Hawks at Bulls
THE STORY: It’s down to a best-of-three series as the Atlanta Hawks have proven they will not be easily dispatched. The Chicago Bulls appeared to have all of the momentum on their side after a convincing Game 3 victory, but the Hawks refused to roll over and took Game 4 when they confounded Derrick Rose and took over in the final four minutes. The Bulls will need to regroup again to avoid a hole when they host Atlanta in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Tuesday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE BULLS: After it evened the series with a less than stellar win in Game 2, Chicago went into Atlanta on Friday night for Game 3 and dominated 99-82 behind Rose's career-high 44 points. It looked as though the Bulls had solved the offensive inefficiency and defensive breakdowns that had plagued them during the first round and into the first two games against the Hawks. But all those problems returned in Game 4 as Rose managed 34 points, but shot 12-of-32 from the floor. Chicago’s defense broke down in the fourth quarter and allowed Atlanta to close with a 16-4 burst en route to a 100-88 victory.
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta spread it around Sunday and maintained a slim lead through most of the contest thanks to Josh Smith’s 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Joe Johnson’s 24 points. With the game knotted at 84-84 with just over four minutes left, it was time for Al Horford and Jeff Teague to take over. The two combined to score the next 10 points and the Hawks turned it into an easy win. Teague has been a strong fill-in for the injured Kirk Hinrich, averaging 16 points in the series.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Carlos Boozer scored a playoff-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting Sunday for Chicago. Marvin Williams was dropped out of Atlanta’s starting lineup in Game 4 and ended up scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.
KEY STATISTIC: One of the reasons Rose kept driving into traffic was because the Bulls could not hit from the outside - they were 3-for-16 from 3-point range in Game 4. Luol Deng and Kyle Korver were the worst offenders, combining to shoot 1 of 11. Atlanta shot 4-for-11 from 3-point range in Game 4.
LAST WORD: Sunday’s victory marked the first time Atlanta won a home playoff game in the second round since May 13, 1996.