The Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 113-101 on Monday night at the United Center. Atlanta let fly from beyond the arc, knocking down 19-40 triples to shoot 47%. Chicago only shot 7-28 from downtown for 25%, and the 57-21 three-point differential was key for the Hawks’ victory.
The Bulls came out aggressive on defense, forcing three straight live ball turnovers. Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmus’ ball pressure bothered the Hawks for an 11-0 Chicago lead. However, Atlanta countered immediately with an 11-2 run with Clint Capela doing damage inside the paint. Garrison Mathews and Vít Krejčí hit three consecutive threes to cut the Bulls’ lead to 24-20. The Hawks welcomed Jalen Johnson and Kobe Bufkin back to the rotation tonight, and Johnson responded immediately with eight early points off the bench. He led the Hawks in scoring with just four minutes of court time in the first quarter. Atlanta took a narrow 32-30 lead into the second quarter.
Andre Drummond was a thorn in the Hawks’ side in the first half. Hew quickly put up a 10-point, 10-rebound double in just 10 minutes. Bruno Fernando struggled to guard him without fouling, as the Hawks’ backup big man collected three early fouls. On the other end, Chicago struggled to guard Atlanta’s three-point threats. Krejčí and Dejounte Murray hit back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 50-45. Murray scored 11 in the second quarter after a slow start, and Krejčí’s hot shooting never stopped. He hit a career-high fifth triple at the halftime buzzer for 15 first-half points on five shots, leading the Hawks to a 61-53 lead after the first 24 minutes.
Krejčí cashed in his sixth and final triple for a career-high 18 points on perfect shooting as soon as the second half started. Both squads’ offenses struggled mid-way through the third quarter, but Capela’s hustle broke the lid on the rim for Atlanta. Krejčí found the big man hustling back on offense for an and-one layup. He consistently beat Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond down the floor throughout the night. When Chicago cut the cut deficit to 11, Bogdan Bogdanović swished a 35-foot three as the shot clock buzzer sounded to quiet the Chicago crowd. Mathews ended the third quarter with a corner three after some nice two-man action between Johnson and Bogdanović. The Hawks carried a 90-74 lead into the final frame.
Even though Atlanta never put the game away until late, the Hawks prevented a big Bulls run to keep a double-digit advantage. DeMar DeRozan tried to will Chicago back into the game throughout the fourth quarter. He shot 11-12 from the charity stripe early in the fourth quarter and consistently knocked down tough mid-range jumpers. Uncharacteristically, Vucevic could not capitalize on his post-hooks throughout the night, giving Atlanta some breathing room. Murray drove to the rim for consecutive layups to put the Hawks up 113-96 with two minutes remaining before both squads emptied their respective benches.
Murray totaled 17 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Bogdanović shot 6-7 from the field for 20 points. He and Krejčí combined for an ultra-efficient 38 points on 13 field goal attempts. Capela put up a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double with two blocks, while Fernando and Johnson added 10 and 11 points, respectively.
DeRozan led Chicago with 31 points on 10-23 shooting. Coby white dropped 22 points, and Dosunmu had 15 after scoring 29 against the Hawks in the previous matchup. Drummond had an impressive 13 points and 18 rebounds in 20 minutes. The Bulls collected 16 offensive rebounds compared to Atlanta’s eight, but the difference from the three-point line came back to bite the Bulls.
This was an important win for the Hawks because they sit just 0.5 games behind the Bulls for the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. Chicago owns the tiebreaker, so Atlanta needs to overtake them to host a play-in game. The Hawks’ next game is against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday at State Farm Arena.
