Bulls-Hawks Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 28 2012 1:12AM

The Chicago Bulls have a winning record in games played without Derrick Rose, but his lengthy absence may be taking its toll.

The Bulls will try to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time Wednesday night when they visit the Atlanta Hawks, who may be showing signs of fatigue as they continue a grueling stretch.

The Bulls (40-11) fell to 12-5 this season when playing without Rose after losing 108-91 to Denver on Monday - their most lopsided defeat of the season.

Rose has missed the last seven games with a groin injury and his team is showing signs of its impact. After having to overcome a double-digit deficit twice in a home-and-home sweep of Toronto last week, Chicago (40-11) faded in the second half against the Nuggets, getting outscored 54-39.

"We miss him when we win. Come on, it's Derrick Rose," said Kyle Korver, who scored 14 points. "It wasn't scoring points, though. We've won a lot of games scoring 91 points or less. We just got to play better defense and we can do that with or without Derrick."

The Bulls, who lead Miami by 3 1/2 games for the top seed in the East, were outrebounded for a second straight game and allowed the Nuggets to shoot 50.0 percent - the first time an opponent made at least half its shots against them since Phoenix on Jan. 17.

With Rose not expected to play Wednesday and Luol Deng playing through a wrist injury, Chicago is looking for someone to step up.

Carlos Boozer, who is averaging 15.5 points, has been held below that mark in three of the last five games, while Joakim Noah, who was ejected in the second quarter Saturday, finished with two points and five rebounds in nearly 23 minutes Monday.

While this will be the third game in seven nights for the Bulls, the Hawks (30-21) will be playing for the fifth time in six nights Tuesday.

Atlanta had a season high-tying four-game winning streak snapped with a 108-101 loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday.

The Hawks were coming off a four-overtime win over Utah on Sunday, which may have been to blame for the slow start. Atlanta trailed by 17 in the second quarter, then faded late after rallying.

Josh Smith had 30 points and 18 rebounds, but Joe Johnson, who played 55 minutes and had 37 points against the Jazz, was held to 11 points Tuesday. He received stitches in his lip after colliding with a teammate and missed much of the first quarter and part of the second.

Zaza Pachulia, who had 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds Sunday, scored seven points and added seven boards.

The Hawks had 22 turnovers - 10 in the first quarter - leading to 25 points for the Bucks.

"We had way, way too many turnovers," coach Larry Drew said. "You can't expect to win if you turn the ball over like that, particularly on the road."

Chicago has won two of three against Atlanta this season, with both victories coming at home. The Hawks scored fewer than 80 points in both of the losses, but won 109-94 at Philips Arena in January.

Atlanta has won seven of the last eight home meetings, with those victories coming by an average of 14.1 points.

Johnson is averaging 13.0 points against the Bulls this season - more than six below his team-leading season average.

Deng's 3-pointers lead Bulls past Hawks 98-77

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Posted Mar 28 2012 10:52PM

ATLANTA (AP) Home or away, with or without Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls just keep on winning.

Luol Deng scored 22 points and led a flurry of 3-pointers as the NBA-leading Bulls took another game on the road, blowing out the Atlanta Hawks 98-77 on Wednesday night.

Deng was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc and the Bulls finished 9 of 16 overall to improve their NBA-best record away from home to 21-6 and their overall mark to 41-11, even while missing Rose for the eighth straight game with a shoulder injury.

The Bulls haven't missed a beat, winning six times without their MVP.

"We played great," Deng said. "Guys got easy looks because of the ball movement."

Chicago built an 18-point lead in the second quarter. The Hawks scored the final six points of the half, then started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to get to 56-52.

It was all Bulls from there. They ripped off 20 of the next 26 points and a hefty contingent of Chicago fans turned Atlanta's arena into the United Center South, breaking out the "Let's Go Bulls!" chant.

"The thing we did well is, even when they made their run, we responded right away," Deng said. "It was just a great team effort."

Atlanta's frustration boiled over midway through the fourth quarter. The Bulls took off on another fast break, leaving Joe Johnson as the only man back against three Chicago players. Carlos Boozer flipped a behind-the-back pass to Taj Gibson, who was tackled - football style - by Johnson, both players going down in the middle of the lane.

Amazingly, Johnson wasn't even called for a flagrant foul, but the Bulls were hardly flustered. The final minutes were nothing more than a highlight show by the road team, plus a chance for Chicago's fans to chant for little-used Brian Scalabrine to get in the game.

He checked in with a little over a minute remaining.

Deng had plenty of help. Boozer scored 20 points, Gibson added 19, while Joakim Noah and John Lucas chipped in with 10 apiece. Josh Smith led Atlanta with 19 points, but he had only six in the second half.

"It's been pretty remarkable, with all the guys that have gone down, to have the record that we do," Chicago's Kyle Korver said. "Obviously, we'd rather have Derrick playing. But guys keep stepping up."

The Hawks raced to a 13-5 lead, forcing Chicago to call an early timeout. But Deng and the Bulls turned the tide with their deadly accuracy from beyond the arc.

"Chicago is a very disciplined team," Johnson said. "Everybody knows their role and plays their role to the fullest."

Deng made three straight from long range. Lucas swished a pair. Korver and C.J. Watson also connected. Chicago outscored the Hawks 33-13 over the first 9 1/2 minutes of the second quarter, storming ahead 54-36.

"The last couple of games, they beat us in the paint, so we focused on that. But they came out and made shots," Atlanta's Jeff Teague said. "Everybody was hitting shots, from the point guards to the forwards. Not much you can do about that."

After making their first seven treys, the Bulls finally missed when Lucas' attempt bounced off the rim just before the buzzer, but the visiting team still went off with a 54-42 lead. Chicago made 12 of 18 shots in the second period and did its usual stifling job at the defensive end, holding the Hawks to 8-of-21 shooting.

Atlanta finished 32 of 80 (40 percent) from the field, looking very much like a weary team playing for the fourth time in five nights. Teague had 13 points and eight assists, while Johnson was held to 12 points - well off his team-leading 19.1 average.

"We couldn't get anything going," Smith said. "We were trying to create some kind of energy, some kind of momentum. It was hard to generate."

Johnson said the grueling schedule wasn't the only problem.

"Sometimes, we're not so disciplined," he said. "It seems like there's a few guys who don't know their roles on this team. We do a lot of things that don't help us."

Notes: Chicago also was without Richard Hamilton (shoulder), who missed his 12th straight game but is close to returning. ... Korver went off with a bloody forehead in the second quarter after getting whacked inadvertently by Hawks C Zaza Pachulia going for a rebound. Korver was patched up enough to get through the game and was expected to get stitches afterward. ... The previous night, Pachulia caught teammate Johnson, forcing him to take several stitches in his upper lip. ... Rapper Lil Wayne watched the game from a courtside seat. ... Chicago won the season series with the Hawks 3-1. ... The Bulls finished with a 45-36 rebounding edge, including 13 at the offensive end.

Notebook: Bulls 98, Hawks 77

Posted Thursday March 29, 2012 12:05AM

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: No Derrick Rose, no problem for the Bulls. No rest, big problem for the Hawks.

Chicago's ailing point guard missed his eighth straight game because of a groin strain Wednesday, but his teammates didn't appear to miss him while once again proving that even when the NBA's reigning MVP is absent, the Bulls are pretty darned good.

The Bulls hit their first seven 3-point shots, Luol Deng scored 22 points and Carlos Boozer added 20 in a 98-77 dismantling of the weary Hawks in Atlanta that left Chicago 13-5 without Rose, including 7-1 during his latest sabbatical.

The Hawks, playing their fifth game in six days, and sixth game in eight -- including an overtime game one week ago and a four-overtime game on Sunday -- lost their second straight contest after a four-game winning streak.

Deng made all three of his 3-point shots in the first half, when Chicago's only miss in eight trey tries came at the buzzer before intermission. The Bulls, who were smoked 108-91 by the Nuggets on Monday in Chicago, out-scored Atlanta 33-19 in the second period.

As Chicago missed a string of jump shots in the first four minutes of the third quarter, the Hawks warmed a bit to pull within 56-52.

But Deng would add a couple more treys over the remainder of the period to finish the game with five, and the Bulls won the period from there 20-8 for a 76-60 lead. The lead dropped below 15 points for just a few seconds in the middle of the fourth period, to 13.

Josh Smith scored 19 points for the Hawks, but he and most of his teammates fell below recent averages as their legs often seemed leaden. Smith made just 8-of-21 shots. Joe Johnson scored a quiet 12 points, and while Jeff Teague pitched in 13 it took him 14 shots to do it. He missed nine.

QUOTABLE: "The thing we did tonight was respond well in the second quarter. We didn't hold our heads down, like we did Monday night. I don't let missing shots phase me because I know I can knock them down so I just kept shooting. Our big guys did a good job on screens ... and we did a really good job on Joe Johnson. He's a great player, but tonight we were able to stay with him."
-- Luol Deng, who finished two points shy of his season high of 24 points. Atlanta led 23-21 after one quarter.

THE STATS: The Chicago bench out-scored Atlanta's reserves 37-23, out-rebounded the Hawks' subs 18-11 and mustered 10 assists to the Hawks' two.

Hawks coach Larry Drew cut the minutes of his starters, finally, but it didn't matter much. What the front-liners couldn't do effectively, the subs weren't much better at, either. Beyond former starter Marvin Williams, who scored 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting, the Hawks' bench went 5-for-14. Willie Green got more run (21:27) than usual, but made just 1-of-6 shots, and Tracy McGrady went scoreless for the sixth straight game (two in which he did not play) in a modest 4:38.

Chicago subs Taj Gibson (19 points, six rebounds) and John Lucas III (10 points, five assists) were far more effective.

TURNING POINT: The Hawks led 23-21 after one quarter, and then the Bulls started firing away. They hit all five 3-pointers in the second quarter until Lucas missed at the buzzer and made 12-of-18 shots in the period (and all four free throws). Kyle Korver keyed the period, scoring 10 points, as Chicago out-scored the Hawks 33-13 until Atlanta scored the final six points of the quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "We couldn't get anything going. They were here waiting on us, fresh. It just wasn't our game."
-- Josh Smith, regarding the Hawks having played (and lost) Tuesday night in Milwaukee while the Bulls were idle.

HOT: In just 15:14, Chicago reserve center Omer Asik had six rebounds. He's averaged 6.7 over the past six while playing an average of about 16 minutes. ... After making 8-of-13 shots, Boozer has put together a three-game stretch of 26-for-41 shooting (68.3 percent). ... Marvin Williams has scored in double figures in five straight games since missing time with a hip flexor. He's averaged 12.2 in that time while grabbing 5.8 rebounds and making 24-of-47 shots (51.1 percent).

NOT: Ronnie Brewer has made just 6-of-21 shots (28.6 percent) in the past three games. He made 2-of-7 Wednesday. ... After a torrid two-week stretch, Joe Johnson has scored 11 and 12 points in the past two games. He averaged 12.8 points against the Bulls this season, nearly seven below his average for the season.

NOTABLE: Chicago is 23-0 when holding opponents to less than 90 points. ... The Bulls lead the NBA in road wins with a record of 21-6 away from home. ... The Bulls won the season series against Atlanta, 3-1. ... Hawks sub small forward Vladimir Radmanovic missed his third straight game with a tight back. . . . The Bulls are optimistic that Rip Hamilton will play Friday against his former team, the Pistons, after missing 12 straight games with a shoulder sprain. Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said Hamilton's done well while taking contact the past two days.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Friday vs. Detroit, Sunday @ Oklahoma City, Monday vs. Houston. For the Hawks, Friday vs. New York, Saturday @ Philadelphia, Wednesday vs. Charlotte.

• Bulls: --
• Hawks: Horford, Pargo

• Bulls: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #59 Gary Zielinski, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 16290
• Duration: 2:03