Few NBA teams are better than the Chicago Bulls at capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes.

Despite trailing their opponents in nearly every category on offense and defense, the Bulls (4-7) are second in the league in points off turnovers, generating 21.8 per game. They’re fourth in opponent turnovers (17.2 per game) and third in steals (9.5).

For one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league — averaging 109.8 points to rank 23rd through Monday — this production is essential. Points off turnovers make up 19.9% of the Bulls’ total offense.

It’s a rare bright spot in a season so far riddled with bleak statistics and results — including a 110.3 offensive rating, which ranks 20th in the league.

“It’s hard to have a really good offensive rating when we shot the ball the way we did,” coach Billy Donovan said after Monday’s 118-109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “But the last five games, our offense has been 11th-best.

“So we’ve made some progress there and a big part of that is turnovers. Our guys are moving into open windows to create advantages to pass the ball to one another. We need to continually do that. It’s important for us.”

At the start of the season, these statistics would have been relatively unsurprising. The Bulls had a top-five defense last season, with pressure anchored by the quick hands and tenacity of Alex Caruso, who made the All-Defensive first team.

The Bulls returned their best defenders this season and added Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig to the mix. With defensive improvement by players such as Coby White, the Bulls seemed set to put the clamps on every team they faced.

But that hasn’t materialized yet for the Bulls, who sit 22nd in defensive rating (114.1) through the first 11 games.

The Bulls defense often grows more stalwart by January. If that’s the case again this season, this early trend of creating offense through defense is incredibly promising.

“We’re being aggressive,” guard Zach LaVine said. “We’re getting to the basket in transition, trying to either get to the paint or kick out or get to the foul line. We’ve got to convert more, though. It’s as simple as that.”

The Bulls have found success in transition in part from being less hesitant to take shots on the fast break. Carter is always eager to fire off a 3-pointer on the run even if he has a path to the rim.

Those attempts might seem unnecessarily risky, but Carter is efficient in these moments — a trait that Donovan noted is backed up by statistics.

“The thing that’s interesting is if you really look at the shooting percentage on 3s, the highest-percentage shot is the transition 3,” Donovan said. “A lot of times those 3s are open because teams are scrambling back. I like — when he’s open — taking it.”

Another stealthy source of turnover scoring is backup center Andre Drummond, who takes a certain amount of glee in forcing smaller — and supposedly nimbler — guards into coughing up the ball.

Drummond generates 3.6 steals per 36 minutes, which leads the team (Caruso leads in steals per game with 1.6 but averages 10 more minutes than Drummond). And Drummond isn’t afraid to scoop up a loose ball and take it coast to coast, although he has been frustrated with his transition finishing this season.

“That’s definitely something I take pride in,” Drummond said. “I’ve always enjoyed stealing the ball — especially from guards. I’ve always had a knack for it since I’ve been little, and it carried me all the way to present day where I still do it now in the NBA.

“And I’m able to finish those plays, too, so it makes it even more fun for me to get those steals and not have to stop and give it to somebody else.”

Scoring in transition has an important effect on any team. It opens the floor, boosts player confidence and can help jolt an offense out of a scoring lull.

That hasn’t always been the case for the Bulls, who are struggling to find their shot with a 44.3% field-goal accuracy (fourth-worst in the NBA).

But if they can iron out their half-court shooting, transition scoring will be a key factor in helping them lift their offensive rating from the bottom third of the league.

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