The Charlotte Hornets and LaMelo Ball may not be having the best season thus far, with them being perched 12th in the easier Eastern Conference with a 12-23 record. Ball himself has missed multiple games with most notably an ankle injury, but now looks close to his best.

Ball produced 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a 112-99 road win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. The seven assists not only helped orchestrate a comeback win but also pushed his career regular-season assist total to 1,914, moving him past David Wesley and into fourth place on the Hornets’ all-time assists leaderboard, an achievement he completed in just six seasons and 256 games, per a post on X by Hornets Nation.

The milestone places Ball behind only Muggsy Bogues (5,557), Kemba Walker (3,308), and Raymond Felton (2,573) in franchise history. Now fourth all-time, Ball surpassed Wesley’s 1,911 assists as the Hornets ended a three-game losing streak.

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Miles Bridges led the way with a dominant all-around performance, scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Bridges shot 11-for-18 from the field as Brandon Miller added 22 points.

Chicago entered the night having won seven of its previous nine games, but struggled to impose its usual strengths. The Bulls finished a 3-3 homestand after beating Orlando the previous night and led 58-50 at halftime, fueled early by Ayo Dosunmu’s efficient first half, which included a half-court buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter.

That momentum evaporated as Charlotte adjusted defensively. The Bulls’ offensive rebounding rate of 15.4 percent and free throw rate of 11.6 percent were among the lowest marks they’ve posted this season, numbers that were particularly striking given Charlotte’s severe size disadvantage.

Despite playing a rotation where all nine available players stood 6-foot-8 or shorter, the Hornets won the rebounding battle 52-43 and nearly matched Chicago’s paint scoring, finishing with 46 points inside compared to the Bulls’ 52. The Hornets pulled away for good with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, capped by a Miller fadeaway jumper that made it 105-87 with just over four minutes remaining.