Instead of spending two off days in Chicago, Charlotte coach Dave Cowens decided to take his team back home for a day after the Bulls beat the Hornets in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday.
The Hornets will be back in town Tuesday to prepare for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Wednesday at the United Center.
Bulls coach Phil Jackson didn’t think the move was odd.
“It does say they don’t want to be around Chicago, especially in a situation like this,” Jackson said. “I don’t blame them. It’s going to be tough enough when you’re on the road. You want to be home in a comfort zone where you can do the best work”
Jackson added it can be daunting for a team to have to spend a few days in Chicago.
“It’s tough to come to Chicago when the Bulls are on top,” he said. “We understand that. We know how it is when we go on the road. We try to dominate a town and try to take a town over. We send Dennis (Rodman) to the hot spots and Michael (Jordan) to the restaurants and cigar bars and I have the other places to myself.”
Return engagement: Jackson expects a different Hornets team when they do return to Chicago. Charlotte, one of the league’s better shooting teams, was held to just 36 percent shooting in Game 1, despite having three players (Glen Rice, Vlade Divac and and David Wesley) score in double figures.
Charlotte blew a 15-point first-half lead and never really recovered after a 16-0 second-quarter Bulls’ run.
“Charlotte’s going to give us a real good battle in this series,” Jackson said. “Whether that means that they’re going to win games or we’re going to lose games, that remains to be seen. But we’re going to have some real good moments out there and we’re going to have to play better defense on open shooters and we’re going to have to play better offense too.”
Mason’s mark: A key for the Hornets will be a better game from Anthony Mason. Mason, who scored a career playoff-high 29 points in Game 4 of the Hornets’ first-round series against Atlanta, managed just six points–four from the foul line–Sunday.
