (Portis 33, Markkanen-30) but Kemba Walker took over for the Hornets scoring 15 in the fourth quarter propelling the Hornets to a victory and taking the season series winning twice in three games. The Bulls get some time off before resuming play Wednesday hosting New Orleans.
CCI IN THE LOCKER ROOM: “I thought they (Hornets) had a great second half. The ball was moving. That being said I thought we did a lot of great things and have been improving offensively. Bobby had a big game. Lauri had a big game. I thought they way we started was really good.” Coach Boylen
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Golden State 115, Los Angeles 101. LeBron sat out (load management). Klay Thompson scored 28 for the Warriors. Steph Curry didn’t make a field goal until the fourth quarter.
Denver 107, Minnesota 106. All-Star Nikola Jokic is ballin....another triple double: His 25th career of 13-16-10. The Nuggets are 22 over .500 and remember-this is a very young team. It was Denver’s sixth game in nine days.
Houston 125, Utah 98. James Harden with a robust game. Check out these numbers—seriously....43 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocked shots. Wowza. That’s 26 straight games with Harden scoring at least 30 points.
Los Angeles Clippers 111, Detroit 101. The Pistons blew a 25 point second half lead. Lou Williams with a season-high 39 including 16 straight during a wicked fourth quarter rally by LAC. Williams in addition to scoring has dished out 44 assists the past five games.
Milwaukee 131, Washington Wizards 115. Giannis 37-10. (17-17 foul line). The Bucks go to 37-10, winners of three straight and nine of ten.
Dallas 111, Cleveland 98. Luka Doncic matched his season-high of 35 points along with 11 rebounds and six assists.
Indiana 95, Miami 88. The Heat scored just 11- fourth quarter points. Miami is in a major free fall, falling five games under .500 at home and three under .500 on the season. Bogdanovic had 31 for the Pacers.
Atlanta 118, Phoenix 112. John Collins is just getting better and better by the game. Collins with a 35-16 game for the Hawks. Collins had 10 offensive rebounds. The Suns fall to 11-43.
Orlando 102, Brooklyn 89. All-Star Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac each posted double- doubles.
San Antonio 113, New Orleans 108. Another bat delay in San Antonio. True. Bats hovering around inside. The Pelicans were without five injured players including Anthony Davis.
Sacramento 115, Philadelphia 108. Buddy Hield drained 7- 3s for the Kings and scored 34. Joel Embiid with another monster 29-17 game.
I caught up with two former Bulls over the weekend as Justin Holiday and Joakim Noah of the Grizzlies were in Charlotte playing the Hornets Friday. It was great reconnecting with both players as they truly loved playing for the Bulls and enjoyed living in Chicago. I’m especially pleased for Joakim as he received an opportunity to resume his career in Memphis and is making the most of it. Both players will be in Chicago in the near future as the Grizzlies play the Bulls prior to the All-Star break on February 13.
PS: Congrats to Matt Nagy winning NFL Coach of the Year honors. He’s an excellent coach with a creative mind to go along with a great vibe with his players.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!