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Bobcats 91, Bulls 86 (OT)
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Guard Kemba Walker scored 22 points, including eight in overtime, as the Charlotte Bobcats outlasted the Chicago Bulls 91-86 Wednesday night in the regular-season finale.
The Bobcats scored the first four points of overtime and went on to outscore the Bulls 11-6 in the extra session. Charlotte led by as many as nine in overtime.
After the win, the Bobcats (43-39) awaited the outcome of the Washington Wizards-Boston Celtics game to find out their Eastern Conference playoff seeding. They would finish No. 6 with a Boston win, No. 7 with a Washington win.
The Bobcats won their final three regular-season games and eight of their last nine.
With the loss, the Bulls (48-34) were assured of the East’s No. 4 spot. They went into the game with hopes of overtaking the Toronto Raptors for No. 3.
The Bobcats got 13 points from forward Chris Douglas-Roberts, 11 points from guard Gerald Henderson, and 10 points and 18 rebounds from center Al Jefferson.
Guard D.J. Augustin led Chicago with 17 points. Center Joakim Noah had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and forward Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Jimmy Butler and forward Mike Dunleavy scored 12 each.
Chicago led 21-16 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 10 early in the second, but the Bobcats fought back to take a 43-39 halftime lead. Chicago then led 60-59 after three quarters.
Walker’s two free throws with 35.9 seconds left in regulation tied the score 80-80, and then both teams squandered chances to win in the closing seconds. Forward Taj Gibson missed a jumper from the side on Chicago’s final possession, and Walker missed a 20-footer at the regulation buzzer.
NOTES: The Bulls won all three previous games between the teams, 86-81 in Chicago on Nov. 18, 103-97 in Chicago on Jan. 11 and 89-87 in Charlotte on Jan. 25. … The Bulls led the NBA in scoring defense at 91.8 points entering the game, and the Bobcats ranked fourth at 97.2. … The Bobcats barely fell short of a franchise record for wins. The record is 44, set by the 2009-10 team. … The Bobcats’ 95-93 win on Monday in Atlanta gave them a franchise-record 18 road wins, shattering the previous franchise best of 13. … The Bulls had a seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday at New York but came back to beat Orlando 108-95 on Monday. … G DJ Augustin was back in the Bulls’ lineup after missing Monday’s game because of the birth of his son, Trey.
