Bulls at Hawks
THE STORY: The Chicago Bulls attempt to rebound from their worst loss of the season when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Chicago suffered a 17-point home loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday but still have the NBA’s top record. Chicago is expected to be without point guard Derrick Rose (groin) for the eighth consecutive game. Atlanta had a four-game winning streak snapped Tuesday when it lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet (Chicago), SportSouth (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE BULLS (40-11): It wasn’t solely the absence of Rose that led to the blowout loss to Denver. Chicago was dominated in the interior with the Nuggets holding a 45-32 rebounding edge and outscoring the Bulls 54-24 in the paint. “We just laid an egg,” said Chicago center Joakim Noah, who had just two points and five rebounds. “We didn’t play good basketball. There are really no excuses.” The Bulls committed 16 turnovers and are 12-5 when Rose sits out. Chicago was 13 for 20 from 3-point range with John Lucas making five and Kyle Korver sinking four.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (30-21): Atlanta usually does a good job taking care of the basketball but committed 22 turnovers in the loss to Milwaukee. Guard Jeff Teague was the biggest culprit with seven miscues. The Hawks were averaging 14 turnovers entering the contest. “We had way, way too many turnovers,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “You can’t expect to win if you turn the ball over like that, particularly on the road.” Red-hot Josh Smith continued his stellar play with 30 points and 18 rebounds but Joe Johnson struggled and had just 11 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Johnson left the game briefly in the first half to get stitches to close a gash in his lip after colliding with teammate Zaza Pachulia.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Chicago is 2-1 against the Hawks this season but lost 109-94 in its previous visit to Atlanta on Jan. 7.
2. Noah had 16 rebounds in Chicago’s 90-79 victory over the Hawks on Feb. 20.
3. Smith is averaging 26.8 points and 13.2 rebounds over the last five games.