A span of 3 minutes, 23 seconds on Thursday night in Atlanta summed up everything that was wrong with the Chicago Bulls this season.

With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, the Bulls were as close to a guaranteed win as possible – they led the Hawks by 21 points and had a 99.2% win probability heading into the final 12 minutes of regulation.

But when the final siren sounded, the Bulls reeled away with a 141-133 defeat.

There was a short phase in the fourth quarter. Three minutes and 23 seconds isn’t all that long, even in the context of an NBA game. But on Thursday it took long enough for the Hawks to score 20 unanswered points as the Bulls collapsed, plagued by two familiar weaknesses.

The first problem: When push comes to shove, the Bulls have no defense. Not really. And with both Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball unavailable, the Bulls completely fell apart. The Hawks fought inside for offensive rebounds, hit three-pointers and stormed into the game. And in return, the Bulls offered no resistance, as the Hawks scored 50 points in the final quarter.

The second problem: The crime is one-dimensional. The Bulls are usually invincible when scoring from 3-point range. But as shots behind the arc slow down, they still haven’t found another source of goals. During their scoreless stretch, the Bulls missed three shots, had two other players blocked and committed two turnovers – a reflection of their inability to pressure the rim.

When the Bulls finally went on a 20-0 run, the game was lost. The Hawks had built a four-point lead with two minutes left. Frustration prevailed as shots continued to fall short and miss the target. When Nikola Vučević threw the ball downfield with 29.6 seconds left and incurred a technical error because he was frustrated by a late foul, the Bulls appeared to have accepted their fate.

The Hawks defeated the Bulls in the final 31:7 (5:23). Jalen Johnson scored a career-high 30 points and added 15 rebounds, and Trae Young had 27 points and 13 assists for the hosts.

The Bulls lost their third straight and fell to 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Here are three takeaways from the loss.

1. Jevon Carter delivered outstanding shooting.

December games in the NBA often require an unlikely hero. Injuries begin to go from nuisance to debilitating, winter ushers in a wave of illnesses, and coaches begin searching to the end of their bench for a solution.

On Thursday, Carter was that solution. The Bulls were missing four regular rotation players: Lonzo Ball and Matas Buzelis were sidelined due to illness, while Ayo Dosunmu (Achilles) and Josh Giddy (ankle sprain) remained unavailable.

Before Thursday, Carter had totaled 22 points in 61 minutes this season. In early December, he was benched for five games because he was still healthy. But Carter was ready to provide a crucial boost when he was reinserted into the rotation on Thursday.

Carter couldn’t miss in the first quarter. He went 6-for-6 from 3-point range and scored 19 points as the only Bulls player to make a 3 in the quarter. Carter cooled off in the second half, but finished with a season-high 26 points on 9-for-15 shooting – including 7-for-11 on 3-pointers – and added five assists in 35:57 .

2. Zach LaVine was thrown into disarray in the third quarter.

LaVine showed an uncanny ease in scoring in the quarter. He went 6-for-6 from 3-point range and missed just two shots from inside, scoring 22 points and adding four assists as the Bulls’ offense suddenly took off.

The Bulls made 10 shots from behind the arc in the 44-point quarter and finished the game 22 of 43 (51.2%) from 3-point range. Coby White’s shot was also crucial in the third period, as the guard regained some ground and shot 3-for-5 from distance. He finished the race with 23 points.

LaVine scored a season-high 37 points and made a total of 14 of 25 shots and 7 of 9 three-pointers.

3. Dalen Terry had a difficult first start.

Due to injuries and illness, the Bulls have called on the third-year winger to step into the starting lineup for the first time this season.

Terry had problems with this task from kick-off and picked up an offensive foul on a sloppy screen in the first two minutes. Ultimately, he played just 9:08 minutes in the loss and finished the game with four fouls, one turnover, zero points and one assist.