At the end of the year, certain nights of the 82 game slog stand out, whether it be because of a great victory, a painful loss, or, as the Bulls have experienced far too often over the years, an injury. Tonight, however, was not one of those nights. Chicago blew many chances to steal this one and sweep their road back-to-back in what ultimately was a forgettable contest.
Early on, the Hawks established a single-digit lead they maintained throughout. They used a 9-0 run in the middle of the first quarter to take a 16-9 lead that they would never relinquish. The Bulls got within one just before halftime (Atlanta pushed it back to six before the intermission) and spent most of the fourth quarter within five points, culminating with Jimmy Butler making a great snag on a Kyle Korver pass as Atlanta was draining the clock. It went to a jump ball, Atlanta up just three, but the Bulls were unable to take advantage, and Jeff Teague’s free throws iced the game.
As disappointing as it was to see the Bulls get so close and not break through, it was assuring to know that this loss more fell on the fatigue factor and their inability to hit open shots. All three point guards were absolutely dreadful. Derrick Rose had six turnovers, missed all seven attempts from beyond the arc, and finished 6-21 overall. Kirk Hinrich went 0-7, a performance that tied him for most games in the league (seven) since 2012 (when he rejoined the Bulls) of zero field goals on five attempts or more. He was scoreless in 22 minutes, though he played in crunch time because Aaron Brooks was in full chucker mode and Thibs is allergic to Mike Dunleavy.
After thriving without him, the Bulls really felt Joakim Noah’s absence in this one. The Hawks attacked Pau Gasol relentlessly with Al Horford’s midrange game. Pau gave Horford plenty of room to shoot, likely due to a combination of pragmatism (his lack of foot speed prevents him from stopping drives past him) and fatigue (he played 40 minutes on the second end of a back-to-back because Thibs). Horford notched 21 points on 10-19 from the floor, adding ten boards and six assists. He and Paul Millsap (6-16, 17 points) were the only Hawks with more than 12 points. Kyle Korver’s only points came off of three pointers, hitting four of his eight tries. The Hawks had a balanced attack via scoring in transition, boosted by Chicago’s miserable efforts getting back on D.
The only above-average performances came from Taj Gibson (15 points, 17 boards) and Butler (22 points on 8-17, plus nine rebounds). The other six Bulls were somewhere between forgettable and awful. As a team, they shot 6-29 from distance and 37.6% overall. They couldn’t hit an open shot to save their lives, yet they had a chance to win on the road facing a quality team. The Bulls have had bad losses this year and this was not one of them.
The team gets a couple days to prepare for the lowly Knicks, a national TV game on Thursday. They’ll need to care of business in that one considering the three games following that are against the Grizzlies, Raptors and Wizards.
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