Wednesday night, the (12-18) Bulls came into the Philips Arena fresh off their win against the (16-16) Miami Heat. The Hawks were seeking their third consecutive win after beating the streaking Orlando Magic, Monday night. The Hawks were once again without Clint Capela who is still dealing with a strained calf (marking it as the third game out of the lineup). As for the Chicago Bulls they had many key inactives: Lonzo Ball, Goran Dragic, Javonte Green, and Derrick Jones Jr.
For the first half it seemed as if the Chicago Bulls would run away easily in this matchup. The Bulls had played smothering defense, holding the Hawks to 36.4% from field goal and 38.1% from three. As a result, the Bulls were able to amount to their largest lead of the night during this half at 18 points. Trae Young however, seemed to flourish with his matchup with his 28 points at the half (no other Hawk had scored in the double-digits yet). With Young’s energetic performance in the first half he was able to bring the Hawks within a 10 point lead heading into the third.
The second half was a different story for the Hawks as Young finally received some assistance from the rest of the squad. In the third quarter, Dejounte Murray had scored 9 of his 16 points which squandered the 10 point lead to as little as three heading into the final quarter. AJ Griffin and Bogdan Bogdanović erupted for 19 of the teams 31 points which ultimately allowed them to get their first lead of the night. Once the Hawks gained the lead, they were able to build upon it (amassing to an 8 point advantage).
The lead that the Hawks had built for themselves was short lived as the Bulls came back with a response of their own. DeMar Derozan and Zach Lavine combined for 16 points in the fourth in an effort to bring the Bulls back into the game. Derozan’s play down the stretch almost didn’t happen when a foul was called when guarding Young who was having yet another stellar performance. Billy Donovan then decided to use the coach’s challenge to prevent Derozan from possibly fouling out: The then referees overturned the original call upon review. To say the least the fourth quarter was back and forth as the momentum kept shifting between both squads. The game had a thrilling conclusion: Back to back jumpers from Lavine to regain the lead then followed up by a lob from Young to Onyeka Okongwu to tie it all up. The final sequence saw Derozan attempt the game winning shot from the baseline in which he airballed, however Ayo Dosunmu clinched the game with his put back at the buzzer (winning 110-108.)
The Bulls big three had played excellently as DeMar Derozan led the way with 28 points, Zach LaVine with 22 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 20.
The Hawks had Trae Young lead the way in scoringwith another 30 point game (34 points), Dejounte Murray with 15 points and 10 assists, and Onyeka Okongwu with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
What’s Next?
The Hawks (16-16) will continue on with their 4 game homestand, looking to get back into the win column as the (8-26) Detroit Pistons come into town Friday night. The Pistons are currently on a 4 game losing streak and on the season they are averaging 111.3 points per game while giving up 118.2. It would be very remiss to not mention that another Trae Young masterpiece is to be expected against a struggling Pistons team.
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