Hawks & Al Horford “Bull”dozed the Chicago Bulls

RECAP:

I predicted at least 9 wins at home out of the possible 12 home games in March, looks like this is one of them. I really didn’t feel comfortable or confident about the Hawks’ chances yesterday (which is understandable), but I still did pick them to win the game. Early in the game, the Hawks looked like they wanted to prove me wrong. They got off to a slow start, being down 14-0 to start the game. It looked like this one was going to be another stinker at home. However, the Hawks never gave up. They still ran their plays (some of them were sloppy), and just not settle for jumpshots, like they normally would do when they’re down big.

The Hawks cut down the lead and started making their move about around the 6 minute mark of the first quarter, when they made a 12-4 run to cut down the lead to six points at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter, it was all Bulls. The Hawks’ offense struggled against the Bulls’ defense  and the Bulls’ got a lot of great looks on the offensive end. The Hawks were outscored 30 to 19 in the second quarter, which gave the Bulls a 17 point lead at halftime. By the way the Hawks were playing, it seemed like they should have been down a lot more. They shot a horrible 32% from the field in the first half compared to the Bulls’ 51%.

The third quarter, it was all Hawks. The Hawks started the third quarter, making a big 12-2 run (which ended around the midway point of the 3rd quarter), which cut the lead down to 7 points. The Hawks’ defense was key here. They forced a lot of turnovers and some bad shots which led to easier buckets for the Hawks. At that point, it seemed like the Hawks’ felt like they could win this game and the Bulls’ looked like they felt the pressure of blowing a 17 point lead. By the end of the third quarter, the Hawks cut down the lead to 5 points. They limited the Bulls to only 17 shot attempts, which only 6 of them fell down. The Hawks’ defense and the Bulls’ careless play led to 8 turnovers for the quarter for the Bulls. The Bulls had a combined 7 turnovers in the first two quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Hawks continued the solid defense they showed in the third quarter, making the Bulls miss a lot of shots. Only problem now, the Hawks kept giving away offensive rebounds and second chance opportunity to the Bulls. Omer Asik was in the middle of that, he was Zaza Pachulia 2.0 for the Bulls. He grabbed 4 offensive rebounds in the night (2 in the 4th quarter), including one where he dove for the ball and landed on the front row. It was a fight throughout the entire fourth quarter. The Bulls and the Hawks kept going blow for blow. Make for make. Miss for miss. A recipe for exciting basketball. With about 3 minutes left in the game, that is when the Hawks’ finally stopped exchanging baskets and made their run. It started with a Marvin Williams block on Derrick Rose:

As you saw the score, the Bulls were up 3 when Derrick Rose tried to dunk it over Marvin. The Hawks’ cut it down to 1 after Jamal Crawford’s layup was ruled as goaltending. The next possession after that, Deng misfired a 2 which gave the Hawks’ a chance to take their first lead of the entire game. The Hawks’ opted out to shoot a tough 3 point shot by Joe Johnson which resulted in a miss. Kyle Korver then showed Joe Johnson how to shoot a 3 ball, making one and putting the Bulls up four points with one minute and a half left to play. Now, there is Marvin Williams (again) who answered right back with a three of his own, cutting the lead down to 1 with 1:17 left to play. The Bulls then had several looks on the other end, but ended up with nothing, which gave the Hawks the ball and a chance to lead with less than a minute left to play. The Bulls fouled Horford, which led to two free throws.

OHHHHH…..he missed the first. He made the 2nd though, tying the game up, 79 to 79 with 57 seconds left to play. On the other end, Noah was fouled by his former college teammate Al Horford. Like his college teammate, Noah missed the first and made the second which gave the Bulls a 1 point lead with 37 seconds left. Hawks call timeout. LD ran a pick and roll for Jamal Crawford and Al Horford…just watch..

Yeah…that should have been a foul too. But what’s been done can’t be changed, so you move on. On this next play, it was the coldest player from the field making a great defensive play which led to well…this:

The Bulls had a chance to tie it up and send it to overtime now though. Derrick Rose dribbled. dribbled. jump pass. dribbled. 3 point shot….miss. Noah gets the offensive rebound, passed it to Boozer who found a wide open Kyle Korver for the 3. Airball. Game over, Hawks win. A storybook ending for the Hawks. Their first lead came in the last 30 seconds of the game, in which they were able to hang on to it. Crazy.

Noteable Notes:

• Al Horford should end the Noah vs. Horford debate. Horford clearly showed who was the better player of the two. Don’t say Noah is not 100% yet, because I seriously doubt that Noah would ever match the type of play Horford showed last night. He carried the team single handedly for most of the night, never gave up, had the game winning go ahead field goal, and showed leadership. That’s a mark of a championship piece.

• Josh Smith was injured, which made the Hawks’ win more impressive than what it is. We need him back though, I doubt Horford will be able to do that every single game.

• Kirk Hinrich made his first start in a Hawks uniform last night. He didn’t have a great statline at all (3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), but we couldn’t have won this game without him. His defense on Rose was just great. Just imagine if Bibby (no disrespect intended) was the one trying to guard Rose.

• Marvin Williams’ who was basically a non factor for most of the night, stepped up when he needed to. Give him props for that. His block on Derrick Rose was the game changer.

• A pat on the back goes to Damien Wilkins. I liked the way he played last night. He made some key offensive plays. Only finished with 6 points, but they were an important six points.

• How about Bob Rathbun (@hawksvoice)? He made the broadcast so much fun to watch (for Hawks fans anyway). You got to love the excitement in his voice. I wonder how Steve Holman (@realhawksvoice) was throughout the game..

Next game is against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant got injured during last night’s game against the Pacers, could we face a Durant-less Thunder team?