CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Tim Floyd's guards helped him earn a rare victory at the United Center.
Darrell Armstrong scored 23 points off the bench, David Wesley added 20 and Baron Davis chipped in 19 as the New Orleans Hornets rallied for a 97-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Floyd, who went 49-190 coaching the Bulls from 1999-2001, appeared as though he might have been on his way to another loss here after Jamal Crawford nailed a jumper to give Chicago a 80-77 lead with 3:19 left.
But Armstrong answered with a 3-pointer to tie the contest and start a 16-4 run over the next three minutes. Davis gave New Orleans the lead for good, 95-92, on a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring with 1:40 left.
"No, there was nothing personally satisfying about this one," Floyd said. "We should win this game. It's much more of a relief that we won because of the loss (to Houston) last night. Tonight we were playing a team in transition and we should win. There's nothing special about this win."
Davis played 40 minutes despite feeling under the weather. He made 7-of-19 shots.
"I've been ill for a while," Davis said. "It's just been building up and I have a lack of energy. This game really started showing it. I couldn't really breathe out there."
But Armstrong was impressive off the bench, as was shooting guard Steve Smith, who scored 10 points.
"Coach came to us and said we're going to need your energy because Baron wasn't feeling good, was a little under the weather," Armstrong said. "Smitty came in first and gave us some energy and I came in and brought the same. Next thing you know, we're looking up, we're on the break, getting the easy layup and shots. We just found a way."
Crawford scored 23 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, who have lost 17 of their last 20 meetings with the Hornets. Crawford was 1-of-11 from the field before setting a United Center record for baskets in a quarter, going 10-of-12 in the final 12 minutes.
"It feels so good if you win, but if you lose it is all for naught," Crawford said. "I take the blame for this one because the first half, I started out so slow. Everything starts with the point guard."
Newly acquired Antonio Davis added 11 points and 15 rebounds and Eddy Curry had 11 and 10 for Chicago.
"Eddy has grown up," Floyd said. "He was something like 18 and I know he was mad at me because he didn't play much. He now knows much more about his talent and how to use it."
Bulls rookie point guard Kirk Hinrich had eight points and a season-high 12 assists off the bench.
"We have got to find a way to close these games out," said Hinrich, whose team lost at Philadelphia on Thursday, 83-82, on a game-winning jumper by Allen Iverson. "The last two games we struggled. We are playing hard and everyone in the locker room has winning on their mind. If we keep sticking with it, we will find ways to win the close games."
