Bulls at Hawks
THE STORY: In a series that keeps shifting momentum, this time the Chicago Bulls are on the attack. After running away with Game 5 in the fourth quarter, the Bulls have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on Thursday. The Atlanta Hawks have not made things easy for Chicago in the Eastern Conference semifinals and they don’t have to look far to find success. Atlanta was able to defeat the Bulls on their home court just a few days ago.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta let the Bulls jump out to a big lead in Game 5, falling behind by as much as 15 points in the first quarter. But after slowly chipping away, the Hawks pulled ahead briefly at the end of the third quarter and scored the first basket of the fourth to grab a one-point edge. But just as things were looking up, Atlanta went cold on offense and defense. The Hawks managed only 15 points in the fourth quarter and could not find a way to stop Derrick Rose from getting into the lane. Jeff Teague put up another strong performance, scoring 21 points to lead the way while Josh Smith chipped in 16 and Joe Johnson finished with 15.
ABOUT THE BULLS: Chicago is one win away from its first conference finals appearance since Michael Jordan roamed the United Center in 1998. That large shadow has not clouded Rose, who did his best Jordan impression again on Tuesday when he scored 11 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter and finished with nine assists in the 95-83 triumph. Rose bookended a decisive 9-0 run in the fourth quarter with driving layups and had no trouble getting into the paint all night. Rose needed 32 shots to get 34 points as the Bulls lost Game 4 but he was much more efficient on Tuesday, shooting 11-of-24. Chicago outscored the Hawks 26-15 in the final quarter to run away with it. Taj Gibson scored all 11 of his points in the fourth and Luol Deng added 23 in the contest.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Jamal Crawford was held to two points on 1-of-9 shooting on Tuesday and is averaging eight points over the last four contests for Atlanta. After going 1-of-8 from the field in Game 4, Kyle Korver was limited to only four minutes in Game 5 and did not attempt a shot for the Bulls.
KEY STATISTIC: Free-throw attempts. Chicago went 21-of-28 from the line in Game 5 while the Hawks made it to the line only 17 times, converting 14. Rose alone attempted 13 free throws.
LAST WORD: “This series is not over with,” Smith said. “We have to go and play with a ton of energy on Thursday. We have to do a better job of keeping Derrick Rose out of our paint. If we do that we should be coming back here to play a Game 7.”