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Hawks Go For Fifth Straight Win Against Struggling Bulls
Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Jamal Crawford scored 29 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks in a 118-83 blowout of the Chicago Bulls.
Maurice Evans added 18 points, also in a reserve role, for the Hawks, winners in their last two games. Josh Smith scored 18 and pulled down seven rebounds for Atlanta, which beat the Bulls for a fifth straight time. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams each scored 12 in the victory.
“Our job is to bring energy. The first unit did such a good job,” said Crawford. “We just have to come in and either sustain it or provide a lift. We had some good momentum going into halftime and we wanted to come out with the same enthusiasm and hopefully come out with a win.”
Derrick Rose tallied 19 points, James Johnson added 17 and John Salmons 16 for the Bulls, who suffered their fourth straight loss and were beaten for the ninth time in the last 10 contests. They’ve lost seven in a row on the road.
Turnovers were a key to the outcome. Chicago had 19 of them, converting into 22 Atlanta points. Conversely, the Hawks had eight turnovers, leading to two points for the Bulls.
"The guys are working. They tried to stay with them early on, but our turnovers got us," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "They had too many offensive rebounds in the first half and then they jumped on us early in the third quarter, and we were playing catch-up."
Crawford, who finished 10-of-16 from the floor, had 12 of his points during the pivotal second quarter. The Hawks outscored the Bulls in that period, 34-21, to grab a 56-42 edge at the half.
A dunk from Taj Gibson had the Bulls within 26-23 less than two minutes into the second quarter, but Atlanta went in a big run later in the stanza. Al Horford’s jumper capped a 10-0 flurry for a 47-31 difference with three minutes remaining in the half.
Atlanta continued to pull away in the third. Smith’s alley-oop jam off a feed from Johnson made it 76-46 with 3:35 to go, and it was 87-57 moving to the fourth. The lead escalated to as high as 36 in the final quarter.
Chicago has lost four straight at Philips Arena...The Bulls host Golden State on Friday for the opener of a six-game homestand. Atlanta’s next game is the same night at Toronto...Chicago fell to 2-10 on the road this season...The Bulls shot 14-of-40 from the field over the final 24 minutes, compared to 23- of-39 for Atlanta...Hawks forward Joe Smith suffered a dislocated left thumb early in the fourth quarter and didn’t return...Crawford and Evans each went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc...Chicago finished 36.4 percent from the field.
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