The Chicago Bulls came into Friday night's matchup with the Charlotte Hornets looking to end a season-high seven-game losing streak.  They fell into a hole early, trailing by six points at the half behind some sloppy play that included 10 first half turnovers. The Bulls perimeter defense again left a lot to be desired, and that was evident in a stretch right before the half in which Miles Bridges scored 8 points in just over a minute or so of gametime. 

Things started to turn for the Bulls in the third quarter, when the bench trio of Patrick Williams, Zach Collins, and Jalen Smith started to really get active on the glass, while providing a surprising amount of scoring punch, combining for 37 points on the evening. 

It was a night full of interesting strategic decisions for the Bulls, who finally experimented with a double-big lineup of Zach Collins and Jalen Smith.

More than that, Nikola Vucevic-who rarely sits out of crunch time--didn't play after late in the third quarter, with Donovan choosing to stick with Collins at center for the most important stretches of the game. In his second game back from injury, Collins provided 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists in 20 minutes. Interestingly, Collins hit 2-3 from 3-point range, a part of his game he has seemed to work on in earnest since joining the Bulls, and something that is certain to keep him on the floor for extended minutes moving forward. 

Collins wasn't the only member of the Bulls "Bench Mob" to have a surprising night, as Patrick Williams dropped in 16 points, including 3-5 from 3-point range. 

The Bulls trailed by 13 with five minutes left in the 3rd quarter, but stuck together for a big win to prevent a season-worst eight game losing streak. 

Coby White still hasn't found his range from deep, going 1-4 from 3-point range, but finding other ways to contribute to the win with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and going 7-9 from the free throw line.

Chicago is finally getting back to full strength with only Kevin Huerter missing as far as major parts of the rotation. Having a full arsenal of players at his disposal means Billy Donovan can experiment more, like he did tonight in using Smith-Collins-Williams as a more defensive-oriented frontline. 

With Vucevic being on an expiring contract, he is likely to not be pleased with being benched and crunch time often, but is a consummate pro and did not complain or at least visually look disturbed by his predicament.

Credit goes to Vucevic for being a good teammate, but more credit goes to Donovan for going outside of his comfort zone of small ball. The Bulls scored a season high 80 points in the paint and that is a recipe for success that they will likely need to try to duplicate moving forward.

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