The Bulls grabbed a 79-78 lead on a long turnaround jumper by Ron Mercer with 12 seconds remaining, the Hawks called timeout and inbounded from mid-court.
 Shareef Abdur-Rahim netted 14 of his 20 points in the first half. Jonathan Daniel NBAE/Getty Images |
"The final play was drawn up for Shareef (Abdur-Rahim) to take their guys off the top," Terry said. "He then hit me with a perfect pass."
"It was just a breakdown on the defensive end," Mercer said. "Terry went to the basket and got a dunk."
After Chicago called timeout, Mercer's 17-footer bounded off the backboard and was rebounded by Fizer, whose last-second layup missed as time ran out.
"We still had a chance to win and we should have won it," Mercer added. "It was definitely a game we should have won."
"We got a decent shot up," Bulls' coach Tim Floyd said. "I thought Marcus' tip was in."
The Bulls lost for the fifth time in six games and trail the Hawks by 4 1/2 games at the bottom of the Central Division.
Terry shot just 5-of-14 from the field but was 6-of-8 from the line and grabbed seven rebounds. He has led the team in scoring in three of the last four contests, averaging 22 points during that stretch.
Atlanta led 72-65 with 6:50 left on a 3-pointer by former Bull Toni Kukoc, who scored 12 points.
"We're trying to get all the guys in the mix every night," Kukoc said."
Chicago went on a 12-2 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes, taking a 77-75 lead on a layup by Fizer, who made 5-of-17 shots and grabbed 10 boards.
"We were a little better on the boards than we were last night," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. "I thought our effort was good defensively."
Kukoc helped tie the game, 77-77, with 59 seconds left when he fed Abdur-Rahim for a layup.
Abdur-Rahim scored 20 points to lead all scorers. He made just 4-of-9 foul shots but his free throw gave Atlanta a 78-77 lead with 31 seconds remaining.
Nazr Mohammed scored 16 points before fouling out for the Hawks, who shot 39 percent (29-of-73).
"The Bulls outfought us early," Atlanta coach Lon Kruger said. "We have to kick and scratch for every win."
Brad Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out for the Bulls, who shot just 32 percent (31-of-96).
"When you shoot 32 percent and have a chance to win, you are doing some things right," Floyd said.