CHICAGO _ If you were grading rebuilds and dropped in on the United Center on Wednesday night, you saw one team flying up the court, launching 3-pointers, sharing the ball and generally looking like it was having a lot of fun.
And then you saw the Bulls.
The Hawks not only cruised to a relatively easy 121-101 victory, they seemingly toyed with the Bulls while doing so.
Taurean Prince pretended to catch an extremely errant Bobby Portis pass as it sailed out of bounds. Trae Young, who is listed at a very generous 6-foot-2, yelled, "He's too small!" as he sailed a lob over point guard Ryan Arcidiacono trying to stop 7-footer Dewayne Dedmon in the post.
Near the tail end of the blowout, the crowd of 18,223 _ well below capacity _ began a "We want Vince!" chant to amuse itself and pine for the Hawks' 41-year-old Vince Carter.
So much for those good vibes emanating from Monday's victory in Cleveland. The Bulls still own just one two-game winning streak all season.
John Collins' career-high 35 points and Alex Len's double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) led the Hawks, who shot 50 percent. And while Young didn't shoot well, missing his first seven shots and finishing 1 of 12, he posted 12 of the Hawks' 31 assists.
The Bulls, led by Zach LaVine's 23 points and 22 from Lauri Markkanen, had just 20 assists. They also were outscored 45-24 from 3-point range, indicative of the differing style of play. The Hawks lead the NBA in pace.
Portis released some frustration with 11.1 seconds left, drawing a loose-ball foul with an aggressive box-out of Len after they jawed on a free-throw attempt. The officials stepped in. They should've stopped the fight.
