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Hornets-Bulls a tale of slow starts, slow finishes (Dec 23, 2016)
The Charlotte Hornets would like to figure out why they struggle in the first half at times. The Chicago Bulls would like to solve their struggles to produce offense in the fourth quarter.
Both teams get a chance to see if they can fix those issues Friday night when the Hornets host the Bulls.
Charlotte is 16-13 but in many of those wins, the Hornets wound up getting it together after slow starts. Charlotte only has two wins where it never trailed and eight others occurred after a double-digit deficit.
The Hornets have four wins when trailing after the opening quarter and seven when facing a halftime deficit.
The latest instance was Tuesday's 117-113 comeback win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Hornets did not get the lead until a Marco Belinelli 3-pointer with 9:27 left in the fourth and their next lead did not occur until Nicolas Batum's driving bank shot with 13 seconds left snapped a 113-113 tie.
Batum's hoop was part of a 23-point, 10 rebound night that complimented a near triple-double by Kemba Walker (28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists). Those efforts pushed Charlotte's record to 9-9 in games decided by single digits and left coach Steve Clifford craving more from his team.
"I'm looking for a jolt," Clifford said. "I'm looking for a push. I'm looking at these next two weeks where we play some good teams and we need to play better. We need to put 48 minutes together, two games together. Then we'll see if we're a good team or not."
Clifford is right.
Of those comebacks from a double-digit deficit six occurred against losing teams.
"We can't afford to start out games like this," Walker said. "We have to be better. If we keep playing like this, things won't work out well for us."
Chicago's players have made similar remarks at times but often it occurs after a fourth quarter gone wrong. The Bulls (14-14) have yet to dip below the .500 mark but since a six-point win at Cleveland on Dec. 2, Chicago is 3-7.
The Bulls have not scored more than 31 points in a fourth quarter this season. Chicago is averaging a league-worst 22.5 points in the fourth quarter and shooting 37.2 in the final 12 minutes, which also is the worst mark in the league.
Jimmy Butler averages 6.5 points in the fourth quarter and shoots 37.9 percent in the fourth. Dwyane Wade averages 5.8 points in the fourth and shoots 39.6 percent.
It was a significant problem Wednesday when the Bulls were handed a 107-97 home loss to the Washington Wizards. The game was tied entering the fourth but then Chicago shot 7 of 24 as Butler was 0 of 4 and Wade was 2 of 6.
Butler is 1 of 9 in his last two fourth quarters. He shot 5 of 9 in the fourth during last week's five-point loss to Minnesota but that occurred after he was 1 of 8 in the third.
"Let's call it what it is: We're putting a lot of pressure on Jimmy (Butler) in the fourth quarter to make a lot of plays because we're running just one action," Wade said. "So we have to get more action, more body movement."
Butler scored 20 points for the 23rd time but shot 6 of 20 Wednesday. In the past three quarters, he misfired on 12 of 14 shots and is shooting 37.9 percent in his last five games.
"As the game goes along, teams are going to key in, especially on myself and D-Wade," Butler said. "We have to figure out other ways to get guys the ball," he said. "We have to put other guys in great positions as well. We're not guarding anybody either."
The not guarding anybody part is accurate at least in recent games. Although the Bulls are fifth in allowing 99.6 points per game, they have allowed 104.2 points in the last seven defeats, which all have been against teams with losing records.
Chicago is starting a stretch where it plays seven of its next 12 against teams above .500 through Jan. 12. Based on how recent games have unfolded, it appears possible the Bulls will dip under .500.
