The Chicago Bulls were not supposed to be the kind of team that would be happy and relieved just to beat the Atlanta Hawks. They were supposed to pound knobs on teams like the Hawks, with regularity, on their way to solidifying their position as an elite squad in the Eastern Conference.
The best laid plans of mice and men and all that jazz. The Bulls have not been the team people expected. In fact they've been the worst team record-wise in the whole East, which is quite an accomplishment given that the Knicks are also in that conference. That's why the Bulls really, really needed last night's game against perennial basement-dwellers Atlanta.
They got what they needed - thank you Hawks for being, well, the Hawks. Luol Deng, whose back has been bothering him even more than the Kobe Bryant trade rumors, led the way for Chicago with 22 points and 9 boards. Tyrus Thomas and Ben Wallace both had 12 rebounds, helping the Bulls to a dominating 60-37 rebounding edge (I think we all know how important rebounding edge is. It's like, really important).
The Bulls led 34-30 at the half, but went on a tear in the second-half, outscoring the Hawks 56-48. This sudden offensive outburst coincided with Scott Skiles's decision to sit struggling guard Kirk Hinrich, and let Chris Duhon have more minutes. Hinrich has been 6 points off his scoring average from last year, and has shot only 20% from 3-point range, down from his career average of almost 38%. Bulls fans must've been wondering when Skiles was going to tire of watching Hinrich throw up bricks. They may also be wondering how long Skiles is going to still be coaching this team, which has been known for slow starts, but is sort of out-doing itself this year.
The Bulls will go for two in a row Saturday against Charlotte, then will get to see what they're really made of Monday against the salty Dallas Mavericks.
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Chicago Bulls
Tags: atlanta hawks, ben wallace, chicago bulls, chris duhon, kirk hinrich, luol deng, scott skiles, tyrus thomas
