Batum drops 24 as Hornets topple Bulls

CHICAGO - Nicolas Batum scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls 102-96 on Saturday night.

Cody Zeller and Kemba Walker had 17 points apiece for the Hornets, who played their first road game since Nov. 17 in New York. Spencer Hawes added 14 points and Batum also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and Derrick Rose had 19 for the Bulls, who fell to 7-2 at the United Center.

Batum hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer and was fouled with 5:00 left but missed the free throw. Butler went to the line after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws before Batum made another 3 for a 94-91 lead.

Chicago and Charlotte were tied at 94 before Zeller made two free throws and Walker hit a jumper with 28.9 seconds remaining. Butler turned the ball over on a bad pass with 24.9 seconds left, and Walker and Batum combined to make four free throws as Charlotte pulled away.

Both teams shot 41.6 percent from the field. Chicago had the rebounding edge at 52-50. The Bulls were leading the league in opponent field-goal percentage at 40.9 percent coming into the day.

Pau Gasol scored 13 points for Chicago in his 1,000th career regular-season game. The center posted season highs of 26 points and 19 rebounds against Denver in his previous game.

Rose shot 8 for 17 from the field after coming into the game with 34.3 shooting percentage.