CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Zach Collins moved like a man who had missed basketball.
The Chicago Bulls need desperation. That’s the only cure for a seven-game losing streak. And Collins was more desperate than anyone on the court — to get back into rhythm and just to get the ball.
That was clear in the fourth quarter when Collins launched himself over three Charlotte Hornets defenders to plant both of his palms on the ball, wrenching his grip downwards to shake loose a pair of arms.
For Collins, this came from somewhere deeper. The diagnosis of a left wrist fracture on the last day of preseason felt like a physical blow. He couldn’t stand sitting out. Each of the 21 games he watched from the sidelines or from the Advocate Center or from his couch at home felt like a punishment.
But after two games of stumbling through the motions as he shook off the disuse of a six-week recovery window, Collins found himself once again on the court in Charlotte.
“We all had that mindset tonight — we just had to play desperate,” Collins said after the Bulls’ 129-126 win. “At this point, we lose seven in a row, we got nothing to lose. Everybody played desperate.”
This win was not pretty. It definitely wasn’t perfect. And when Collins was whistled for slapping Kon Knueppel’s hand on the follow-through of his game-tying 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left, it seemed the deck was once against the Bulls.
Instead, the luck shifted. Coach Billy Donovan called for a review. After a laborious process, the referees determined the contact to be legal. And the Bulls — finally — sneaked out of Charlotte with their first win in more than two weeks.
There are no guaranteed wins in the NBA. That has been clear to the Bulls, who lost six of their last eight games to teams with a sub-500 record. The Hornets were missing almost the entirety of their backcourt — LaMelo Ball, Patrick Connaughton, Tre Mann, Collin Sexton — because of injury, but even a vulnerable version of the team was still a tall challenge.
In the first half, the Hornets ran harder. They thumped the Bulls on the boards, poked and prodded on defense. A little luck from outside — shooting 9-for-19 from 3-point range — and a hot night from Knueppel were enough to push the hosts ahead by 13 points in the third quarter.
But the Bulls had significant help from reinforcements. Isaac Okoro returned after missing eight games with a back injury. Tre Jones and Jalen Smith both returned to the lineup to provide depth. All three were under minutes restrictions — creating a difficult logistical challenge for Donovan — but the Bulls at least benefited from improved numbers compared to recent games when they were missing seven primary rotation players.
This depth allowed Donovan to experiment with different strategies that he had been saving since preseason, including a two-big lineup with Smith and Collins both on the floor. The pairing bolstered the Bulls in the back half of the third quarter, chipping the deficit to three points as the centers combined for 13 third-quarter points and kept the Hornets off the offensive glass.
The duo’s production and improved defense around the rim ultimately forced Donovan’s hand. The coach benched starting center Nikola Vučević for the final quarter, leaning on Smith for most of the fourth before tapping Collins to close.
Vučević ultimately sat for the final 18 minutes, 58 seconds of the win. Donovan said the decision did not reflect his long-term plans for the position, and Collins voiced the importance of flexibility among the frontcourt to create consistency for the roster — but it’s clear that change could be a possibility for the Bulls if all three centers remain available.
“Whatever the case may be — maybe next game it’s not my night,” Collins said. “Maybe it’s Stix (Smith’s) night closing the game, maybe it’s Vooch’s night. We’ve got really good bigs that can finish games. Now we’re at the point where we can play the 4 and the 5. I just think it’s the tribute to the level of bigs we have that we can mess with the lineups like that.”
The Bulls still struggled with hesitancy. They balked midair to throw passes instead of taking shots. They let themselves get bullied in the paint by second-round picks such as Ryan Kalkbrenner. They lost track of shooters deep in the corners. They turned the ball over by picking up their dribble thoughtlessly and throwing passes directly into the hands of the opponent and falling out of bounds.
But Collins (16 points, eight rebounds), Okoro (15 points) and Smith (10 rebounds, including five offensive) injected a buoyancy that allowed the Bulls to absorb their mistakes in the second half rather than flounder with them. The Bulls won the offensive boards 9-3 and second-chance points spread 16-6 in the second half. Okoro scored 11 points and Josh Giddey added 10 of his team-high 26 in the fourth quarter to help seal the eighth clutch win of the season.
This was the closest the Bulls have come to the focused, frenetic frenzy of their 6-1 start. It was barely enough to beat the 7-17 Hornets — but enough is all they needed.
The Bulls had to win this game. Some victories are optional. Some losses are understandable. But Friday night was a necessity. The Bulls already blew past desperation — that feeling evaporated two, three, four losses ago. In Charlotte, the Bulls stood on the precipice of hopelessness. Win and there might still be something left to fight for. Lose and the bottom falls out.
After the win, the Bulls (10-14) still remain four games below .500 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. There are 59 games left, 27 before the trade deadline. The Bulls left Charlotte with some relief, but not with the luxury of time.