The Chicago Bulls will try to get out of their funk and not lose more ground on a playoff spot when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday (6:00 p.m. CT | WGN Superstation/ESPN Radio 1000). The Bulls (27-35) have dropped six of their last nine games, including Friday's 107-96 home defeat against the Los Angeles Clippers that left them 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee and Philadelphia for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Kirk Hinrich led six Chicago players in double figures with 21 points, but the point guard also committed five turnovers while handing out just two assists. Luol Deng collected 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Bulls, who are just one game better at home (14-17) than on the road (13-18). The Hawks have been idle since Tuesday's 113-106 home victory over Golden State. It was Atlanta's third triumph in five games and the team's 20th win of the campaign after claiming just 18 contests last season. Joe Johnson, who received his Team USA jersey before the game, scored a career-high 42 points. Johnson is one of 23 players who will get a shot to be on America's roster for this year's World Championship and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Chicago posted a 111-99 home win over Atlanta on Jan. 28 in the only meeting of the season between the clubs. Tune in to watch this evening's game on the WGN Superstation or listen to it on ESPN Radio 1000 (pregame show at 5:30). Visit Bulls.com or click here now for a complete preview of this evening's contest. Probable Bulls Starters Guard 12 Kirk Hinrich 6-3 | 190 Guard 7 Ben Gordon 6-3 | 200 Forward 9 Luol Deng 6-9 | 220 Forward 35 Malik Allen 6-10 | 255 Center 3 Tyson Chandler 7-1 | 235 Probable Hawks Starters Guard 36 Royal Ivey 6-3 | 200 Guard 2 Joe Johnson 6-7 | 230 Forward 5 Josh Smith 6-9 | 225 Forward 3 Al Harrington 6-9 | 245 Center 27 Zaza Pachulia 6-11 | 265 Injury Report Bulls Chicago has no injuries to report. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report at Bulls.com. Hawks Josh Childress (sprained left ankle) and John Edwards (sprained right ankle) are questionable. Tyronn Lue (sprained Medial Collateral Ligament, right knee) is out. Series Notes The Bulls have won five-straight over the Hawks after sweeping the four-game series last season ... it was the Bulls' first sweep of Atlanta since going 4-0 in 1995.96 ... in the series-finale last season, Chris Duhon buried eight-of-nine three-pointers on his way to a then career-high 24 points ... Chicago outscored Atlanta in the series last season by an average of 105.3 to 90.8.
Bulls better win this one, we haven't won a game in a while. Bulls need to keep JJ in check. And Gordon needs to start of nice. And Bulls need to get the ball to Deng in the first, becuase he's usually hot in the first.
Just got back from football training, bulls are up by 7 with just over a minute to go. Good to see Deng playing his usual consistent self again.
95 - 90 win and hopefully a Milwaukee loss will negate yesterdays day and leave it as it was. But 32 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists - Al Harrington would look nice in a Bulls uniform.
I don’t know about you guys, but even though we won this game I’m still not impressed. A five point win against the dismal Atlanta Hawks? I didn’t get to see the game, so I don’t know if it was just because we had it on cruise control all game, but I for one would think the margin of victory should have been a lot higher.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGR]http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/TChandler_300_060311.jpg[/IMGR]The Chicago Bulls didn't play their best game, but got the victory they needed to keep alive their playoff hopes. Luol Deng had 21 points and seven rebounds and Kirk Hinrich added 18 points as the Bulls posted a 95-90 triumph over the slumping Atlanta Hawks, who have dropped four of their last five games. Tyson Chandler collected 12 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago (28-35), which moved within 2 1/2 games of Milwaukee (30-32) for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. "The problem is our backs are against the wall every game right now," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "Somehow we have to convince the guys that." Deng scored 13 points in the first half, when Chicago shot 52 percent (18-of-34) from the field and held Atlanta to 35 percent shooting (14-of-40) to take a 47-39 lead. "I'm just playing with a lot of energy," said Deng, who shot 9-of-16 from the floor. "I feel great. I know we have about 20 games left. I feel like I am in good shape." "(Friday) We could tell right from the beginning, we weren't all there," Skiles said. "Tonight, we could tell we were all there. We got really active. We put pressure on them. We were really in tune with our game plan." Andres Nocioni drained a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the third quarter to push the edge to 73-62, but Atlanta was able to cut the deficit to 77-69 with just over nine minutes to go in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Josh Smith. The Bulls scored the next six points to open their biggest lead, 83-69, on Chris Duhon's layup with 7:43 left before the Hawks made their final push, drawing within 88-83 with 2:40 to play. Al Harrington and Joe Johnson combined for 12 points in the 14-5 burst. The Hawks had a chance to cut the lead to three points with 2:17 remaining, but Smith failed to convert a reverse dunk on a fast break. After both teams traded empty possessions, Hinrich hit a jumper with 1:21 remaining to put the Bulls ahead, 90-83. "I wish he (Smith) could have just layed it in," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. "He tried to dunk it. He missed it. We got the ball back and turned it over and that was pretty much the game right there." "When you're going down the stretch like that, every play is valuable when you're coming back," said Johnson, who scored 22 points. "We had turnovers, which took the spirit out of us." Smith hit two free throws with 30 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 91-88, but Hinrich made 4-of-4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. The Hawks had been idle since Tuesday's victory over Golden State. "We had too many days off," said Harrington, who had 32 points and 10 rebounds. "We lost our rhythm a little bit and our feel that we've been having." Malik Allen scored 12 points and Duhon added 11 off the bench for the Bulls, who shot 47 percent (34-of-71) overall but made just 4-of-14 from behind the arc. Smith collected 11 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which shot 41 percent (33-of-79) and scored 40 points in the paint. </div> <div align="center">Recap l Box Score</div>
