FINAL: Bulls 129, Hawks 122.
Bulls improve to 23-43, 8-25 on the road
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine and Ports each with 21. Hawks: Taurean Prince: 38
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Portis: 10. Hawks: Dedmon: 9
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Valentine: 7 Hawks : Taylor: 8.
CCI 24 SECONDS COMMENTARY:
Prior to the game, the Hawks announced their leading scorer, Dennis Schroder, would miss the matchup with an elbow issue, and his absence allowed Taurean Prince to control the pace scoring a career high 38. Prince’s 38 points was the most scored by a Hawks’ player in a regular season game since Joe Johnson back in 2008. Wowza.
The Hawks built a 16 point first quarter lead but the Bulls depth simply wore down ATL. The Bulls attempted a whopping 98 shots shooting 49% from the field as the Bulls notched seven double figure scorers led by Zach LaVine and Bobby Portis each with 21. Portis added 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double on the season. Lauri Markkanen scored 19, 17 coming in the second half. I’m very excited about next year’s training camp allowing Markkanen, Dunn and LaVine to get much needed practice time, as all three continue to develop and define their games.
CCI STAT OF THE NIGHT: 31. 31 Bulls’ assists and only 5 turnovers. An incredible 6-1 A/TO ratio. That’s spectacular.
CCI GAME BALL: Fred Hoiberg. He’s been mixing and matching different lineups and has maintained a consistency of teaching, communicating and encouraging, reminding his young team to stay focused and finishing the season strong.
UP NEXT: Home against the Clippers on Tuesday.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Toronto 132, NY 106. The Raps have won eight straight games, the third longest streak in franchise history. The Knicks gave up a season high to Toronto and have lost 15 of their last 16 games.
Minnesota 109, Golden State 103. Think the Warriors miss Steph Curry? Kevin Durant with a 39-12 game in the loss, the second straight for the Warriors. Karl Anthony Towns with 31-16 on the night. Derrick Rose played nearly seven minutes: 1-5 FGss, 2 points, 2 assists.
Julius Randle with a monster game carving up the Cavaliers as the Lakers prevailed 127-113 . Randle a career night: 36 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks. Isaiah Thomas faced his former team for the first time since being traded in February, pouring in 20 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. The Cavs are 5-6 in their last 11 games and have dropped two straight. They have slipped all the way to the fourth seed in the East.
Indiana 99, Boston 97. The Celtics played without Al Horford and Jaylen Brown, then lost Kyrie Irving with knee soreness in the second half.
Utah 116, NOLA 99. The Jazz have won 18 of their last 20 games to go to 37-30. Ricky Rubio finished with 30-10-7. Anthony Davis with a triple double including a career high 10 blocks. It’s the first triple -double with blocks in the NBA since Hassan Whiteside in 2016. Davis turned 25 on Sunday.
Denver 130, Sacramento 104. Nikola Jokic registered his seventh triple-double of the season as the Nuggets crushed the Kings.
Philly ripped the Nets, 120-97. Brooklyn has lost 13 of 15.
Houston 105, Dallas 82. James Harden missed the game with a sore knee.
Thanks for reading CCI. E mail me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls.
Always a pleasure.