The NBA is getting a pretty good idea by now the Bulls are for real, the latest being Wednesday in a routine 131-117 victory over a decimated Atlanta Hawks team missing a dozen players from injury and virus.
Though perhaps not many complete teams would have withstood the Bulls Big Three, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic with 61 points, 26 rebounds and 14 assists—20 rebounds for Vucevic and 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting for LaVine—and team season bests with 61.9 percent shooting, 38 assists, a third consecutive game shooting almost 50 percent combined on threes and a fifth straight victory.