CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It admittedly hasn’t been an easy season for Coby White.
The Bulls guard wasn’t finger pointing by any means because he never does, but an ever-changing role over the years does eventually catch up with a guy. It has for White at times.
“I’m an honest guy, and it was kind of tough at first coming in from having the ball to not having the ball, but it’s what’s best for the team,” White said on Monday, describing moving over from the point guard spot to an off-guard with the addition of Josh Giddey this season. “I’m always going to do what’s best for the team. It’s not a knock against anybody. I’ve been adapting to it.”
Against the Hornets, not just adapting, but overcoming.
Thanks to White’s late-game heroics, the Bulls saved themselves some major embarrassment, beating the sinking and undermanned Hornets 115-108 in overtime.
Case in point, the Bulls were only up one in regulation, and it was White that hit the acrobatic bank shot with 1:09 left. After Miles Bridges hit the improbable leaning three with 1.1 seconds left to send it to an extra stanza of basketball, it was White that opened up the scoring for the Bulls (15-18) with a lay-up and then assisted on a Nikola Vucevic three to help take control.
When the smoke cleared and the final horn sounded, White just missed the triple-double, leading the Bulls in scoring with 23 points, as well as grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out nine assists.
That doesn’t mean it was a thing of beauty. Far from it.
White’s inconsistent three-point shooting again showed up, as he finished 1-for-11 from beyond the arc, but he wasn’t alone. In breaking the franchise record for three-point attempts with 60 in the win, the Bulls only hit 18 (30%). Charlotte finished 10-of-43 (23%) from three, so it was one of those games.
“When (the scoring) isn’t there, now what are you doing?” coach Billy Donovan said of White now understanding how to impact winning. “I think his defense has gotten better, he finds ways to rebound, comes up with a loose basketball, assists, like he’s doing a lot of different things.
“He had a real tough shooting night, but I think we would all agree that he really had a pretty big impact on the game, on both ends. I just have a lot of respect for the way he competes.”
But it still wasn’t supposed to be so hard for the Bulls.
Even with Zach LaVine (toe) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf) sidelined, it wasn’t like Charlotte (7-25) was exactly looking to climb the standings anytime soon. Both LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller were listed as doubtful earlier in the day and come game time were out.
That’s almost 52 points per game the home team was missing.
Then again, Charlotte came into the evening losing 15 of their last 16 games, so worrying about making up points for missing players didn’t seem real high on the agenda list.
White, however, wasn’t the only one to throw on a cape, as seldom-used Torrey Craig came off the bench and scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime.
“Just impact the game, impact winning,” Craig said of his night. “(Staying ready) comes with the job. I always give advice to all the young guys on the bench about staying ready and what to look out for, so I can’t contradict myself and not be ready myself. So I just try to come in and lead by example, my voice and my play.”