Atlanta Hawks rookie, A.J. Griffin, did it again Sunday night, hitting a game-winner as the clock expired to top the Chicago Bulls, 123-122. It was a bizarre ending to a wild fourth quarter and overtime period.
Atlanta led the Bulls for much of this one, but things got interesting in the fourth quarter, a quarter the Hawks have had trouble closing out all season. Atlanta took the lead, 110-107, with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter, behind a 30-foot three pointer by Trae Young. Young was off all night, but hit two of the biggest shots in this one, on his way to 19 points and 14 assists. After a Demar DeRozan-jumper that cut the lead to one, the Hawks had a chance to ice this game away with free throw’s.
The Hawks inbounded the ball to Griffin, who was fouled immediately by Chicago’s, Coby White. After further review, and a coach’s challenge by Bulls head coach, Billy Donovan, White’s strip on Griffin was deemed legal. Chicago got the ball back with 8.1 seconds and a chance to win. DeRozan took a 20-foot pull-up jumper, which missed, but was rebounded by Derrick Jones Jr. of Chicago, who was fouled by Griffin on the put-back attempt. Jones Jr. had a chance to win this game in regulation but split the pair at the line to send this game into overtime, 110-110.
The overtime period provided its own theatrics, fast-forwarding to the final two seconds in overtime. After a game-tying three by Chicago’s White, that knotted things up at 119, Atlanta held the ball for one last attempt. It was Young who nailed another clutch jumper with a step-back two, leaving only one second left and what Atlanta fans thought was the game-winning basket.
The Bulls had one last-ditched effort and they went back to DeRozan, who had his first double-double of the season, with 34 points and 13 rebounds, while also chipping in 8 assists. DeRozan was guarded by Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was having his second-straight great shooting night, finishing with 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and hitting 6-14 from three. DeRozan turned around for a fadeaway off-balanced three but was fouled in the process by Bogdanovic, a crucial mistake by the Serbian sharpshooter. The foul occurred with 0.5 seconds remaining in overtime. DeRozan, a 89.1% free-throw shooter on the season, sank all three of his free throw’s and all but secured another heartbreaking loss for the Hawks.
With minimal time left, the Hawks came out of their timeout with only a couple options: a quick catch-and-shoot or something near the rim. Young was the in-bounder for the first set, but a timeout due to Chicago’s defense and a near-five second call, saw Jalen Johnson become the in-bounder instead of Young on the next one. Johnson threw a beautiful opposite-shoulder pass to Griffin, who quickly, and awkwardly, got the ball off and into the basket as the clock expired. State Farm Arena went into pandemonium and the Bulls were left in disbelief. Hawks players rushed Griffin in support and Atlanta snuck out with a victory.
Atlanta improved to 3-0 in overtime games this season and Chicago fell to 0-2 in overtime games. It was a gutsy win for a Hawks club that was coming into this one with three-straight losses. Atlanta hopes to build off this victory on a quick turnaround, that will send them to Memphis to tango with the Grizzlies. Tip-off for Monday’s game in Memphis is at 8:00 p.m. eastern.
