Chicago Bulls @ Atlanta Hawks
Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM ET
State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA | Game ID: 22500396
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
ATL 38 35 42 35 150CHI 38 45 33 36 152
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Bulls beat the Hawks 152-150 in the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season
ATLANTA -- — Matas Buzelis scored 28 points to lead nine Chicago players in double figures and the Bulls outlasted the Atlanta Hawks 152-150 on Sunday in the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season.
Chicago set season highs for points in a first half and game and held on in the closing seconds in the first of two straight games in Atlanta. The teams will meet again Tuesday night.
The Bulls also were involved in the previous highest-scoring game this season, a 150-147 double-overtime loss at Utah on Nov. 16. Golden State beat Denver 162-158 on Nov. 2, 1990 in the highest-scoring regulation game in NBA history.
The Bulls topped their previous high for points in a first half in taking an 83-73 halftime lead. They scored 72 first-half points in a 128-122 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 8. The Bulls also set a season scoring high for a game, topping their total in a 150-147 loss at Utah on Nov. 16.
Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 36 points, and Trae Young had a season-high 35. The Hawks have lost three straight and seven of nine to fall back to .500 at 15-15.
Johnson’s 3-pointer with five seconds remaining gave the Bulls a 151-150 lead. Buzelis made one of two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining before Young missed a last-second jumper.
Buzelis made a career-high seven 3-pointers in eight attempts for the hot-shooting Bulls. They have won three straight to improve to 13-15.
Onyeka Okongwu had 23 points and Vit Krejci added 20 for Atlanta.
Young started for the second time in three games after missing 21 games with a right MCL sprain. Coach Quin Snyder said Young will need a continued “acclimation process” to be ready to play back-to-back games.
Bulls guard Coby White had 21 points after being considered questionable with a sore left ankle. Josh Giddey had 19 points and 12 assists.
Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis (illness) missed his sixth straight game. The Hawks announced that two-way forward Eli Ndiaye will have season-ending surgery for a torn labrum suffered in a G League game with College Park on Dec. 9.
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Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
ATLAN A. Newell
DD D. Daniels
JJ J. Johnson
LK L. Kennard
MG M. Gueye
NA N. Alexander-Walker
OO O. Okongwu
TY T. Young
VK V. Krejčí
ZR Z. Risacher
CHIAD A. Dosunmu
CW C. White
IO I. Okoro
JG J. Giddey
JS J. Smith
KH K. Huerter
MB M. Buzelis
NV N. Vučević
PW P. Williams
TJ T. Jones
VU Vucevic
ZC Z. Collins
ATL/CHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur