Bulls 99, Hawks 82
Derrick Rose scored 44 points and added seven assists as the visiting Chicago Bulls put together their most dominating performance of the playoffs en route to a 99-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Taj Gibson added 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Joakim Noah pulled down 15 boards for the Bulls, who regained home court advantage and took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
After a pair of underwhelming performances in Chicago, the Bulls wasted little time reestablishing their top-seeded form in Atlanta, and led by as many as 19 points, 54-35, late in the second quarter.
Rose, who was 16-for-27 from the field, scored 21 points in the first half, 13 in the third quarter and continued his onslaught in the fourth.
The Hawks began to creep back into it and got to within 86-75 with 8:22 left. After a Chicago timeout, Rose scored the next eight points and Kyle Korver buried a 3-pointer during an 11-0 burst to put the game away.
Jeff Teague scored 21 points for the Hawks, who host Game 4 on Sunday.