The Chicago Bulls' longest winning streak this year was a whopping three games from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19, 2024. It included wins over Eastern Conference bottom dwellers, the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, capped off by a promising 117-108 win over the Celtics in Boston.
Chicago just bested that streak with a 116-110 comeback victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 13. It was the Bulls' fourth consecutive win—the previous three coming against playoff teams, two of which Chicago could face in the Play-In Tournament, the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat (both road wins), and a team fighting for a top-four seed in the East, the Indiana Pacers.
It was a much different team that won three straight in December, and it feels like three years ago rather than three months ago. Ayo Dosunmu had a team-high 19 points in the win over Charlotte. Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 24 points in the win over Toronto, and Zach LaVine poured in 36 to help beat the Celtics.
LaVine now plays for the Sacramento Kings. Dosunmu is injured and out for the season. Vucevic is still in Chicago, but the career-best shooting efficiency he played with during the first half of the year is long gone.
Coby White scored a career-high 44 points in the Bulls' March 6 road win in Orlando. Josh Giddey led the way with 26 and 29 against the Heat and Pacers, respectively. White got hot again in the win over Brooklyn, scoring 33 points and leading the Bulls back from a 12-point deficit.
Kevin Huerter led Chicago with nine rebounds in the win over the Nets. Tre Jones had a team-high six assists. Jones had a team-high eight assists in the victory over Indiana. Zach Collins grabbed 15 rebounds to help the Bulls beat Miami. Jones scored 20 points in the win over the Magic and Collins had an 18-point, 15-rebound double-double when the Bulls won in South Beach.
Things are obviously different. Players like Huerter, Jones and Collins, who weren't on the roster three months ago, have played crucial roles for the Bulls over the last few weeks, these past four wins included.
But the most dramatic difference hasn't come in the locker room; it's come on the floor, but not from the spot you may expect.
Bulls' altered shot selection leading to wins
Chicago ranks last in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game at 19.4. They're only 1 of 2 teams to average fewer than 20.
In this four-game winning streak, however, the Bulls are seventh, getting to the line 24.0 times per contest. They're averaging more than two more attempts a night (21.8) from the charity stripe in March. In 11 post-All Star break games, they're averaging 21.1 free throws per game.
In those same four wins, Chicago is 14th in the NBA in 3-point attempts per game (38.0). That's more than four fewer than their season average of 42.8. They're shooting 32.8 a night in March.
The Bulls are on pace to shoot 305 free throws in 14 games this month; their season high is 310, which came in November when they played 16 times.
The kicker in all this? Chicago is the third-best free-throw shooting team in the NBA this season (80.7). Coby White, Matas Buzelis, Jalen Smith, Vucevic, Jones, Collins and Lonzo Ball all shoot 80 percent or better from the line. A significant part of Giddey's unexpectedly massive jump is also his free-throw attempts, and he connects on 78.9 percent.
With less than a month left in the season, the Bulls are 2.0 games behind the Magic for eighth in the East, which would mean hosting a Play-In game rather than going on the road. Orlando is 3-7 in their last 10 games. The Heat, who currently sit ninth in the conference standings, are just one game ahead of Chicago and have lost six straight.
Jones, Collins, Huerter and significant improvements from White and Giddey have altered the course of the Bulls' season. But Chicago's getting much easier looks and becoming one of the most consistent free-throw shooting teams in the league, which, as opposed to the up-and-down nature of three-point shooting, makes this run sustainable, not just a random streak of victories.
All statistics courtesty of NBA.com.