John Collins scored a career-high 35 points as the Hawks beat the Bulls 121-101 Wednesday night in Chicago.
Collins was 14-of-16 from the field, 4-for-4 from 3-point distance. He also had eight rebounds.
He was on the move all night. Collins cut along the baseline for layups and dunks. And he stepped out for threes.
"It's a big part of my game, moving without the basketball," Collins said. "And like I said, I have unselfish guys on my team that are able to find me."
The Hawks kicked off a season-high, seven-game trip with their first victory against the Bulls in two years, stopping a five-game slide against Chicago.
The Hawks had a full practice on Tuesday for the first time in a while, and coach Lloyd Pierce felt like it helped.
"To carry that over to the game, I thought there was no surprise," he said. "But very good performance for our guys tonight."
Hawks rookie Trae Young scored just five points on 1-of-12 shooting but had 12 assists.
Jeremy Lin and Taurean Prince both scored 15 for the Hawks.
Chicago lost for the 11th time in its last 12 games. Zach LaVine scored 23 points, and Lauri Markkanen had 22.
"We have to contest shots better," Markkanen said. "We can score the ball, but we need to get some stops."
The Hawks’ 42-point first quarter included a terrific one-handed slam by Justin Anderson over Chicago's Bobby Portis, prompting Young and the Hawks on the bench to jump out of their seats.
The Bulls trimmed a 20-point deficit all the way down to six when Markkanen made a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. But the Hawks pulled away with an 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter.
Lin had seven points in the spurt, including a 3-pointer that lifted Atlanta to a 98-83 lead heading into the final period. Young also made a 3 with 1:14 left.
Chicago never made a serious charge in the fourth, and what was left of the crowd chanted "We want Vince! We want Vince!" in the final minutes in an effort to persuade Pierce to put Hawks veteran Vince Carter in the game.
The Hawks encouraged the fans by pointing and motioning toward Carter, who turns 42 on Saturday. But the veteran guard stayed on the bench.
"I walked down with about 7 minutes to go and I said, 'Yes or no?' and it was the loudest no I heard all night," Pierce said, "so I walked away. Yeah, you're not going to question Vince Carter on a move like that."
Alex Len finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
There was no sign of Carmelo Anthony, save for his name on Chicago's inactive list. The Bulls acquired the forward in a trade with Houston on Tuesday, but are planning to trade the 10-time All-Star before the Feb. 7 deadline or ultimately waive him and make him a free agent.
Asked if his team might benefit from having Anthony around even for a short time, coach Jim Boylen said: "We have not had those conversations and from what I understand is that's not the direction we're going to go."
Hawks rookie guard Kevin Huerter missed his second straight game with a sore neck. "He just needs a little more time," Pierce said. "The neck was still sore. No panic, no rush and nothing to be concerned about."
The Hawks (15-32) play at Portland Saturday night.
