On February 10, Beijing time, the east ushered in a focus battle, bulls vs Hornets! The Bulls haven't been in great shape lately, with the team losing three of their last four games and taking them down from the No. 1 position in the East, and the team desperately needs a win to get out of the woods.
The Hornets also fell badly, the team suffered 5 consecutive losses, the ranking also dropped to the 9th place in the East, the team wants to enter the playoffs, need to improve their ranking, otherwise it is likely to fall behind again at the last minute last season!
At the beginning of the game, the Hornets, who were sitting at home, scored points in succession under the leadership of Rozier and Bridges, taking the lead and taking the initiative! However, the Bulls are also not willing to show weakness, Vucevic constantly attacked the inside line to score points, DeRozan and LaVine were also unstoppable to score points, fortunately, Ball and Rozier hit 3 points in a row at the key moment, entangled with the Bulls, 2 teams played difficult on the court, the Hornets relied on Ball's last moment of a 3 points, the first quarter slightly gained a 1-point advantage.
The Bulls suddenly went dumb in the second quarter, and the Hornets took advantage of the situation to open the score difference 5-0! But the good times did not last long, the Hornets then attacked to a standstill, and the Bulls played 7:0 to catch up with the score! After that, the Hornets offense still did not improve, DeRozan and Lavin seized the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, and the 2 men led the team to a 19:2 super attack wave, which opened a 13-point difference in the half.
Entering the second half, the Bulls offense was still stable, but fortunately, the Hornets' offensive attack also improved greatly, especially Ball's continuous shooting and penalty points led the Hornets to pursue! Bridges and Rozier continued to exert their strength, and the Hornets tried to narrow the score again, but the team's poor defense made them have no way to take the Twin stars of DeRozan and Lavin, so that the point difference was pulled back, and the 3rd quarter was over, still 13 points.
Ball and Oubre hit 3 points in a row to lead the Hornets to try to catch up, but the Bulls were also not willing to show weakness, Bradley, Brown responded everywhere, and DeRozan then cut 6 more points, firmly blocking the point difference beyond 10 points! At the critical moment, the Hornets could not attack the imbalance of mentality for a long time, but DeRozan, Lavin and others were playing more and more fiercely, and the point difference quickly widened to more than 20 points, and the game was about to be spent! Although the Hornets later sent a wave of 10:0 led by Ball and Washington, but because there was little time left, it was still unable to change the overall situation, and the Bulls took the Hornets 121:109 and gave the opponent 6 consecutive defeats.
After defeating the Hornets, the Bulls won a valuable victory under the downward trend, temporarily stabilizing the team's situation, and the Bulls were able to win this game thanks to the excellent performance of the team's twin stars! DeRozan bore the brunt of the game, shooting 13-of-19, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and scoring 36 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. LaVine was also not bad, cutting 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and the 2 players scored 36 points and 27 points respectively, becoming an offensive torrent that the Hornets could not stop.
26 points + 27 points, Lavin and DeRozan both broke out, which is also the 18th time this season for the two people, while cutting 25+ points, reaching the first place in the league, which shows the horror of the twin stars and also gives the Bulls the confidence to compete for the championship.
After taking down the Hornets, DeRozan also roared and vented, the team gradually came out of the decline, and the competition for the 1st place in the East was more chaotic.
At present, the Heat ranked 1st in the East with 35 wins and 20 losses, followed by the Bucks with 35 wins and 21 losses, and the Bulls ranked 3rd with 34 wins and 21 losses, in fact, 34 wins and 21 losses ranked 4th, and the difference between the 4 teams was only 1 game, and everyone had the possibility of getting the 1st place!
In the 1st battle, the Bulls have a certain possibility, the team will next have to play against the Timberwolves, Thunder, Spurs, Kings, Eagles and other teams, the opponent's strength is not very strong, the team has a chance to achieve a wave of consecutive wins! However, in comparison, in the absence of Bauer and Caruso, the strength of the Bulls has no small problems, not as strong as the Bucks and the Heat, and if you want to get the 1st, you have to give a better performance.