The Chicago Bulls suffered their 15th defeat in their last 20 games.
Friday night's comeback victory over the Hornets appeared to signal a turning of the page for the stumbling Bulls. Instead, Chicago reverted to form on Sunday, falling to the Pelicans, 114-104.
The 10-point defeat was the eighth loss for Billy Donovan's squad in the last nine games. Chicago, which started the season 5-0, is now tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 10-15 record. Two of those losses have come to the Western Conference-worst Pelicans, who advanced to 5-22 with the win.
New Orleans entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, but erupted for its highest-scoring period of the game. The Pelicans outscored the Bulls, 38-29, and forced seven turnovers down the stretch.
Trey Murphy III's 20-point, 10-rebound double-double led the way for New Orleans, while rookie point guard Jeremiah Fears gashed the Bulls in the paint for 20 points of his own. Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole contributed 18 and 16 points off the bench, respectively.
Bulls guard Coby White shot 1-of-10 from deep, but ended with a team-high 20 points to go with five boards and five assists. Nikola Vucevic scored 12 on 5-of-16 shooting, and Josh Giddey had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
In his first game back from a pelvis injury, Kevin Huerter dropped 16 points on 4-of-8 from deep. The Bulls shot just 9-of-41 from three outside of Huerter.
Two days after Vucevic was benched down the stretch in Charlotte, the Bulls went to him early and often. The big man wasn't able to convert on many of his usual looks, shooting just 1-of-7 in the first quarter, but remained active on the glass. Vucevic grabbed six rebounds — four offensive — as the Bulls extended their possessions with eight boards off their own missed shots.
A pair of Patrick Williams triples helped Chicago take a 26-21 lead after one.
The Bulls' fortunes reversed in the second period, particularly in rebounding. New Orleans held Chicago without a single offensive board, flipping the Pelicans' five-point deficit into a five-point advantage at the break.
Chicago found itself unable to cut into the hole for much of the third, falling behind by as many as 13 points. Behind the efforts of Giddey and White, though, the Bulls finally found a groove late in the period and pulled themselves back into the game. A 16-2 surge put Donovan's team back in front for the first time since the opening half as Chicago, once again, showed resiliency amid adversity.
Two Poole free throws put New Orleans ahead entering the fourth, and the Pelicans didn't look back from there. Ten points from Fears fueled New Orleans' strong close en route to the double-digit victory.
The Bulls are set to host the Cavaliers on Wednesday night.