Josh Green’s Charlotte Hornets have held on for a wild 125-123 win over fellow Australian Josh Giddey’s slumping Chicago Bulls in a clash of NBA eastern conference battlers.
Former NBL Next Star LaMelo Ball led the way for the Hornets (10-28) in Friday night’s match in Chicago, topping the scoring with 26 points and adding nine assists, while Miles Bridges had 21 points and Mark Williams had 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Starter Green contributed eight points, two asists and three rebounds for the visitors who rallied to win a second straight game for just the second time this season. Charlotte have now won three of four after a 10-game skid.
Charlotte were without Brandon Miller, their No.2 scorer. The team announced he has a torn wrist ligament and will be out indefinitely.
For Chicago (18-24), Nikola Vucevic scored 40 points – including 17 in the fourth quarter – and had 12 rebounds, but the Bulls fell to a season-high fourth straight loss.
Giddey had six points, five assists and five rebounds in 26 minutes for the hosts while Zach Lavine scored 19 points and Coby White added 18.
Charlotte opened the fourth quarter with a 21-2 run to build a 119-105 lead. Chicago then pushed back with a 12-0 streak of their own.
Chicago cut Charlotte’s lead to one point – 122-121 – with 1:47 left, but Ball hit two free throws seconds later. Vucevic followed with a basket from the stripe to cut it to a one-point deficit again before Vasa Micic hit one of two free throws with 12.6 seconds left.
The Bulls missed three attempts at a win or tie before the final buzzer.
In Los Angeles, Ben Simmons’ Brooklyn Nets almost pulled off a big upset as they were edged 102-101 by LeBron James’ Lakers (22-17).
The Lakers overcame the absence of Anthony Davis (foot), helped by a career-high 38 points from Austin Reeves plus 29 points and eight assists from James.
Australian Simmons had six points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Nets (14-28), while D’Angelo Russell scored 19 points off the bench against his former team.
The Nets fell to 2-10 since December 27 and entered off a 126-67 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
In Dallas, Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington Jr. added 16 apiece as the Mavericks beat high-flying Oklahoma City 106-98.
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s leading scorer with a 31.6 average, missed his first game of the season due to a wrist injury one night after scoring 40 points in a 134-114 victory over Cleveland in a matchup of the Western and Eastern Conference leaders.
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 30 points and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 23 to lead defending champions Boston to a 121-94 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic.
Anthony Edwards had 36 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and seven assists, leading the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves to a 116-99 victory over the New York Knicks.
Disgruntled Jimmy Butler returned from his seven-game club-imposed suspension to score 18 points for the Miami Heat but the visiting Denver Nuggets won 133-113 as Nikola Jokic grabbed his 17th triple-double of the season.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/greens-hornets-win-nba-thriller-against-giddeys-bulls-c-17429057
