The Good & Bad From the Chicago Bulls' Unexpected Win Streak

First of all, the simple fact that the Chicago Bulls have won three in a row is obviously worthy of praise. The team lost eight of their previous nine games before this and desperately needed a turn of fate. No, it doesn't mean they are destined to return to their 5-0 form that we saw to start the year, but it at least suggests that this group may not be as big a red flag as we feared.

Let's not forget that this season is largely about evaluating talent and building an identity for the future. With that in mind, wins and losses shouldn't be the only measure for success, but they sure don't hurt. Particularly when the team was stacking losses against the NBA's worst competition, it was hard not to believe this group may be even further away than previously thought. But, again, these three wins inspire more confidence that there is something worth building around.

The Bulls have scored 127 points in three consecutive games for only the fifth time in franchise history, per Stathead. Three of the other instances actually happened to come last season, when the Bulls were making a clear effort to drastically change their offensive style of play. Chicago has also dropped 34 assists in three straight games for the fifth time in their history. Unlike the scoreboard, the Bulls haven't hit this specific streak since their heyday in 1994.

Of course, Sunday afternoon's victory over the Hawks served as the climax. The Bulls dropped 152 points to tie their second-most ever in a regulation game and the most since 1990, when the Bulls dropped 155 versus Phoenix.

To little surprise, this offensive explosion also proved to be the Bulls' most efficient scoring effort of the season. They shot 57.6 percent from the field and have now shot 52.0 percent or higher in three consecutive games. In fact, dating back to their Charlotte win on December 12, the Bulls have recorded a 60.4 effective field goal percentage. This is the single-highest mark in the NBA over this span.

Depth has obviously been an essential part of the team posting these crazy numbers. They have had seven players finish with 10+ points in all three wins, and the Bulls even put nine players in double figures against the Hawks for only the fourth time since the team's inception. However, there is no question that two individuals stood out among the rest.

Josh Giddey has been a steady hand all season long, and the Bulls' offense continues to feed off his creativity. The guard had a triple-double in Chicago's first meeting with the Cavs before posting his 17th double-double of the year against Atlanta (4th in the NBA). He also shot 10-24 from downtown during this stretch, bumping his three-point percentage up to a career-high 40.2 this season.

Meanwhile, Matas Buzelis also offered up his best basketball of the season. After a relatively quiet night during the first victory over Cleveland, a switch flipped for the sophomore forward. He dropped 24 points with 4 stocks (steals/blocks) in the team's 136-125 victory. It was his first 20-point outing since December 1 and only his second since November 12.

Then, Buzelis followed that up with one of the top performances of his career. He shot 10-11 from the field on his way to a season-high 28 points. He went 7-8 from behind the arc, setting a new career-high in made threes. His previous high sat at five, which he hit twice during his rookie campaign.

For a Bulls team desperately trying to implement a sustainable identity, these three high-scoring efforts are exciting to see. But the fact that Giddey and Buzelis played such an important role is what matters most. Both are expected to be pivotal players for the franchise moving forward, so the more often we see them driving the success, the better.

The Bad ...

Do we really have to pooh-pooh over a three-game win streak?

I know some fans might roll their eyes at this, but two things can always be true. Yes, the Bulls have bounced back after a horrible stretch with three pretty darn impressive wins. But is that reason enough to jump back on the bandwagon? Heck, they started the season 5-0, so we know this group has a knack for being inconsistent.

Indeed, that's probably the first thing worth mentioning. Playing up or down to opponents has been a major problem throughout head coach Billy Donovan's tenure. The Bulls looked completely checked out at times during the past two weeks, even losing to both the Pacers and Pelicans twice. How do you go from that to dominating the reigning top seed in the Eastern Conference? And don't say health!

Good teams simply are not this unstable. The Bulls' decision to ignore that over the last few years is what has repeatedly gotten them in trouble. They let these brief winning streaks over solid teams convince them that they are on the right track, only for things to come crashing down in the Play-In Tournament. They can't let that happen again.

This feels particularly true when we consider that they arguably caught the Cavaliers and Hawks at the perfect time. Context matters, and both teams came into their meetings with Chicago reeling. Cleveland was missing Evan Mobley and had only three wins in their previous nine games.

As for the Hawks, they have been without Kristaps Porzingis and came into Sunday's meeting allowing teams to score the second-most points per game over their previous four contests. Their defense has been even worse than Chicago's in recent weeks, and I think it's safe to say that showed.

Speaking of which, how about the Bulls' defense? While we have seen them take steps on the offensive side of the ball in recent days, we can not say the same on the other end of the floor. The Cavs and Hawks shot a combined 49.3 percent and dropped an average of 128.7 points. In other words, the Bulls have still given up the fifth-most points in the NBA over this stretch!

As amazing as it was to watch the Bulls drop 152, let's not ignore that they also gave up 150 points. This is only the 16th time in NBA history that two teams have scored 150 points in regulation, per Stathead (h/t Marc Stein). Head coach Billy Donovan even blatantly said it after the game: "We are not a great defensive team. But we can be better, and we can improve, and we can take a little more control."

Until this team can take steps defensively, it's going to be incredibly hard for them to reach that consistency we talk about above. This is ultimately why it is still hard to buy into this three-game stretch as some kind of tide turn. Particularly when we consider that trade season is on the horizon, this three-game sample size can not be enough to change the Bulls' course of action.

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