Over 24 hours, the Chicago Bulls went from being trounced by 35 points by the Minnesota Timberwolves to being the ones doing the trouncing. On Wednesday, the Bulls closed out the calendar year with a convincing 134-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
A game in which Coby White, Josh Giddey, and Zach Collins were absent due to injuries. Nevertheless, the Bulls played as a collective, with eight players scoring in double figures. Isaac Okoro led the way with a career high of 24 points. Tre Jones had 20 points along with 12 assists. Matas Buzelis came away with 19 points. Nikola Vucevic had 17 points along with eight rebounds and six assists.
Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds while playing in the starting rotation. Meanwhile, Kevin Huerter came away with 13 points plus six rebounds, and Ayo Dosunmu had 12 points as well as six assists. Then, to round it out, Patrick Williams scored 12 points.
Speaking of Williams, his performance stood out, given that he is one of the players the Bulls are rumored to trade away as the deadline looms ahead on February 5. Plus, Williams has received criticism for inconsistency and injuries, despite drawing a large salary of $18 annually.
Nevertheless, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan was thoroughly impressed with Williams' performance.
“I thought he played really well,” Donovan said. “He made a great play along the baseline, he had that dunk where he got fouled, he made some threes. Defensively, the ability to have him and Isaac (Okoro) out there, they got bigger bodies to throw onto Zion (Williamson) a bit. But I thought he played really, really well. I was happy and encouraged to see that.”
“We need him, and I thought he really contributed in a really good way today.”
Bulls head coach tells me he is “encouraged” by Patrick Williams’ showing tonight as the Bulls defeated the Pelicans 134-118.
Williams finished with 12 points and two three pointers. @ClutchPoints pic.twitter.com/DABuoZEuZX
— Zachary Draves (@DravesZachary) January 1, 2026
Patrick Williams has shown flashes of improvement.
Over the course of 31 games, Williams is averaging 6.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. While that pattern of inconsistency remains an issue, the game against the Pelicans wasn't an anomaly.
In November, Williams had two 11-point games against the New York Knicks (Nov. 2) and Cleveland Cavaliers (Nov. 8). On Dec. 3, he scored 11 points again against the Brooklyn Nets. Then, on Dec. 12, Williams had his highest-scoring game with 16 points against the Charlotte Hornets.
In games where Williams scores in double figures, the Bulls are now 2-4.
