The Atlanta Hawks kick off a three-game road trip on Friday feeling rested yet restless.
While the Hawks have won four of five leading into their visit to the slumping Chicago Bulls, elements of Monday’s 124-114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in their most recent game still don’t sit well.
Atlanta committed 20 turnovers, including five apiece in the third and fourth quarters when the Hawks spent most of the time within two possessions of the team with the best record in the NBA.
“I know it’s hard to win when you have those lapses and you’re trying to overcome mistakes,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.
Still, there were bright spots for Atlanta, as CJ McCollum paced the attack with 21 points off the bench to eclipse 17,000 career points. Leading scorer Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points for his fifth straight game of at least 20 points this month.
Atlanta also saw development from the defense, which figures to put Chicago on alert after a 19-turnover night in Wednesday’s 124-119 loss to San Antonio — the Bulls’ eighth straight defeat.
Dyson Daniels collected four steals for the Hawks on Monday and is averaging three per game in the early season, one steal per game better than a year ago.
“I just think I’m being more aggressive on the defensive end,” Daniels said. “I feel like last year I went a little bit more passive. This year, I’m trying to be more aggressive on the ball, picking up, trying to turn people, trying to create turnovers and stuff like that.”
Chicago shot a dazzling 85% (17 of 20) in the first quarter Wednesday and built its largest lead of the season (22 points) in the first half. But San Antonio recovered as the Bulls remained in search of their first victory since Oct. 23.
Jalen Smith matched his career high with 23 points and Nic Claxton contributed 17 points off the bench in his second game since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in training camp.
More important for the Bulls: Caleb Wilson left in the third quarter with an injured right hand that turned out to be fractured. He’ll miss 4-to-6 weeks at a time when his progress served as the nightly highlight for the franchise.
The prized lottery pick (No. 4 overall) averaged 18.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks in the Bulls’ first 10 games.
He was playing 30.8 minutes per night, which had head coach Tiago Splitter’s attention before Wilson fractured his hand.
“We’ve got to be smart with him, of course,” Splitter said. “He’s playing a lot of minutes. Those minutes are important to his development, but we’ve also got to be smart with his body being young.”
Friday marks a return to NBA Cup group play, which will continue on select nights through Nov. 27 to determine an eight-team elimination bracket in December.
Atlanta is 1-0 in East Group C while Chicago is 0-1. The three group winners and one wild card from each conference will qualify for the knockout rounds.
Chicago swept the three-game regular-season series from Atlanta in 2025-26 — the Bulls’ longest win streak against any opponent.
With Wilson sidelined, third-year forward Matas Buzelis could resume his former usage rates. He has averaged 19.7 points on 66.7% shooting — including 61.1% from deep — in his past three games against the Hawks.
–Field Level Media
