The Chicago Bulls finally got one that counted, beating the Atlanta Hawks 125-117 in overtime Friday and ending an eight-game skid. It was their second win of the season, and it came after they had let an 18-point edge slip away before finishing the job late.
Tre Jones was not the story here. Norman Powell was. He scored 33 points and put nine of them on the board in overtime, the burst that carried the Bulls through a game they could not afford to lose. Josh Giddey added 15 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists for his first triple-double of the season, and Chicago had 34 assists overall as seven players reached double figures.
The win moved the Bulls to 2-9 and kept them alive in East Group C of the NBA Cup, where they sit in a three-way tie for second at 1-1. That matters now because the margin for error is gone, and the path forward depends on turning this one result into something more durable than relief.
Chicago also signed Orlando Robinson from Windy City on Friday to fill its 15th and final standard-contract roster spot. That move matters beyond one night’s box score: with a full roster, the Bulls’ two-way players are eligible to play 50 games each rather than 90 combined, changing how the team can manage the back half of the season. Robinson, who averaged 13.7 points and eight rebounds in three games for Windy City, has appeared in 115 NBA games over four seasons.
The Hawks were without Caleb Wilson because of a broken right hand, but Chicago’s bigger issue was nearly self-inflicted. The Bulls blew the lead, still had to go to overtime, and only then found enough composure to escape. Tiago Splitter said losing had worn on the group, and Giddey put it more bluntly: the Bulls are still not where they should be. Friday gave them a win, not an answer.
