Hornets look to finish January with win vs. Bulls

It has been a disjointed season for the Charlotte Hornets, and there are few signs of it getting better.

The failures have turned to frustrations, but there's a chance for a small accomplishment Wednesday night when the Hornets host the Chicago Bulls.

The Hornets will be aiming for their fourth victory of January. That doesn't seem like much; but, after a one-win December, perhaps it would be a source of progress.

The Bulls lost 118-107 on Tuesday night at home, so they'll try to recover from a horrid second half in which they were outscored 65-44.

The Hornets have dropped four games in a row. This marks the final game of a four-game homestand, with lopsided defeats to Houston, Utah and New York.

Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said there are no easy solutions.

"I don't think it's one thing," he said. "We don't have a lot of depth right now. It's hard to put 48 minutes together. We're subbing differently every game. Those are not helpful things. You don't get into a rhythm. You don't get into a comfort level with who you're playing with."

Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball has missed the past two games with ankle soreness. Cody Martin filled in for some of the point guard duties, producing 14 points and eight assists Monday night against the Knicks.

"I thought he did fine," Clifford said. "He actually keeps us pretty organized."

Perhaps the angst was shown when the Hornets withered in the third quarter of that game. Clifford was ejected for expressing his outrage over a non-call on a sequence where he felt a Charlotte player was fouled. He said it didn't do any good to take that route.

"You don't want to get kicked out of a game," Clifford said. "That doesn't help anything."

Amid the Hornets' misery, there have been a couple of bright spots. P.J. Washington matched his career-high point total with 43 on Saturday against Utah and rookie Brandon Miller recorded 29 points to equal his career best Monday.

It seems unlikely that the Bulls will have guard Dalen Terry available for the game in Charlotte, though Chicago coach Billy Donovan said the injury suffered Tuesday night is listed as a sprained ankle for now.

That could make it more troublesome for Chicago's injury-riddled forward position because Patrick Williams is out for at least two weeks with a foot injury. Terry was expected to help, along with rookie Julian Phillips and Alex Caruso.

"I think young guys (are) going to have their ups and downs," Donovan said.

Chicago and Charlotte played back-to-back games earlier this month, with the Bulls winning both times. A 104-91 home victory Jan. 5 was followed two nights later by a 119-112 overtime decision in Charlotte.

Coby White, a North Carolinian, was the leading scorer for Chicago in both of those games; he scored 22 and 27 points.

Terry Rozier had 39 points in the Charlotte home game vs. the Bulls, but he has since been traded to the Miami Heat.

Beginning with those two results against the Hornets, the Bulls are 7-5 in their last dozen games.