Coby White scored 37 points and the visiting Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets 131-117 for a three-game winning streak Sunday afternoon.
White shot 12-for-16 from the field, including 6-for-8 on 3-pointers, in a return to his home state of North Carolina. He also made all seven of his free-throw attempts.
Josh Giddey supplied 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Patrick Williams had 15 points off the bench for the Bulls (36-42), who shot 53.5 percent from the field. Kevin Huerter added 13 points and Matas Buzelis had 10 points.
The Hornets (19-59) have lost eight of their last nine games. Mark Williams, who was back in the lineup after missing Friday night’s game with muscle spasms, contributed 22 points and nine rebounds and Jusuf Nurkic and KJ Simpson each poured in 18 points for Charlotte. Seth Curry had 10 points.
Charlotte’s woes on perimeter shooting continued as the Hornets were 8-for-30 from beyond the arc. That included Miles Bridges going 0-for-4 to dip to 19-for-83 on 3-pointers across a 12-game stretch, while reserve Nick Smith Jr. went 0-for-7 on 3s.
White, a guard, was Chicago’s leading scorer for the 11th time in the last 13 games. He has eclipsed the 30-point mark in five of the past nine games.
White drilled two 3-pointers in a 27-second span early in the second quarter and Giddey’s 3-point basket capped a 12-2 run for a 58-43 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bulls led 75-55 at halftime, buoyed by a 46-point second quarter. Aside from closing within 14 points early in the third quarter, the Hornets never mounted a sustained charge. They were within 97-86 early in the fourth quarter and then went more than two minutes without scoring.
The Bulls, who improved to 20-19 in road games, won three of four meetings with the Hornets this season.
