Three takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ win over the Hawks

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Atlanta Hawks 91-86 in a dreadful game on Thursday night. What were some of the main takeaways?

While the Bulls main goal this season is to lose games and grab a high draft pick for next summer’s draft, I still reacted with a similar amazement and excitement as Janine in Ghostbusters when they finally got a customer:

They did it! The Chicago Bulls finally notched a win in a 91-86 tank-a-thon against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. 

The Bulls had six players finish in double-figures, led by Robin Lopez’s 16 points. David Nwaba added 15 points off the bench, and Lauri Markkanen finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Former Bull Marco Belinelli led the way for the Hawks with 23 points off of the bench. Kent Bazemore had 16 points and Mike Muscala added 14.

While this game was a back and forth affair, it was still packed full of really bad basketball, as we figure a lot of Bulls games this year probably will be. But hey, the Bulls won! So let’s just enjoy the first of maybe, like, 20 of those.

Next: Ugly game, but the Chicago Bulls got the win

Of course, it was against the Hawks, who are also trying to lose games. And the Hawks were without Dennis Schroder, their best player. But still, wins are wins. This leaves the New York Knicks as the only winless team in the league.

Apart from every time Lauri Markkanen touched the ball, there was almost zero excitement in this game. Ironically, the one game the Bulls have won this year was probably the one that they played the worst in. Sure, Robin Lopez had 16, but took 19 shots to get there. Denzel Valentine took some miserable shots. So did Justin Holiday.

Apart from some nice Markkanen moments (and even he shot just 2-8 from downtown), David Nwaba was the only other remotely exciting player. Which brings me to the first of my three takeaways from Thursday’s game.