Derrick Rose back in action as Chicago Bulls decimate Atlanta Hawks 90-79 – NBA Recap
Derrick Rose’s return to the NBA court after missing 5 games due to back spasms was not a good omen for the visiting Atlanta Hawks. Rose, even though he was in pain, scored 23 for Chicago Bulls and played a pivotal role in beating
the Hawks 90-79 in a relatively one sided affair.
Atlanta never stood a chance in the game as they trailed for large parts with double digits. They were hopeless from the charity stripe connecting on 47.6% as compared to 73.7% from the Bulls. Hawks were better from the floor though
as they netted 40.5% and restricted Chicago to 38.6 percent.
With the loss, Atlanta made it two losses in a row and their 10th on the road while on the other hand Bulls banked their 12th victory at home.
The raging Bulls had 5 players hitting the double scoring index. Derrick Rose pounded 26 points and dished out 6 playing only 35 minutes in the game. Carlos Boozer was also in the mix with 16 points and 5 boards while guard Ronnie
Brewer poured in 13 and had 6 rebounds. Luol Deng barely missed his double-double with 10 points and 9 boards and John Lucas also had 10 points coming off the bench.
On the other hand, Hawks had 3 players in double figures; Jannero Pargo was the highest scorer for Atlanta as he recorded 19 points. Josh Smith had the only double-double in the team with 17 points and 12 boards while Joe Johnson
had 12.
Brewer netted the first point for Bulls with a layup but the Hawks answered back with a 9-4 run. Chicago paced by Rose’s 9 points, that included a pair of 3-pointers retaliated with a 31-8 run and capped of the segment with a
mammoth 35-17 lead.
Hawks came back in the 2nd frame with an 11-5 run and scratched down the 18 points lead to 12 to make it 40-28. In the ensuing passage, Rose added 5 more points by hitting a freebie along with a pair of layups to stretch
the lead to 45-28. Chicago continued to dominate and by the end of 2nd period, were up by 55 -37.
The status quo didn’t change in the 3rd period as well. With 08:39 left in the segment, the Bulls augmented their lead to 61-41 and they sprinted to a 9-6 run to leave the away side behind at 70-49.
The Hawks bounced back with a 15-3 run that encompassed three 3-pointers from Pargo and managed to claw off the defict to 9. As the game entered into its decisive frame, the Bulls were in the lead at 73-64.
The Hawks netted 15 and Bulls scored 17 in the last quarter, making it the lowest scoring frame of the game. It started with Atlanta going for an 8-5 run that to bring the deficit down to 6 points at 78-72 and 07:03 left to play.
Chicago however pulled off the decisive 12-7 run late. Both of the teams failed to score afterwards and as time expired Chicago added another home win.