Bulls center Cristiano Felicio finds his scoring touch vs. Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After an aborted pick-and-roll in the first minute against the Hornets on Tuesday, Bulls center Cristiano Felicio got the ball at the elbow, eyed the basket, hesitated for a second despite being wide open — and then shot it. And drained it.

That’s already improvement for the 6-10, 280-pound center who has been starting in place of Robin Lopez in the Bulls’ new-look lineup. Primarily a screener-facilitator on offense, Felicio too often has been too reluctant to look for his own shot.

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“Yeah, sometimes it happens,’’ Felicio said before the game. ‘‘It’s just in my head. I tell the other guys to take the shots. Now I just have to tell myself to do the same thing. I think my offensive game can be a lot better than it is right now.”

Felicio, who finished with 12 points, seemed determined to take his own advice against Charlotte. He made two jumpers in the first minute and scored on a drive and a layup for eight points in the first seven minutes. He went 6-for-6 from the field in 14 minutes in the first half.

Not too shabby, considering Felicio averaged 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 24.3 minutes while shooting 9-for-14 from the field in his first three starts. He scored four points in 30 minutes against the Nets on Monday.

“I think I did pretty well, but I know I have to do better,” Felicio said. “I need to do a good job of running the floor, setting screens and defending the ball.”

As a player who doesn’t initiate a lot of his own scoring opportunities, Felicio is in a tough spot. When the Bulls aren’t playing well, he’s likely to get caught in the undertow. His plus-minus totals in the previous three games were minus-28, minus-11 and minus-20.

“It is a new role, and with that, you have to expect some ups and downs,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. “Cris’ job is to set screens and roll to the rim. He had a couple of those [against the Nets], but we need more of that. We need him to rebound better. That will come as his minutes continue to stay where they’re at. He will continue to get opportunities and hopefully play well down the stretch.”

Rusty Holiday

Justin Holiday has been a team player since joining the Bulls, but his challenge is greater than ever.

Not only was he benched when the Bulls decided to evaluate inexperienced players, but when he was called upon to fill in for Zach LaVine against the Nets, he clearly was rusty.

Holiday went 1-for-11 from the field, including 0-for-5 from three-point range, and scored four points.

“That’s the business, man,” Holiday said. ‘‘You have to go out there and see what happens — play as hard as you can and give everything you’ve got. Obviously, I was out of rhythm; I haven’t played in a game since the [All-Star] break.

“But it’s all good. Maybe next time.”

Zach is back

After sitting out against the Nets, LaVine, who led the Bulls with 21 points, was back in the starting lineup, with Holiday back to watching in street clothes. Lopez and forward Paul Zipser (left foot) also were inactive.

Follow me on Twitter @MarkPotash.

Email: mpotash@suntimes.com