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Wednesday, Mar. 15 7:30pm ET
Bulls rookie Brand misses 17 of 21 shots | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Charlotte Hornets could afford to play poorly in the fourth quarter Wednesday night. The Chicago Bulls, owners of the worst road record in the Eastern Conference, were in town. Charlotte missed 10 of 13 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter and went the final seven minutes without a basket, but still won 77-74. "Never did that. That's got to be a first," Charlotte's Eddie Jones said, shaking his head as he stared at a stat sheet that showed the Hornets winning despite shooting 23 percent in the last quarter. Jones and Wesley had 18 points apiece to lead Charlotte, which built a 12-point lead before running into late-game shooting troubles. Elden Campbell added a career-high 20 rebounds and Derrick Coleman had 15 points. The Hornets, improving to 10-0 at home against Central Division opponents, shot 40 percent and held Chicago to 34 percent shooting, the second-lowest mark by a Charlotte opponent this season. Charlotte coach Paul Silas thought for a few seconds when asked if the Hornets could take anything positive from the game. "Not really," he said. "It wasn't a very good night. We'll try to put it in the back of our minds and go forward." Chris Carr had 18 points for Chicago, which had a 48-47 rebounding edge and forced 18 turnovers, including seven by Jones, but still lost its ninth in a row on the road, where the Bulls are 4-28. "Chicago's the type of team that can sneak up on you," Wesley said. "We have to put them away early." Much of Chicago's shooting woes could be traced to rookie Elton Brand, who had 12 rebounds but missed 17 of his 21 field-goal attempts and scored just 12 points. Brand, guarded much of the game by Coleman, misfired on 12 consecutive shots from the first quarter to the third. "The good thing about tonight is we shot horrible, but we were still in the game," Brand said. "They did a great job playing defense on me. We just can't get over the hump." The Bulls activated Ron Artest and B.J. Armstrong before the game, and both players saw considerable playing time, partly because starting guard Randy Brown left less than six minutes into the contest. Brown walked off the court holding the right side of his head and complaining of a jammed neck, and even though the Bulls said he might return, he sat out the rest of the game. The Hornets took the lead to stay with an 18-2 run in the first quarter, but spent the rest of the game struggling to put away Chicago, which never let Charlotte build a lead larger than 14 points. The Bulls cut their deficit to 72-70 on a follow shot by Brand with 1:09 left. But they turned it over on their next possession, and the Hornets sealed the win by making five of six free throws in the last 56 seconds. Game notesWesley started his 184th consecutive game for Charlotte, passing Larry Johnson for the top spot on the club's career list. ... Brand wasn't the only post player to have trouble shooting the ball. Campbell was 2-for-10, missing three jumpers from 4 feet or closer on one possession late in the second quarter. ... To make room for Artest and Armstrong on their active roster, the Bulls placed Michael Ruffin and John Starks on the injured list, Ruffin with a sore shoulder and Starks with a sore knee. ... Jones, who has led the NBA in steals since the opening night of the season, had two, giving him at least one in 12 consecutive games. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Chicago Clubhouse Charlotte Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 121 Golden State 104
Charlotte 77
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