Hawks 100, Bulls 88
Josh Smith collected 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists while Jeff Teague and Al Horford keyed a run late in the fourth quarter that lifted the Atlanta Hawks to a 100-88 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Sunday in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Joe Johnson added 24 points and Horford finished with 20 for Atlanta, which knotted the best-of-seven series at 2-2. The teams will reconvene in Chicago for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Derrick Rose could not match his career-high 44 points from Game 3, struggling through a number of double teams to finish with 34 on 12-of-32 shooting for the Bulls.
The Hawks controlled the pace for most of the first three quarters, holding onto a slim lead until Chicago broke out with an 8-0 burst to end the third. The run put the Bulls up, 69-67, heading into the fourth.
Atlanta would not let Chicago get away, battling back and forth before eventually grabbing the first two-possession lead for either team in the quarter, an 88-84 edge on Horford’s short jumper in the lane with 3:47 remaining.
The Hawks extended the run to 10-0 - with Horford scoring six and Teague chipping in the other four - and ended up outscoring the Bulls 33-19 in the final frame.