The pressure will be squarely on Chicago tonight
when they host Atlanta in Game 2 at the
United Center. The surprising Hawks proved that their first round victory over
the Orlando Magic wasn’t a fluke as they captured Game 1.
For tonight’s game Chicago opened as -9 point
favorites at several sportsbooks with the total at 180.5 on the NBA odds board.
If there is one thing the Chicago Bulls have shown this year
is their ability to bounce back from a loss. Chicago is 9-1 straight up and against
the spread following each of its past 10 defeats and they need another win
tonight to prevent the Hawks from taking a commanding 2-0 lead with the series
shifting to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday night.
Atlanta wasn’t considered much of a threat when the
playoffs began but they got everyone’s attention with their first round
dismissal of Orlando. They served notice again in the series opener as they
handled Derrick Rose and a vociferous United Center crowd with relative ease.
What
went right?
Joe Johnson spent most of the regular season drawing
criticism for a lack of production after signing a huge free agent deal. He
finally lived up to the big contract in Game 1, scoring 34 points and shooting
5-of-5 from 3-point range. Jamal Crawford stepped up as well, pouring in 24
points off the bench for the Hawks.
Chicago led the NBA in defensive shooting percentage
in the regular season, holding opponents to 43 percent from the floor. But the Atlanta Hawks sizzled from the field shooting 51.3 percent. The turning point for
Atlanta came when they tore up the Bulls defense going on a 27-9 run at the end
of the third and into the fourth.
What
went wrong?
Chicago shot under 30 percent in the first quarter
and Rose did not score a point until less than five minutes remained in the
first half. For all of their troubles, the Bulls still managed to take the lead
in the third quarter. Rose ended up with 24 points and 10 assists, but
struggled to shoot 11-of-27 from the floor and did not attempt a free throw
after averaging 12 attempts from the line in the first round.
Rose provided the scare of the night for the Bulls
when he twisted his left ankle on the final play and had to be helped off by
teammates and trainers. Rose sprained the same ankle in Game 4 of the first
round against the Indiana Pacers and as a result, he was less explosive in Game
5, although he still managed 25 points.
Late
game strategy
With the outcome
of the game already decided and the Hawks leading by double-digits, why did
Coach of the Year Thibodeau even have Rose on the floor? The worst case
scenario was him reinjuring his ankle and sure enough he did on the final play
of the game and now the ankle is worse than ever. It’s truly amazing how a
coach can go from real smart to real dumb in matter of hours.
If Rose is on the floor, it should be enough for the
Bulls offense although Thibodeau said his team, with the exception of Luol Deng
(21 points, 8 of 12 shooting) played with a “lack of energy” on offense.
Home
cooking
Despite Monday’s loss, Chicago still owns the best
home record in the NBA (39-6 SU & 25-14-2 ATS). However Atlanta is 8-3 in
the last 11 series meetings.
The Bulls and Hawks are each 26-19 to the ‘under’
while the ‘over’ is 5-1 in the last six meetings in Chicago and 9-3 in the last
12 meetings.
Harvey’s Take: Atlanta plus the points. Outside of the Memphis
Grizzlies, the Hawks are the second biggest surprise team in the playoffs. Rose
isn’t 100 percent nor is Carlos Boozer and without them the Bulls are an
average team at best.