Bulls 98, Hornets 86
Nikola Mirotic scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as host Chicago knocked off Charlotte to clinch a playoff spot.
Pau Gasol had 27 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Bulls moved into a virtual tie for third with the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference race. Jimmy Butler returned from a shoulder injury suffered on March 1 to score 19 points but was just 6-of-20 from the field while Aaron Brooks contributed 13 points and 10 assists.
Kemba Walker scored 29 points for the Hornets, who fell a half-game behind the eighth-place Boston Celtics in the East. Mo Williams scored 15 points but was just 4-of-16 shooting and Gerald Henderson added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Butler’s basket gave the Bulls an 86-78 lead with 4:54 to play before Williams made three free throws 57 seconds later to move Charlotte within one. Mirotic hit a 3-pointer to give Chicago an 89-82 lead with 2:34 remaining and followed up with a basket and three-point play to make it a 12-point margin and the Hornets couldn’t recover.
Charlotte was 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half and led 49-48 at the break. The Bulls led by as many as seven in the third quarter before settling for a 74-69 edge entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler grabbed nine rebounds and Mirotic collected eight. … Hornets C Al Jefferson had just three points on 1-of-7 shooting. … Chicago was 3-of-16 from 3-point range while Charlotte finished 8-of-20.