3 Takeaways After Bulls Weather the Storm for Clutch OT Win Over the Hawks

CHICAGO – There was a slight breeze in the Chicago Bulls' locker room on Friday night thanks to a collective sigh of relief.

For only the second time this season – and the first in front of the United Center crowd – the Bulls walked off the court with a victory. After piecing together strong quarters over the last week-plus, this 125-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks served as a truly complete game.

Did they still turn the ball over a concerning 24 times? Sure, but they also dished out 34 assists and finally refused to hang their head when adversity struck. That's called progress.

"Extremely important," Tiago Splitter said of snapping the losing streak. "We've been playing against really good teams. Of course, we lost a couple of those bad, but we had good moments throughout those games. But I think we deserve this win. We've been fighting for this ... we knew this. We knew we were going to go through a tough patch, but the guys really deserve this win."

Coming Out Connected

Nov 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) shoots against Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings (4) and guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Bulls may not have been as scalding hot as they were to start the night against San Antonio, but they reached a comfortable hot-tub level.

While the first two possessions ended in an airball and turnover, their next two trips down the floor saw a tough Josh Giddey and-one and an Isaac Okoro floating bank shot. Suddenly, the Bulls looked one step ahead of the Atlanta Hawks' frisky defense. They were making a concerted effort to drive their way into the paint before spraying it out to open shooters. The three-ball soon became contagious.

The Bulls would take 15 of their first 23 shots from long range, sinking six of them. With Atlanta coming into the night shooting the fourth-most threes per game and hitting them at a league-average rate, the Bulls knew they had to have an efficient night to keep up. To their credit, they did that early on, and it's the No. 1 reason they were able to take command of the game.

By the time halftime arrived, five Bulls had at least two makes from deep. Surprisingly, this included a perfect 2-2 effort from Isaac Okoro, whose overall activity on both ends stood out as much as anyone. Tiago Splitter tipped his cap to Okoro before the game, explaining how important his on-ball defense and off-ball movement have been for Chicago's starting lineup the last few games.

This hot shooting didn't cool off the rest of the night. As a locked-in Bulls team went 20-50 from long range. They finished +36 from behind the arc. It's hard not to win games when that's the case!

What Were the Rotation Changes?

Nov 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44),right, hugs forward Noa Essengue (2) at the end of overtime against the Atlanta Hawks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even when Caleb Wilson was healthy, Tiago Splitter was starting to play with his rotations. Leonard Miller and Buddy Hield were recently cast aside for Jordan Hawkins and Patrick Williams. Zach Collins slowly saw his minutes diminish with the return of Nic Claxton and the emergence of Jalen Smith. Meanwhile, Noa Essengue has remained a staple for Splitter, though the workload has varied greatly game-to-game.

Nevertheless, with Wilson and his 16 field goal attempts per game stuck on the sideline, Splitter was going to have to try something entirely new. He first opted to keep Isaac Okoro in the lineup, pushing Matas Buzelis to the four and keeping Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, and Jalen Smith as his typical starters.

What came next was the return of Buddy Hield after back-to-back DNP-CDs. He joined Patrick Williams and Nic Claxton as the first three in the second unit, giving the Bulls an entirely new lineup to test out. Noa Essengue and Tre Jones would go on to round out Splitter's 10-man first-quarter rotation.

For what it's worth, this bench unit did face their struggles offensively. They were outscored early 24-15 and combined for four turnovers. Still, they did a decent job of maintaining the first unit's hustle, with Patrick Williams making a solid impact for the third game in a row. He drilled a couple of threes and came down with some early boards. If he keeps playing like this, he can expect plenty of minutes during Wilson's absence.

Finally Weathering the Storm

Nov 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Norman Powell (24) greets fans after the game against the Atlanta Hawks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Hey, at least the Chicago Bulls are committed to the bit!

Once again, Tiago Splitter's team did everything they could to let the wheels fall off in the third quarter. While they may have shot an efficient 50.0 percent from the field, they allowed the Hawks to take a handful of more shots thanks to some very sloppy ball-handling.

Chicago committed eight turnovers in the quarter and were destroyed in the open floor. Atlanta had a 15-0 advantage in fastbreak points in that quarter alone. It's an area they have dominated all season, and the Bulls fueled the fire with their fire with easy mistakes. Tre Jones was losing the ball in mid-air, and Patrick Williams was stepping on the baseline.

The frustration also looked like it was about to boil over. After Matas Buzelis was seen chirping at a ref earlier in the game, Josh Giddey got a technical for some choice words after a turnover out of bounds. The Bulls would even go on to challenge that turnover, which was promptly upheld.

The Hawks would steal the momentum and cut the Bulls' double-digit lead down to a one-point game multiple times. Uneasy fans were waiting for the Bulls to blow it as the score sat at just 84-83 heading into the final frame.

To the Bulls' credit, however, they showed an ability to learn from their previous collapses. They kept their head on straight and started to knock down some big buckets to keep the Hawks at arm's length. Patrick Williams, Jalen Smith, and Isaac Okoro all had big shots. Even with the final frame being largely a back-and-forth affair, the Bulls mostly looked composed offensively.

"Just staying in the game, the resilience of it," Tiago Splitter said after the game. "We kind of had those situations before where we had a lead and they came back and won the game. Just have to have the energy to be there and finish a game in the end. Kudos to them. Great effort by them."

To be clear, things did get a bit muddy in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Norman Powell started to force the issue on the final few possessions with the two teams knotted up. He settled for a couple of ugly contested shots, only to see his final game-winning attempt spin off the rim.

The veteran proved to be the perfect example of why you do not hang your head, however. After OT started up, Powell went on to score 8 of the team's first 10 points. Not only was that exactly what he was brought to Chicago to do on the court, but it's what he is supposed to help teach their many young players.

"We're a really young team. There are going to be ebbs and flows in a season. But we just got to stay the course, stay connected, believing in how we want to play, believing in one another ... We got to put together complete games, and this game right here, the 48 minutes and 5 minutes of OT, really shows us what it's going to take."

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