After four days of rest, the Charlotte Hornets were back in action on Friday night with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls, the losers of seven straight.

The Hornets themselves were coming off a loss on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets, and would be headed into Friday night’s matchup with no LaMelo Ball, Tre Mann, or Collin Sexton.

One name that cleared the injury report? Josh Green, who would be making his season debut after undergoing shoulder surgery over the summer.

The Bulls got off to a hot start in the first quarter, taking a 7-point lead at the 7:38 mark. They were powered by Nikola Vucevic, Josh Giddey, and Coby White, who combined for 18 first quarter points to help give the Bulls a 33-29 lead headed into the second quarter.

On the other side, it was a hot start from Kon Knueppel, who scored 9 points and added 2 assists in the first quarter. His hot start fed into the second quarter, where he recorded 8 points and 3 assists, to have 15 and 5 headed into halftime.

He was not the star for the Hornets headed into halftime, though.

Miles Bridges put on a show in the second quarter, recording 16 points on 6/8 from the field and 4/5 from three. He and Kon had a combined 35 points headed into the second half, and a Hornets double-digit second quarter win gave them a 6-point lead going into the third quarter.

The Hornets were seemingly putting the game to bed in the third quarter, pushing the lead up to as many as 13. Knueppel had another 10 points and 2 assists, adding to his stellar night. Brandon Miller finally made an appearance, too, recording 7 points in the quarter.

Despite the Hornets’ 13-point lead, they began to tumble to end the quarter.

A 14-4 Bulls run allowed the Bulls to not only win the quarter, but trail by just a point headed into the fourth quarter. From there, the game turned into a back-and-forth shootout.

The Bulls took a five-point lead late into the fourth quarter, their most since the first quarter, and were able to keep the game out of reach from there. After a seven-game losing straight, the Bulls came into Charlotte to take down the Hornets 129-126.

Miles Bridges and Kon Knueppel

For the second time this season, both Kon Knueppel and Miles Bridges finished with 30+ points. Bridges finished with 32 points and 7 assists, hitting 4 threes. On the other end, Knueppel finished with 33 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds, hitting 5 threes himself.

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