The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-100 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, to secure their third straight win.

DeMar DeRozan reached a milestone of his career in this competition which was the 1,000th NBA regular season game of his career. He became the 143rd one in league history (151st if you count players from the ABA) to reach this record. Shooting 11-for-21 from the field to drop court-high 26 points to get a victory is one of the best ways to celebrate it.

The Bulls' head coach Billy Donovan had something special to celebrate as well as he coached his 600th NBA game (200th in the team) since he came to the league from college basketball in 2015.

Both the Bulls and the Hawks are in the NBA's bottom half on offensive rating, partly thanks to their poor 3-point shooting abilities. Without good spacing, the two teams relied on more traditional (like offensive rebounds) and simpler (like fast break) ways for offensive production.

The Bulls outperformed the Hawks on these fronts, leading 15-9 in offensive rebounds and 16-9 in fast break points. The home team had 13 steals on Monday night and forced 18 turnovers by the opponents. Zach LaVine got half of his 20 points via transition offense.

By contrast, the Hawks achieve what they wanted on the offensive end. Bogdan Bogdanovic was added to the starting lineup since De'Andre Hunter suffered a small tear of the lateral meniscus. Unlike Hunter, Bogdanovic is a big defensive vulnerability. He was constantly targeted by different players of the Bulls. As a result, Clint Capela and John Collins often had to help him in defensive possessions at the cost of leaving other Bulls open.

Furthermore, the Hawks already have two ball handlers, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, in the starting squad. Bogdanovic is more powerful with the ball in his hands than he is playing off the ball, but he can't match Murray in orchestrating. Such incompatibility made both Bogdanovic and Murray uncomfortable. Bogdanovic couldn't release his full firepower while Murray had to launch more isolation plays like a winger instead of a playmaker.

As a result, Young shouldered more orchestrating duties than usual in Monday's game. He had 13 assists and six turnovers, both of which were typical of his style. Nonetheless, scoring 21 points didn't reach his season average of 27.1 points, not to mention to help the team win when both Murray and Bogdanovic were struggling.

Other games on Monday (away teams come first):

Milwaukee Bucks 150-130 Detroit Pistons

Giannis Antetokounmpo returned for the Bucks against the Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Monday, after missing five games due to a lingering knee injury. He was on fire in the first quarter to go 6-for-6 in field goals (FGs) and 6-for-7 in free throws, scoring 20 points in this period alone.

The "Greek Freak's" dominant performance led to a 49-24 lead for the Bucks in the first quarter and turned the game into a long-gone conclusion very early in the competition. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 points for the Pistons in the third quarter, displaying his value to the teams interested in him. The Bucks are one of those teams.

Boston Celtics 98-113 Orlando Magic

The Magic ended the Celtics' nine-game winning streak at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, on Monday. It was not the first time for the team to upset the opponents that were theoretically much stronger than them. Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr. and Franz Wagner combined to score 59 points, 23 rebounds and nine assists, matching the work by their Celtics starter counterparts, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White who got 63 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists together.

Cole Anthony and his teammates off the Magic's bench became the decisive factor in Monday's competition. They outscored the Celtics' bench squad 41-26. Jonathan Isaac, in his first NBA game in over two years, got 10 points, three rebounds and two steals for the Magic in less than 10 minutes.

Memphis Grizzles 100-133 Sacramento Kings

As one of the most surprising NBA teams this season, the Kings used a big win over the Grizzlies at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on Monday, to show why they are hopeful of ending their awkward playoff drought.

Shooting 22-for-40, including 12-for-13 in the first quarter, from downtown was impressive, but it was not the only reason behind the Kings' home win. The team nearly blew their double-digit lead after struggling to score only 19 points in the second period. In the decisive third period, both De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis stood out to make solid contributions for the Kings to stand up to the Grizzlies' fierce counterstrike.

Fox went 4-for-6 to get nine points, three assists and two steals while Sabonis had five assists in this quarter. Their resilience was shared by the whole team and made the biggest difference from the disappointing franchise in the past 16 years.

Minnesota Timberwolves 114-119 Houston Rockets

Charlotte Hornets 102-120 Utah Jazz

San Antonio Spurs 127-147 Portland Trail Blazers