FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Bulls 116, Atlanta 81. (Bulls: 13-20, 7-10 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: Markkanen: 25 pts. ATL: Collins: 34 pts.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter and Satoransky: 8 each. ATL: Collins: 8.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Satoransky: 6. ATL: Reddish: 6.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Bulls shot 48% from three-point range.
IN THE LOCKER ROOM: Coach Boylen: "Lauri's energy has been good. He's been starting to learn how to get his shots and get to his spots...To his credit, he's worked really hard on his shot. He's stayed with it and he's coming around."
RECAP: The Bulls went on an early 25-5 first-quarter run and never looked back improving to 7-6 in the month of December, sweeping the mini three-game series against Atlanta. The Bulls have won three out of their last four games.
Lauri Markkanen listed as questionable hours before tipoff responded with a 25 point night sinking four-three point field goals. Zach LaVine had a solid 19-7-4 line. Wendell Carter Jr. buried two-three pointers. Coby White was terrific off the bench puting in 18 points. The Bulls outrebounded the Hawks 51-39. This was a professional win as the Bulls refused to play to the level of their competition knowing the Hawks were without Trae Young and Jabari Parker. In his last appearance at the United Center, Vince Carter played 12 minutes, scoring two points but received a warm welcome from a sellout crowd of 21,496.
UP NEXT: Home with Milwaukee on Monday.
24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Our CCI " Game of the Night" Toronto 113, Boston 97: Kyle Lowry scored 30 points ending the Celtics five-game win streak. Boston lost for only the second time on its home court in 15 games.
Milwaukee 111, Orlando 100: The Bucks improved to 29-5 and 16-2 at home. For the second straight game, the Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo (back).
Houston 108, Brooklyn 98: James Harden scored 44 points. The Rockets have won five of six. Russell Westbrook and Taurean Prince were both ejected when they started to yell at each other.
Cleveland 94, Minnesota 88 The Cavs won despite committing 29 turnovers. Wowza. The T-Wolves played without Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Minnesota has lost nine straight home games.
San Antonio 136, Detroit 109: The Spurs drilled a season-high 18 three-point field goals.
New Orleans 120, Indiana 98: NBA history was made when three brothers (Holiday) were in the same game at the same time.
Miami 117, Philadelphia 116 OT: Jimmy Butler's free throw with 2.3 seconds left was the difference. The Heat improved to 15-1 at home. Miami picked up its second straight one-point win. Philly suffered its second straight one-point loss.
New York 107, Washington 100: Julius Randle scored a season-high 30 points. The Knicks won their second straight. Washington played without Bradley Beal who sat out with a leg injury.
Dallas 141, Golden State 121: At age 20, Luka Doncic is the youngest player in NBA history to record multiple 30-point/15-assist games in a season. The previous youngest was Michael Jordan in 1984-85. Jordan was 21 years old for his first such game and 22 years old for his second. Doncic had a 31-12-15 game, his ninth triple-double of the season. The Mavs have scored a total of 283 points against the Warriors in two games this season.
Denver 119, Memphis 110: Nikola Jokic continues to hoop: 31-10-10. He has 11 double-doubles in his last 12 games. The Nuggets have won eight of their last nine games.
Phoenix 112, Sacramento 110: The Kings have lost six straight. Devin Booker scored 32 points as the Suns snapped an eight-game slide.
Los Angeles Lakers 128, Portland 120: The Lakers ended a four-game losing streak as Kyle Kuzma tossed in 24 points. The Lakers reserves scored 72 points.
Utah 120, Los Angeles Clippers 107: Donovan Mitchell did some serious damage at the expense of LAC posting 30-7-9 numbers. The Jazz have won two of three meetings against the Clippers this season.
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