In what is likely to be one of the most difficult wins of the season for the Chicago Bulls to pick a list of studs and duds, we’ve come up with the final selections after a big triumph over the Atlanta Hawks at home at the United Center on Dec. 29. The Bulls got yet another win under the direction of interim head coach Chris Fleming as second-year head coach Billy Donovan remains in the league’s health and safety protocol.
Coming into the second of two meetings with the Hawks this week, the Bulls were looking to extend their winning streak to five games. In order to move their winning streak to four games, the Bulls downed the Hawks by a double-digit margin in their last game on Dec. 27. That win over the Hawks came on the road in Atlanta.
This time, the Bulls got a shot at the Hawks at home in Chicago. And the Bulls controlled this game most of the way as a shorthanded Hawks team struggled to contain this squad on defense once again. Most of the Hawks’ success offensively unsurprisingly came via star point guard Trae Young.
Chicago Bulls get a complete performance from the team in a 14-point win over the Hawks on Dec. 29
Meanwhile, the Bulls got all five of their starters scoring in double figures on this night to down the Hawks by the final score of 131-117. This was a similar final score compared to what the Bulls had in their Dec. 27 win over the Hawks.
But this one saw the Bulls play a more complete game from start to finish. They got to toss out some of the third unit players to close out the game here too, including rookie guard Mac McClung.
Here’s a look into two studs and one dud as the Bulls down the Hawks by 14 points on Dec. 29.
Chicago Bulls studs from high-scoring win over the Hawks: Nikola Vucevic
The path forward for star center Nikola Vucevic definitely looks to be a promising one at this point. Vucevic looks to finally be finding his game as he’s helped the Bulls to build up their five-game winning streak. He really shined during these two wins over the Hawks. And he stood out in different ways in each of the last two games against the Hawks.
In this game, Vucevic was a monster on the boards for the Bulls. He finished up this game with a game and season-high 20 rebounds. That is the most rebounds in a game for a Bulls player in more than five years (you actually have to go back to 2014 to find the last player to do that for Chicago).
Vucevic also registered 16 points, one assist, three steals, one block, and two turnovers. He shot 8-of-14 from the field, missed on three attempts from beyond the arc, and didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.
In the last two games, Vucevic has turned into a two-way stud for the Bulls that is the perfect star to play at the five. He’s combined for a whopping 40 points, 37 rebounds, three steals, and five blocks in these two wins over the Hawks.
Maybe these are the two games where we see Vucevic start to return to his usual star status. With All-Star voting opening up last week, maybe that was just the thing that he needed to get his game back on track. That certainly appears to be the case during this five-game winning streak.
Chicago Bulls dud from high scoring win over the Hawks: DeMar DeRozan
It was mainly due to the fact that I had to choose one dud for the Bulls in this big win over the Hawks that made this list so difficult to come up with. Star shooting guard/forward and four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan does get the nod as the Bulls’ dud in this game. But it’s not like he was really that bad for the Bulls on this night.
Since the Bulls really didn’t have anyone shoot below 50 percent from the field, and no one really stuck out as a liability for the Bulls, DeRozan winds up as the pick here for the dud in this game.
DeRozan was a +18 on the floor for the Bulls, which is never a bad night really. I want to go on record saying that I still think DeRozan had a decent game in this win over the Hawks. The Bulls had a well-rounded effort in this game from the starting and bench units.
Now, the main reason why DeRozan landed in the dud spot here is the fact that he did come up with 20 points on 18 field-goal attempts. That’s not his most efficient night. He was having a tough time finding his mid-range shot in the first half too.
DeRozan finished up the night shooting 8-of-18 from the field, didn’t have any attempts from beyond the arc, and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also registered four rebounds, eight assists, no steals, one block, and no turnovers.
I will say this over and over again, this was not a bad night from DeRozan. Someone had to fill this slot and DeRozan did have one of the more underwhelming nights for any Bulls player in a truly well-rounded game for this team.
Chicago Bulls studs from high-scoring win over the Hawks: Zach LaVine
The one-time All-Star selection and star shooting guard Zach LaVine was the most efficient player for the Bulls on this night. Barring his four turnovers (one or two of which weren’t solely his fault), LaVine was really solid in all phases for the Bulls in this win over the Hawks. His efficient offensive spark gave the Bulls control in the first half of this game.
And LaVine continued to give the Bulls a lot of efficient offensive production in the second half. He finished up the night with a team-high 25 points on an extremely efficient 10-of-13 shooting from the field, 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and he didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.
In one respect, it was pretty frustrating to see LaVine not get to the charity stripe at all while drawing a good amount of contact in the lane from this Hawks’ defense.
On the other hand, there’s not a whole lot to complain about from this shooting night for LaVine.
Moreover, LaVine also registered two rebounds, five assists, no steals, no blocks, and the aforementioned four turnovers. That helped LaVine post a solid +16 on the night too.
LaVine had two really solid games in these two wins over the Hawks this week. He had a 30-point outing in the win over the Hawks on Dec. 27. And if LaVine puts up another 20+ point night in the final game of 2021 for the Bulls, on Dec. 31 against the Indiana Pacers, he will have done so in every single game this month.