That's not the case this season, although a severe scare tempered Wednesday night's otherwise impressive 121-115 victory over the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.
Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls' heart and soul, left the game with 2 minutes 50 seconds remaining after jamming three fingers on his shooting hand.
He suffered the injury smashing them into Chris Bosh's knee while attempting a steal.
Hinrich, who tied Bosh for game-high honors with 28 points, grimaced as he left the court for X-rays, which were negative. Athletic trainer Fred Tedeschi said Hinrich suffered severe sprains of his ring and pinky fingers and would be re-evaluated Thursday.
That's when Hinrich is scheduled to fly to Denver to play in Friday's Rookie Challenge game as part of All-Star weekend.
"I might not be as effective, but who really cares?" Hinrich said. "I'm still planning on going unless the trainers say otherwise. But I can't make a fist or anything. It's achy. When I move it, there's a little bit of sharp pain. I'm just glad they're not broken."
That fact left Hinrich extremely upbeat afterward, which matched the mood of the Bulls' locker room after they posted a season high in points, shot a season-high 57.9 percent and won their third straight to enter the break at 26-23.
"The guys are having a heck of a season," said Scott Skiles, voicing as strong of praise as he has uttered as Bulls coach. "There's no doubt about that. We just have to keep it going."
In beating Toronto for the seventh straight time, the Bulls capped a wearying 24 hours in which they won back-to-back games and watched one of their emotional leaders, Tyson Chandler, endure personal tragedy.
Chandler traveled to Toronto on his own Wednesday and grabbed eight rebounds in 18 minutes, one day after losing one friend in a car accident and learning another went on life support due to a gunshot wound.
"It was an emotional boost to have him out there, knowing all he has been through," said close friend Eddy Curry. "Going into the game, guys were tired from [Tuesday]. Seeing what he went through, it made us want to play through the aches and pains."
Curry inflicted plenty of those early as the Bulls opened with a 10-0 run. Curry scored 13 of his 25 points in the first quarter.
The Bulls also built a 14-point, third-quarter lead only to see Toronto, which also got 25 points from Jalen Rose, tie the game twice in the quarter, including at 90-90 with 31 seconds left.
But guess who took over in the fourth?
Ben Gordon scored 15 of his 17 in the quarter as the Bulls iced the game with a late 13-2 run. It was the 14th time Gordon has hit double figures in the fourth.
"You come to expect it from him," Skiles said.
The Bulls also got 20 points from Luol Deng and 12 points, eight assists and no turnovers from Chris Duhon.
"We wanted to finish strong before the break," Gordon said. "Mission accomplished."