Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks: Round-up of NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals (Part 2)
Game-4: Atlanta Hawks 100 – Chicago Bulls 88
Josh Smith and Jeff Teague made big plays and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Bulls 100-88 on May 8, 2011 at the Philips Arena, Atlanta. With this victory the Hawks came back in the Eastern Conference semi-finals as they tied the
series at 2-2.
Smith led from the front with 23 points along with 16 rebounds and eight assists while Joe Johnson chipped in 24 points and five assists.
Both teams looked to rule one another right from the tip off, but the Hawks came out as the frontrunners of the first quarter with a 28-26 advantage. The battle continued in the second quarter. The Bulls played hard to come in
front, but failed as the Hawks led Chicago 47-46 at the halftime.
Bulls, who were thriving for the lead were finally able to steal it in the last three minutes of the third frame, when they used a 7-0 blitz that pushed their lead to 67-69. However, the Hawks outclassed them 33-19 in the final
quarter and snatched a crucial victory.
Derrick Rose was the leading scorer for the Bulls yet again. He scored 34 points and provided 10 assists. Chicago’s bench let them down on the night as none of them used their minutes well.
Game-5: Chicago Bulls 95 – Atlanta Hawks 83
Derrick Rose pounded 33 points and dished out 10 assists while team-mate Taj Gibson hit 11 points off the bench in the final quarter as Bulls knocked down the Hawks 95-83 on May 10, 2011 at the United Centre, Chicago.
The Bulls opened the first quarter with a brisk 10-2 surge and finished the quarter at 32-21. The Hawks got themselves together quickly and notched the lead down to 48-42 at the halftime.
The reeling Hawks remained within the range and gained the lead with almost 2 minutes left, but Luol Deng and Ronnie Brewer snatched the lead from Atlanta and put the Bulls ahead again.
In the fourth quarter the Bulls used a 9-0 blitz that outscored the Hawks as they started fading away from there onwards. The significant play in the surge came from the three-pointer of Gibson.
Jeff Teague was the major contributor for the Hawks, scored 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Game-6: Chicago Bulls 93 – Atlanta Hawks 73
Power forward Carlos Boozer came to life in the series winning game and led the Bulls as they overwhelmed the Hawks in a 93-73 win on May 12, 2011 in front of the Atlanta crowd.
Boozer scored 23 points and 10 rebounds to reach his game winning double-double while Rose, who remained the top scorer for the Bulls in previous games got just 19 points in this game.
The crunch moments of the game were when the Bulls strike their first three shots of the game, and then five of their first six, for an 11-4 advantage. The Bulls glided throughout the game and ease past the Hawks.
After making the Bulls bit uneasy in the best of the seven game series, Chicago finally eliminated the Hawks out of the contention and moved to Conference Finals.
Josh Smith scored 18 points and five rebounds and his team-mate added 19 points for the Hawks.
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