Jevon Carter had been itching for minutes.

The veteran guard entered Thursday night’s contest having made just 13 appearances this season, averaging less than 5 minutes in those contests. With the Bulls’ roster brimming with talent on defense and player development being paramount, he became the odd man out. But that wasn’t the case against Atlanta.

With Ayo Dosunmu, Josh Giddey and Lonzo Ball each in street clothes, head coach Billy Donovan turned to Carter first from the bench. The Chicago native made the most of his opportunity. He quickly hit two transition three-pointers and forced a whistle on both.

Take a look…

JC with TWO 4-point plays in the first quarter! 🎯@CHSN__ | @nextlevel_03 pic.twitter.com/dxbKebov8q

– Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 27, 2024

From then on, Carter was in full NBA jam mode. After coming on, he scored a 6-7 score from downtown in about six minutes. His 19 points in the first frame were the highest in a quarter of his career!

His explosive shooting helped the Bulls turn a 9-2 early deficit into a 33-21 first quarter lead. Although he wouldn’t reach the bottom half of the net in the second quarter, Carter finished the first half at +23. Now, will this lead to more playing time for Carter in the future? With such a congestion in the backfield, that’s probably unlikely. But it certainly doesn’t hurt his case…or his trade value!

Check out all of his first quarter performances here…

JEVON CARTER IS ON FIRE 🔥

19 points in the first quarter (6-7 from 3) pic.twitter.com/aMZyC1Jypv

– Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) December 27, 2024

Keep shooting, JC!