Bulls at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls missed the memo that told rebuilding teams to turn their attention toward getting the best odds at the draft lottery and instead are putting together solid runs bridging the All-Star break. Each team will be looking to post back-to-back wins when the Hawks host the Bulls on Friday.
Atlanta won two of its last three games - with the lone loss an eight-point setback at Houston - and is riding the young tandem of Trae Young and John Collins to wins. The two combined for 70 points and 16 rebounds while Young handed out 10 assists in a 131-123 overtime triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday as the Hawks further separated themselves from the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Chicago, which sits four games behind Atlanta in the East, is trying to pull away from the basement as well and picked up wins in four of the last five games, with the lone loss coming to the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks. The Bulls, who host the Hawks in the second half of the home-and-home on Sunday, bounced back from the loss against the Bucks by opening their two-game road trip with a 109-107 triumph at Memphis on Wednesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE BULLS (17-45): Chicago small forward Otto Porter Jr. returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing one game with a strained left leg and collected 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 32 minutes. "He settles us down," Bulls coach Jim Boylen told reporters of Porter. "He's poised, he makes a big shot when we need it, he gets a big steal in a gap; he got two gap steals that changed that fourth quarter. We're thankful for him." Chicago is 5-2 in games Porter has played since he arrived in a trade from the Washington Wizards.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (21-41): Young racked up a season-high 36 points in each of the last two games and did it in a different way each time. Against the Rockets, Young showed off his Stephen Curry-like range and drained 8-of-12 3-pointers while against the Timberwolves Young hit just two 3-pointers but attacked the paint and ended up 16-of-17 from the free-throw line. Collins leads the team in scoring at an average of 19.5 points while shooting 56.9 percent and went a combined 20-of-31 from the floor over the last two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bulls PF Lauri Markkanen recorded a double-double in each of the last four games.
2. Hawks SF DeAndre' Bembry collected 16 points and 14 rebounds off the bench on Wednesday for his first double-double since Oct. 24.
3. The visiting team took each of the last four in the series, including Chicago's 97-85 win at Atlanta on Oct. 27.