A five-game homestand that started with promise has sputtered for the Chicago Bulls.
Aiming to salvage Friday’s finale against the Charlotte Hornets and snap a three-game losing streak, the Bulls will start by looking inward.
“It’s right here to define the season. It’s going to define the true character of this (locker) room,” Chicago’s Coby White said. “Are we going to let it spiral and dwindle and keep going downhill? Or take a stand and next game, come out ready to compete?”
Chicago traded shots and points with Sacramento and New Orleans throughout much of the action on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively, before the visitors found the answers down the stretch, winning by a combined 11 points.
Wednesday brought a different brand of frustration. With the depleted Atlanta Hawks in town minus three starters and a top reserve, Chicago never led. The Hawks’ top two scorers in the game, Keaton Wallace and Daeqwon Plowden, paired to score 46 points after being transferred from Atlanta’s G League affiliate before the game.
White, who led the Bulls with 16 points, credited teammate Nikola Vucevic for delivering a fiery postgame message that centered on inconsistencies with boxing out, rebounding and confusion on defensive switches.
“It was good for us, for the team, good for Vooch to get it off his chest and hold everyone accountable,” White said.
Vucevic and White are second and third on the team with 20.1 and 18.5 points per game, respectively. Vucevic also averages a team-high 10.4 rebounds, while Zach Lavine paces Chicago with his 23.8 scoring average.
Charlotte has won two of three since a 10-game slide from Dec. 13 to Jan. 5 and is coming off Wednesday’s 117-112 victory in Utah.
Mark Williams keyed the victory with a career-best 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting that included eight dunks. He added 13 rebounds.
To coach Charles Lee, Williams personified his succinct nickname.
“We need him to be dominating the paint,” Lee said, “so that’s why we call him DTP when he walks around.”
Williams figures to keep getting chances to boost his recognition. Charlotte this week traded reserve center Nick Richards and a second-round pick to Phoenix for Josh Okogie and three second-round picks.
Lee said he thought Williams “played with great force on both ends of the court” against Utah.
Williams wasn’t alone, as LaMelo Ball (27 points), Miles Bridges (25) and Brandon Miller (20) rounded out a balanced attack.
Chicago boasts an eight-game series winning streak against Charlotte while winning nine of the past 10 meetings.
Vucevic has notched a double-double in three consecutive games versus the Hornets, averaging 19.7 points and 11.7 rebounds over that span.
A victory Friday would give the Bulls their fifth straight season-series victory against the Hornets. Chicago defeated the visiting Hornets 109-95 on Dec. 13 before earning a 115-108 overtime victory on the road on Dec. 30.
White contributed 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the teams’ most recent meeting. Seth Curry scored the first 12 points for Charlotte, who stayed close behind double-doubles from Bridges (31 points, 12 rebounds) and Williams (20 points, 12 rebounds).
The Hornets will host the Bulls April 6 in the teams’ final meeting of the regular season.
