Hawks' streak ends at six in Chicago

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CHICAGO -- This was a change.

At the end of the third quarter, the Hawks starters weren't sitting on the bench, cheering on the backups.

After winning their past five games with such ease that the reserves played a heavy portion of the fourth quarter in those games, the Hawks finally found themselves in a tight fourth quarter and even in overtime.

Against a determined Chicago team, the Hawks fell 101-98 in overtime at the United Center.

A determined Bulls team brought down the Hawks, ending their winning streak at six games and dropping their record to 19-7. Chicago, which was run out of Philips Arena in a 35-point loss Dec. 9, recovered from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter.

"I thought down towards the end, we ran out of gas," guard Joe Johnson said, who scored a season-high 40 points in 48 minutes. "We got away from what got us the lead. I think we got a little complacent. They made their run and we never gained the momentum back."

Coupled with Orlando's Saturday night, the Hawks gave first place in the Southeast Division back to the Magic, by a half-game. Chicago is 10-15.

The Hawks play their next game Tuesday at Minnesota, part of a four-game road trip.

The Hawks played much of the game without forward and defensive catalyst Josh Smith, who missed nearly the entire third quarter after drawing his fourth foul early in the period.

Without Smith, the Hawks ran even with Chicago in the third quarter with 23 points for both teams. The Hawks had outscored the opposition in the third quarter in their previous 10 games, often using the period to put games away.

Smith's foul trouble "was big," center Al Horford said. "They hung right in there with us."

When Smith returned early in the fourth quarter, the Hawks took off again. They briefly gave up the lead on a Derrick Rose jumper that give the Bulls a 73-72 lead with 9:08 to play, but the Hawks went on a 16-6 tear to go up 88-79 lead with 4:12 to go when guard Mike Bibby drained two free throws. But the Bulls pulled even at 92 with less than a minute to play when Rose drove in transition on Smith. Johnson and Bulls forward Luol Deng both missed chances to win the game in regulation.

The Hawks were disappointed with how their winning streak ended.

"We dominated the whole game," Horford said. "We have to finish the game out."

"When you're up eight with about four minutes to go like we were, we just didn't manage the game at all down the stretch," coach Mike Woodson said. "We didn't make plays like they did."

Said forward Marvin Williams, "We definitely gave it away, I think."

Rose scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and six more in overtime for a career-high 32.

In overtime, the Hawks let chances slip away. They had the ball twice in the final 20 seconds but Johnson missed on both possessions, a drive and then a 3-pointer.

"I don't know" if fatigue was a factor in the misses, Johnson said. "I just didn't make the shots."

Those misses aside, after a 12-point game against Utah Friday night, Johnson scorched the Bulls.

Speculation places Johnson, whose free agency comes up next summer, as a possible target of the Bulls. Before the game, Chicago reporters queried him on the topic, but Johnson did not offer much, saying that he hadn't "thought about it for at least the past month or so."

Deliberately or not, Johnson left his card.

He had 20 points by halftime and 36 at the end of regulation. He scored 12 in the fourth quarter on 5 of 9 shooting. He finished with a season-high 40 points, making 16 of 32 shots.

"We had [Smith] in foul trouble a lot of the game," Johnson said. "I was just trying to be aggressive and trying to make plays."

The Hawks did not have the balance that they had throughout their winning streak. Aside from Johnson, no Hawk took more than 12 shots. The next leading scorer was Horford with 15 points. Smith was 2 for 12. Williams was 1 for 7.

"We stared looking to Joe too much," Woodson said. "He bailed us out the whole game. We just didn't have it then down the stretch. Josh and Marvin struggled tonight. They just didn't make their shots."