THE STORY: The top-seeded Chicago Bulls used the heroics of Derrick Rose to secure their first three wins in the opening round. After a brief letdown, they followed with their most dominating performance yet. The fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks were not even supposed to make it this far, but instead dispatched Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic with relative ease. Now, they are setting up a series that might be even tougher for the Bulls due to the Hawks’ similar personnel up front. Chicago will look to get the upper hand when it hosts Atlanta in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE BULLS: Chicago’s health is the biggest question right now, as Rose sprained an ankle against the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 and was less effective afterward. How he responds to a week of rest will be a good indication of the Bulls’ chances to advance. Carlos Boozer is ailing as well and has sat out the last two days of practice with turf toe. Neither Rose or Boozer are expected to be out of the starting lineup on Monday. After squandering an opportunity to sweep the Pacers, Chicago dominated Game 5, 116-89, behind 25 points in 30 minutes from Rose and 24 from Luol Deng. The Bulls limited Indiana to 39 percent shooting in the win.
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta stumbled through the back end of the season, leading many to predict an early exit in the playoffs. Instead, the Hawks jumped out early with a victory at Orlando in Game 1 and ended up winning the series in six games. Atlanta has the bodies up front in Zaza Pachulia, Al Horford and Josh Smith to match up against Joakim Noah, Boozer and Deng - it will just have to find a way to stop Rose on the outside. Joe Johnson will likely get the first crack at defending Rose and it was his 23 points and 10 rebounds in Game 6 that sparked the Hawks to an 84-81 triumph.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Rose averaged 27.6 points against the Pacers despite shooting only 37.1 percent from the field. Jamal Crawford averaged 20.5 points off the bench for Atlanta and shot 46 percent from 3-point range against the Magic.
KEY STATISTIC: 3-point shooting. The Bulls set a franchise playoff record with 14 3-pointers in Game 5 against the Pacers. One of the main reasons the Hawks were able to keep the Magic down was their ability to defend the 3-point line, limiting Orlando to 26.2 percent from beyond the arc in the series.
SEASON SERIES: Atlanta took the first meeting, 83-80, at home on March 2, but the Bulls dominated the other two, winning by an average of 25.5 points. Rose went off for 30 points and 10 assists in a win at Atlanta on Mar. 22.
LAST WORD: The Hawks will likely be without guard Kirk Hinrich to start the series. The veteran was diagnosed with a significant strain to his right hamstring after an MRI on Friday. In Hinrich’s absence, Jeff Teague should get extended minutes.