Brandon Miller heats up to airlift Hornets over Bulls

Brandon Miller's season-high 27 points and Miles Bridges' 22 points carried Charlotte to a 123-116 NBA Cup victory over visiting Chicago on Friday night that snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Reserve Collin Sexton poured in 21 points, LaMelo Ball had 16 points and eight assists and Kon Knueppel added 12 points for the Hornets, who finished 1-3 in NBA Cup action.

Coby White and Josh Giddey each scored 25 points to lead the Bulls while reserve Tre Jones provided 16 points, Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 14 rebounds and Kevin Huerter notched 11 points. Giddey, with 11 rebounds and nine assists, fell just short of his fifth triple-double in November.

Chicago, which already had been eliminated from NBA Cup advancement, went 1-3 in NBA Cup play and has lost three of its last four games.

Charlotte was 15-for-45 on 3-pointers, nearly doubling the Bulls (8-for-36) beyond the 3-point arc.

Miller, in his third game back after missing four weeks with an injury, made 10 of 19 shots from the field. He drained five 3-point shots and also had three of Charlotte's 10 blocked shots.

White, who frequently has notable games when returning to his home state, shot 11-for-23 from the field with a 1-for-6 mark on 3-pointers.

When the Bulls pulled within 116-112 with 2:28 to play, Miller dunked for the next points. Bridges provided five points in the final three minutes.

Stuck on 112 points, the Bulls missed three consecutive shots. By the time they scored again on Giddey's basket, there were only 24 seconds to play.

The Bulls led 94-93 entering the fourth quarter, but Bridges scored five straight points to give the Hornets a 105-98 edge.

After leading by as much as 11 in the first half, Charlotte held a 67-62 halftime lead. The Bulls shot 52% from the field compared to the Hornets' 51%, but the Hornets had nine 3-point baskets to the Bulls' three.

--Field Level Media