Derrick Rose helps Chicago Bulls beat Atlanta Hawks, 99-82: NBA Play-off Recap
Derrick Rose scored a career-high 44 points and seven assists as the top-seeded Chicago Bulls topped the Atlanta Hawks, 99-82, in Game 3 of their second-round of the play-off series on Friday.
“Derrick was in attack mode,” Chicago Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “When he’s not dancing with the ball and he’s attacking, he’s impossible to stop.”
Rose, who shot 39 percent and turned the ball over 11 times in the first two contests of the Eastern Conference semi-finals, hit 16-of-27 shots in Game 3 and had just two turn-overs to give Chicago to a 2-1 series lead.
Rose said after the game, "I was just attacking throughout the game. That was my whole process coming in, trying to get myself going and get my teammates going."
Taj Gibson was strong off the bench scoring 13 points with 11 rebounds. Kyle Korver chipped in 11 points for the Bulls, who made 10-of-20 shots from three-point range.
After putting away Indiana Pacers in the quarter-finals and losing at home in Game 1 of the semi-finals, Chicago ultimately resembled the team that won 62 contests during the regular season.
Jeff Teague, who replaced the injured Kirk Hinrich, was the Hawks’ leading scorer with 21 points. Josh Smith collected 17 points and 13 rebounds for Atlanta, which made just 1-of-6 from the long distance. Sharpshooters Joe Johnson and
Jamal Crawford scored a combined 17 points in the defeat.
"They beat us up, completely beat us up," Atlanta Head Coach Larry Drew said. "You have to play this team with energy."
Game 4 is set for Sunday, also at Philips Arena.
Point-guards, Rose and Teague, went toe-to-toe in the opening quarter, with each posting 11 points. Rose capped the frame with 17 points to give the Bulls a 29-23 advantage, heading into the second period.
The Bulls continued to put the pressure on the Hawks in the second quarter. They took a 42-29 lead in the fifth minute of the period when Gibson got inside for two buckets.
Chicago owned a 54-35 lead a little later when Rose drilled a jumper.
The Hawks had eight of the last 10 points of the second quarter and shot 8-of-14 from the field during the third quarter, but they could not trim their deficit to single digits till the end of the third.
The main reason was Rose, who tallied another 13 points in the last minute of the third that gave the Bulls an 80-63 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Hawks cut their deficit to 86-75 on a dunk from Horford with less than nine minutes remaining in the play.
However, Rose notched the next eight points to put the game away. He first hit a turnaround jumper, and then drained back-to-back three-pointers to put the Bulls ahead by 19 points.
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