Bulls-Hawks Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Dec 22 2012 1:55AM

After beating the team with the NBA's best home record on its own floor, the Chicago Bulls continue to be one of the league's biggest surprises.

The Atlanta Hawks were also one of the teams in that discussion, but a recent slide has them searching for answers.

Playing without their starting backcourt hasn't seemed to bother the Bulls, who seek their sixth win in seven road games on Saturday night when they visit the Hawks.

Chicago (15-10) looks to sweep back-to-back road contests after building a 25-point lead in a 110-106 win at New York on Friday night, handing the Knicks only their second home loss.

"You get a 25-point lead on the road against a team like this, you're doing a lot of good things," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Chicago has been doing many good things without star guard Derrick Rose. After stumbling to a 6-7 start, the Bulls have won nine of 12.

Forward Luol Deng had season highs with 29 points and 13 rebounds against the Knicks.

The team's leading scorer, however, appeared to hurt his left shoulder in the third quarter when Jason Kidd reached in on him. The Bulls are likely to keep an eye on how the shoulder responds early Saturday.

Center Joakim Noah added 15 points and 12 rebounds before getting ejected in the fourth quarter after a scuffle with Knicks center Tyson Chandler.

"(Things) were definitely escalating, but I don't think they're used to being down that much, too," Noah said.

Noah, who isn't expected to receive a suspension for the altercation, has played a major role in the team's success. He's averaging 15.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists in his last eight games, posting five double-doubles and one triple-double.

Guard Marco Belinelli has filled in nicely for injured starter Richard Hamilton, averaging 16.5 points and shooting 41.9 percent (18 for 43) from 3-point range in 10 starts after scoring 22 on Friday.

Chicago will try to reach 100 points in three straight games for the first time since March of last season against an Atlanta team that has allowed an average of 102.3 over its last four games.

The Hawks (15-9), who rank in the top 10 in the NBA in scoring defense, had given up 93.1 points per game in their first 20 contests.

After winning 11 of 13, Atlanta lost its third in four games on Friday night in a 99-80 loss at Philadelphia.

"Offensively and defensively, we didn't do anything right," guard Lou Williams told the league's official website.

The Hawks haven't done a lot right lately. Their last three defeats have come by an average of 16.4 points, with their only win in the last four coming in overtime at league-worst Washington.

Forward Josh Smith has scored 17 points in three consecutive contests while adding 10.3 rebounds per game.

Smith averaged 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in four meetings against the Bulls last season, including a 25-point effort in Atlanta's 109-94 win in January.

Center Al Horford, though, looks to break out of his slump after totaling 25 points on 9 for 35 (25.7 percent) shooting in his last three games.

While the Hawks shot below 40.0 percent only once in its first 20 games, they've done it in three of four after being held to 39.2 percent at Philadelphia.

It doesn't figure to get any easier against the Bulls, who have held opponents to a league-low 41.0 percent in December.

Chicago has won five of the last six meetings after taking three of four last season. The Bulls, however, had Rose in all but one of those games.

Horford lifts Hawks to 92-75 win over Bulls

By MATT WINKELJOHN
Posted Dec 22 2012 11:27PM

ATLANTA (AP) Larry Drew knew why his Atlanta Hawks blew out the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, he just couldn't explain why they looked so different one night after being beaten handily in Philadelphia.

Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and every Atlanta starter scored in double figures in a 92-75 win on Saturday. The Hawks (16-9) and Bulls (15-11) played role reversal from their performances on Friday night.

Atlanta looked nothing like the squad that lost 99-80 in Philadelphia, and Chicago didn't resemble the team that dominated the Knicks in a 110-106 win in New York.

Drew said several times that, "energy," enabled the Hawks to break a two-game losing streak. Trying to figure out how his team had so much of it Saturday and so little Friday was perplexing.

"I wish I had the answer to that, to be perfectly honest," Drew said after pushing his career record to 100-73. "I don't care what our strategy is, or what the game plan is. If we don't play with good energy we're not going to be successful.

"That's the thing that will have you pulling your hair out ... it was a complete opposite."

It took a while to see a difference in the teams. The Bulls led 21-17 after one quarter, and neither club scored for the first three-plus minutes.

Chicago led 31-28 before Atlanta took off on a 25-6 run over the final 6:58 of the second quarter to build a 53-37 lead by halftime. The Bulls never recovered.

From the middle of the second quarter, the Bulls looked as though they were emotionally gassed by the game in New York. The Bulls and Knicks combined for nine technical fouls and four ejections in that one.

Luol Deng paced Chicago with 11 points, and Joakim Noah - who was ejected on Friday - had 10, but they were the only Bulls to score in double figures. Atlanta starters outscored Chicago starters 72-39.

The Bulls were outrebounded 45-31.

"Tough loss. The highs and lows of this thing are unbelievable," Noah said. "One night you feel great because you won a big game, and then the next night you come out with the wrong mindset and you lose. Our energy was bad."

In his first start for the Hawks, guard Lou Williams scored 11 of his 16 points in the second quarter, when Horford added 10. Atlanta held Chicago without a fastbreak point in the first half.

Like his coach, Horford is not sure how to predict how much energy his team will play with on a given night, but the Hawks center had a partial theory on why Atlanta was pumped up more on Saturday: The Hawks had lost two straight and three of four.

"What I've learned with this team is that until we're on the floor and we get going, we really won't know how we're feeling," Horford said after making 9 of 12 shots. "It's just a matter of us coming out with that energy, and I think our backs were against the wall. We needed to come out strong."

Williams started at shooting guard, but began the second quarter playing point guard in place of starter Jeff Teague, and scored 11 points in the period. The Hawks outscored the Bulls 25-6 over the final 6:58 of the half.

The third quarter was more of the same as Atlanta built a 72-47 lead.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeux sat his starters in the final period.

"We got beat in every facet," he said after Chicago's two game winning streak was snapped. "Our defense wasn't any good, our rebounding was poor, and you're on the road. You've got to play 48 minutes. You look at Atlanta, they played (Friday), too. They were on the road. It's a will game."

NOTES: Hawks guard Devin Harris missed his third straight game because of a sore left foot. ... Chicago rookie guard Marquis Teague entered the game in the third quarter, and was at times matched up against his brother Jeff Teague. The younger Teague scored eight points with three assists. Jeff Teague had 11 points and eight assists. ... Atlanta rapper T.I. (Clifford Harris Jr.) performed at halftime. ... Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, and singer-songwriter Ne-Yo (Shaffer Chimere Smith) were in the crowd.

Notebook: Hawks 92, Bulls 75

Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:08 PM - Updated Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:08 PM

THE FACTS: Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season, and in the middle of the second quarter the Hawks broke open a tight game and went on to rout the visiting Bulls 92-75.

Every Atlanta starter hit double figures as Lou Williams had 16 points in his first start of the season for the Hawks, Kyle Korver added 13 against his former team, Josh Smith had 12 and Jeff Teague 11 in a game that changed dramatically in the second period.

Luol Deng (11 points) and Joakim Noah (10) were the only Chicago players to score in double figures, and one night after the Bulls were spectacular in beating the Knicks in New York, the visitors looked like they ran out of gas in the middle of the second period.

The Hawks (16-9) were miserable Friday in a 99-80 loss in Philadelphia, but they outscored Chicago 25-6 over the final 6:58 of the second quarter to take a 53-37 halftime lead. The Bulls (15-11) never drew closer than 14 points in the second half.

Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak while winning for just the second time in five games, and the Bulls saw a two-game winning streak end.

Hawks coach Larry Drew moved his career record to 100-73.

QUOTABLE: "That was probably one of our most energized wins thus far. I thought our defense triggered our offense. We were energized defensively, and it carry over right to the other end."

-- Drew

THE STAT: 0 -- That's how many fast-break points the Bulls scored in the first half while the Hawks scored 10 on the break in one of the most obvious signs of the disparity in energy levels the teams had.

TURNING POINT: The Hawks trailed 31-28 in the second quarter before going on that 25-6 run. Atlanta shot 15-for-23 in the period, and forced seven Chicago turnovers.

Williams, whom Drew started because, "we need to play with more energy, more up-tempo," and because Devin Harris missed his third straight game with a sore left foot, scored 11 points in the period while playing each guard spot at different times. Horford added 10 in the quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "One night you come out and play so well and you feel great, and then the next night you come out with the wrong mindset and don't play well. When you're tired, sometimes you just have to move the ball around, and we didn't do that."

-- Noah

HOT: Horford shot 9-for-12 on the way to his 13th double-double of the season. He made all five of his shots in the second period. ... Korver shot 4-for-8, and 3-for-6 on 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. In the past three games, he's averaging 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 47.8 percent from distance (11-for-23). ...

NOT: The Bulls were outscored 61-33 in the middle two quarters, when they shot 14-for-37 (37.8 percent) as the Hawks were 25-for-42 (59.5 percent). Atlanta won 22-15 on the boards in that time. ... Deng missed all five of his shots in the third quarter. ... Noah had six turnovers.

ROOKIE REPORT: Bulls guard Marquis Teague didn't play in the first half, but after he entered the game in the third quarter he was often but not always matched against his brother, Hawks point guard Jeff Teague. The younger Teague was a little wild at times, but finished with a respectable eight points and three assists. ... Atlanta rookie guards John Jenkins and Mike Scott each played more than six minutes, but neither scored.

NOTABLE: Hawks guard Devin Harris missed his third straight game with a sore left foot. ... DeShawn Stevenson was in uniform for Atlanta but did not play. Drew prefers not to play the guard/forward on back-to-back days because of back issues and he played Friday in Philadelphia. ... Former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield was at the game. ... Drew is the second-fastest coach in Hawks history to 100 wins. He reached the mark in his 173rd game. Lenny Wilkens needed 166 contests.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Tuesday vs. Houston, Wednesday @ Indiana, Saturday vs. Washington. For the Hawks, Wednesday vs. Detroit, Friday @ Cleveland, Saturday vs. Indiana.

• Bulls: Rose
• Hawks: Harris

• Bulls: Teague
• Hawks: Morrow

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #11 Derrick Collins, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 17782
• Duration: 1:53