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Wednesday, Jan. 19 8:30pm ET
Hornets win second straight game | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
CHICAGO (AP) -- The pain and grief fade a little with each day that passes. Slowly, the Charlotte Hornets are getting over Bobby Phills' sudden death the only way they know how. Eddie Jones led four Hornets players in double figures with 26 points Wednesday night, and Charlotte made 29 of 38 free throws to beat the Chicago Bulls 96-86. The victory snapped a nine-game road losing streak. "We're trying to move on in a positive way," Jones said. "When you go out and play good ballgames, it's going to ease the pain. When you're winning, you feel better, more confident. "We can't forget what happened," he added. "But we've got to move on." Phills, the Hornets' captain, died a week ago Wednesday in a car accident after the team's shootaround. Charlotte's game that night against the Bulls was postponed. The Hornets postponed another game and then lost to the New York Knicks in an emotional return to the court. They've now won two straight. "Bobby was a big part of what we were," Jones said. "We're going to have to find a way to go on without him." Though the Hornets didn't play particularly well -- they shot only 43 percent (33-of-77) from the floor and had 26 turnovers -- they beat the Bulls on the boards and at the free throw line. The Hornets outrebounded Chicago 54-36, including a 36-24 edge on the defensive glass. Derrick Coleman went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Anthony Mason added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and also had 10 rebounds. "We saw early that we weren't active," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. "We brought in four guys and we made a little push. They didn't finish the half, and then we never really made a push in the second half." The Bulls didn't get back to Chicago until 2 a.m. Wednesday after an overtime win in Miami, and were sluggish all night. They had 21 turnovers, missed their first eight shots and were 33-of-83 (40 percent) from the floor. After trailing by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter, they cut the lead to 93-84 on Ron Artest's 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, but ran out of time. Elton Brand led the Bulls with another double-double, 24 points and 11 rebounds. Artest added 19, and Toni Kukoc had 12 despite shooting 3-of-14. "We exerted a lot of energy last night, and I think today we just didn't have it," Brand said. "We were both sluggish, both fouling, but it seemed like they had it going offensively more." Charlotte led by 14 at the end of the first quarter, and the Bulls can take much of the credit -- or would that be blame? -- for that. They missed their first eight shots, and gave the Hornets 15 tries at the foul line. Charlotte made 13 of the free throws, with Jones converting six of them. Kukoc and Artest both picked up two fouls in the first quarter, and had to spend about half of the time on the bench. "You can't play as aggressively as you would when you get the two fouls early," Kukoc said. "It gets the energy out of you and makes you cautious. But I don't think that was the point where the game went wrong." The Bulls rallied in the second quarter, going on an 18-5 run to take a 40-39 lead, their first of the game, with 5:01 left in the half. But the Bulls only scored one more field goal the rest of the half, though, and Charlotte finished with a 14-3 run for a 53-43 halftime lead. "It was very good to get a win on the road. It's been a struggle all season long, but we're slowly creeping back in this thing," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "We've got five home games coming and hopefully we can do some things." Game notesCharlotte won in Chicago for the first time since April 8, 1996. ... Before the game, Floyd presented Silas with a $25,000 check from the Bulls for the Bobby Phills Scholarship Fund. ... Tom "Smokey" Wiscarz, who runs the clock at Bulls home games, missed his first game since 1982. Wiscarz, who had worked 862 straight games, is recovering from surgery. ... Floyd got a technical in the second quarter for arguing a no-call on Chris Anstey. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Charlotte Clubhouse Chicago Clubhouse Phills, Wesley topped 100 mph, police say
Hornets announce makeup dates for postponed games
RECAPS Boston 94 Toronto 90
Charlotte 96
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