National Basketball Association
Chicago 116, Atlanta 81
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 28, 2019
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials: #13 Ashley Moyer-Gleich, #11 Derrick Collins, #23 Tre Maddox
Attendance: 21496

Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting, and the Chicago Bulls cruised to a 116-81 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.

Zach LaVine added 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting for the Bulls, who won for the third time in their past four games. Coby White scored 18 points off the bench, Wendell Carter Jr. had 13 points and Tomas Satoransky finished with 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.

John Collins scored 34 points on 14-for-26 shooting in a losing effort for the Hawks, who played without top scorer Trae Young because of a sprained ankle. Atlanta lost its 10th game in a row and fell to 3-15 on the road.

The Bulls improved to 3-0 against the Hawks this season. Each of their victories came by at least 20 points.

Chicago outscored the Hawks 33-16 in the fourth quarter to secure the runaway victory.

Atlanta trailed 83-65 at the end of the third quarter. The Bulls led by 20-plus points for much of the quarter, but the Hawks closed on a 7-2 run behind a 3-pointer from De'Andre Hunter, two free throws by Vince Carter and a basket by Collins to try to set the stage for a fourth-quarter rally.

Chicago built a 64-43 lead at the half. It was the club's first 20-point lead at the break since April 10, 2017, against the Orlando Magic, according to the team.

The Bulls raced to a 14-4 lead in the first three minutes. Markkanen buried a 3-pointer to cap the early outburst, and Chicago pushed its lead to 25-9 midway through the quarter as Atlanta scuffled on both ends of the court.

The Bulls finished the first quarter with a 16-point lead and outscored the Hawks by five in the second quarter to make it a 21-point margin. LaVine had a dunk in the final minute of the half off a feed by Satoransky.

Chicago shot 49.4 percent (43 of 87) from the field and 48.4 percent (15 of 31) from beyond the arc.

Atlanta shot 37.2 percent (32 of 86) overall and only 26.5 percent (9 of 34) from long range.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Atlanta   Chicago
John Collins 34 Scoring Lauri Markkanen 25
Cam Reddish 6 Assists Tomas Satoransky 6
John Collins 8 Rebounds Wendell Carter Jr. 8
John Collins 4 Free Throws Made Lauri Markkanen 5
DeAndre' Bembry 2 Steals Kris Dunn 3
John Collins 3 Blocks Daniel Gafford 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Atlanta 81 37.2 9-34 8-11 24 39 5 8 21
Chicago 116 49.4 15-31 15-19 22 51 5 13 17
Upcoming Games
  • Chicago will play their next game at home against Milwaukee. The Bulls have a W/L % of .154 after a win and .550 after a loss.
  • Atlanta will play their next game on the road against Orlando. The Hawks have a W/L % of .167 after a win and .185 after a loss.