Coby White lit up the Spectrum Center with 37 points on Sunday night, leading the Chicago Bulls past the Charlotte Hornets 131-117.
The 25-year-old guard buried six of his eight attempts from deep and shot 75% from the field in a dominant all-around performance.
White also dished out five assists and helped spark a second-quarter surge that flipped an early 10-point deficit into a commanding 20-point halftime lead.
Chicago, now 36-42 on the season, tightened its grip on the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference standings and pulled within one game of the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 8 seed.
Josh Giddey delivered another strong showing with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, falling just shy of a triple-double.
Nikola Vucevic added 16 points and 11 boards, while Patrick Williams chipped in 15 on 6-of-8 shooting in his hometown return.
The Bulls shot 53.5% from the field and knocked down 16 threes in one of their most efficient offensive performances of the season.
They also held a 46-27 advantage in scoring during the second quarter, effectively putting the game out of reach by halftime.
Charlotte, now 19-59 and mired in a stretch of 10 losses in 12 games, was led by Mark Williams’ 22 points and nine rebounds.
K.J. Simpson and Jusuf Nurkic each had 18 points for the Hornets, but their combined efforts weren’t enough to keep pace with Chicago’s firepower.
The Hornets shot 26.7% from beyond the arc, connecting on just 8 of 30 three-point attempts.
Miles Bridges continued his slump from deep, missing all four of his long-range attempts and spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
Bridges is now 10-for-54 (18.5%) from three over his last eight outings.
Patrick Williams made the most of his minutes off the bench and recorded a game-high +25 plus-minus.
Charlotte’s starting backcourt of K.J. Simpson and Seth Curry combined for 28 points, but the Hornets were outscored by 14 when they were on the floor.
Talen Horton-Tucker, Zach Collins, and Dalen Terry combined for 11 points in reserve roles for Chicago, which led by as many as 24 points in the final quarter.
The Bulls shot 79.3% from the free-throw line, going 23-of-29 from the stripe, while also out-rebounding Charlotte 41-40.
LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Grant Williams, and Tre Mann were all inactive for the Hornets, who continue to battle a depleted roster late in the season.
With four games remaining, Charlotte is locked into the bottom three of the Eastern Conference standings and now awaits lottery positioning.
The Bulls will look to carry momentum into Tuesday’s home matchup as they continue to chase Atlanta for a potential spot in the 7-8 play-in game.
