Bulls at Bobcats
A pair of teams coming off difficult losses meet Saturday night when the Charlotte Bobcats host the Chicago Bulls. The Bobcats on Friday ran into a buzzsaw in the form of New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony, who scored a franchise-record 62 points in a 125-96 loss at Madison Square Garden. Al Jefferson scored 25 in the losing effort, which ranked as the second-largest margin of defeat for Charlotte this season.
The Bulls had won nine of 11, doing much of of it on the defensive end, but had no answer for the Los Angeles Clippers in a 112-95 setback at home Friday. Carlos Boozer led Chicago with 22 points and nine rebounds. The Bulls entered the night ranked third in the NBA by limiting opponents to a 42.9 percent mark from the floor but the Clippers were able to shoot 53.9 percent, including 13-for-21 from 3-point range.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Chicago (Chicago), SportSouth (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE BULLS (21-21): Boozer returned from a one-game layoff due to a calf injury but Chicago was without guard Kirk Hinrich, who will miss a few more games with a hamstring issue. Without Hinrich, the Bulls makeshift backcourt of D.J. Augustin and Jimmy Butler struggled a bit, at least in the scoring department. The pair produced a combined 16 points, roughly 12 below their collective average for this month, on 6-of-23 shooting as Chicago fell back to .500.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS (19-26): Chicago has won the first two meetings this season, but both contests have been close and Charlotte took the Bulls to the wire in Chicago two weeks ago on the road before falling 103-97. However, Gerald Henderson and Kemba Walker combined for 59 points in that one for the Bobcats, a contribution Charlotte cannot expect this time around. Walker is out several more games with a sprained ankle and Henderson has slumped in a big way since that affair, averaging 12.9 points on 34.1 percent shooting in seven games since.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bulls C Joakim Noah has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in 15 straight games.
2. Bobcats G Chris Douglas-Roberts made 4-of-5 3-pointers and scored 14 points in just 16 minutes Friday night.
3. Jefferson has scored at least 20 points in eight consecutive games.