Chicago Bulls strike back; Beat the Atlanta Hawks 86 – 73 (Part 1)
On Wednesday night, the Chicago Bulls secured a comfortable 86 – 73 win as they levelled their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the Atlanta Hawks. After conceding 100 plus points in game 1, the best defence in the league returned to its own and held the Hawks to a meagre 73 points in game-2.
Before the game began, Chicago point guard Derrick Rose received the MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern in front of the buoyant United Center crowd. During the presentation, Stern told him, "In a league of very valuable players, you are the most valuable."
Rose thanked everyone for their support, including teammates, coaches and fans, and reserved special praise for his family.
The game saw Atlanta struggle throughout as Chicago did a great job of stifling their best two players, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford. The pair, that was pivotal in knocking the Bulls down in the first game, was the focal point of Chicago’s defence on the night. Johnson, who had 34 points in game-1, could manage only 16 and Jamal Crawford followed his 22 point performance earlier with just 11 in this game.
With the big-two of the Hawks completely hounded, the scoring burden fell on the shoulders of point guard Jeff Teague, who finished with 21 points. After the game Teague spoke of Atlanta’s frustrations with their inability to shake of a resolute Bulls defence,
"They came out and applied pressure," said Teague, who didn’t have a single turnover. "They got up into us. They made every catch we got tough. They came on Joe (Johnson), double-teamed him a lot. Kind of frustrated us as a team, because he got it going the first game."
Chicago were led by Derrick Rose who had a double-double, scoring 25 points and dishing out 10 assists. He was ably supported by Joakim Noah who had 19 points to go along with his 14 rebounds. Chicago’s strength however was their defence and their ability to frustrate the Hawks as a team.
Chicago forward Luol Deng praised his team’s hustle after the game, "We affected them into taking a lot of tough shots," Deng said.
The first quarter saw the lead change hands three times. The third time however, turned out to be the last as Chicago led for the rest of the game. Derrick Rose, fresh from receiving the MVP trophy, led all scorers with 12 points in the frame. He had three free throws and went 4-of-9 from the field, including the 3-pointer to end the quarter. The trey also turned out to be the last of the game for Rose. The quarter ended with a six point Chicago lead at 25 – 19.
Jamal Crawford opened the 2nd quarter with an effort from downtown as Atlanta looked to build some momentum early on. C.J. Watson however hit back immediately with a three of his own. Taj Gibson then dunked the ball as Chicago took control of the game. They led by 12 at one point as Atlanta struggled to get any offense going. Hawks missed their last 3 shots to end the half with an 11 point deficit at 48 – 37.
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