Pictured above: one of Atlanta’s better looks from the second half of the fourth quarter.
There was only one game last night, and it involved the Hawks… so this will probably be one of the shortest recap posts in the history of the blog. I simply never have anything to say about the damn Hawks; they’re just so simple to me. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford go one-on-one, and if they make shots they usually win, and if they miss ‘em they usually lose. JJ and Jamal went 7-24 last night, so the Hawks lost by 12. I suppose I am over-simplifying things on this particular occasion, because this game was a lot closer than the final score makes it out to be.
Chicago led by 11 at the end of one, but there was about to be the Zaza Pachulia sighting of all Zaza Pachulia sightings. The man who can claim both Georgias didn’t headbutt anybody, but he came in off the bench and scored nine points in the second quarter as ATL closed to within six at the half. Most of his points were scored on layups/dunks/FTs set up by his teammates, but hey, Zaza Pachulia had a nine-point quarter! Give it up for him!
Meanwhile, the Bulls were slumping. They only managed four buckets in the second, and missed four of their first five shots in the third. Jeff Teague then came alive and scored 11 of ATL’s next 16 points, making it 58-61 CHI with five minutes to go. ATL scored the game’s next three buckets and took a brief 64-63 lead, but trailed by one when the quarter wrapped up. So, Derrick Rose uncharacteristically failed to carry the Bulls to victory down the stretch in game four… did you really think the MVP was going to let down twice in a row? That damn sure doesn’t sound like the D-Rose I’ve watched all season long.
The Rose I’ve come to expect would be the one that showed up for the fourth quarter of this one. Derrick came out and immediately drove to the hole for a layup, then made a beautiful feed to Luol Deng for an easy bucket, and another nice dish to Taj Gibson for a three-point play. This three-point play apparently lit a fire under Gibson’s ass, because he entered beast-mode for the duration of the contest, scoring eight points on perfect 4-4 shooting which included tough layups, hooks, and jumpers. Said Rose: “Taj is a good player. I think he really doesn’t know how good he is.”
Maybe his 11 fourth-quarter points on 5-5 will help him realize it. As for D-Rose, he also dropped 11 in the final period, which he basically dominated. Jeff Teague was really good in this game (21 on 8-11), as he has been all series, but Rose was able to out-clutch him this time. Teague was unable to put the clamps on Rose down the stretch, and he finished up with 33 points and nine dimes. Just D-Rose bein’ D-Rose… his game-four down-the-stretch dud was certainly the exception, not the rule.
I felt that Teague did show his immaturity a little bit on one play with about four minutes to go in the fourth. He swatted the ball away from Rose out on the perimeter, and Rose got away with a bit of a shove in order to maintain possession of the ball. Teague spent the rest of the possession glaring at the ref, and as Rose was setting up to break him down he never got back into a serious defensive stance… and that resulted in an easy two for Rose/the Bulls, which made it a 10-point game. Teague was fouled on the play, but it wasn’t the type of contact that is going to be called on the league MVP late in a close game. I hope someone showed Jeff the tape of the play so he can take something away from it… hell, I wanted to jump into the TV and give him a speech on composure. He’s got so much talent, and so much potential… hopefully there’s someone down in ATL who can give him a little solid guidance so he can fully harnass that potential.
I guess that’s all I’ve got. Want a few more numbers? Atlanta shot 48 percent as a team, but made just 1 of 12 three-pointers. Chicago made 21 freethrows to ATL’s 14, and also maintained a slight edge in rebounding. The Bulls out-scored the Hawks just 50-42 in the paint, but it was Chicago who was scoring all of their paint points late. Derrick Rose was unstoppable in the fourth, creating layups for both himself and his teammates. ATL essentially became a jump-shooting team down the stretch… I don’t think they got a single look at the rim in the final six minutes. Luol Deng had a really good game with 23 points and a few boards/assists. He was one of the only two Bulls to score in the fourth not named Derrick or Taj.
Oh, and Josh Smith/Carlos Boozer had a little beef, but apparently they’re both lovers, not fighters…
Yeah, neither of ‘em really wanted it. It’s pretty clear that they had no intention of throwing down as they waited for teammates to show up and hold them back to make it look as if they were actually going to do something. Gotta love that fugazi athlete toughness!
