Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott started for the Hawks in Thursday’s exhibition against the Bulls and nearly delivered a victory.
They were done in when Jimmy Butler hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Bulls an 85-84 win over the Hawks in Chicago.
Schroder hit a driving layup with 1.5 seconds left that gave the Hawks a two-point lead, 84-82. It was short-lived. The Bulls played three starters for the fourth quarter, including Butler who had a game-high 29 points including 20 in the final period. The Bulls also used Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah in the fourth quarter as they erased a 20-point deficit and outscored the Hawks’ young reserves 38-18 in the period.
Scott scored a team-high 15 points to lead the Hawks. Scott started at power forward and Schroder started at point guard as the Hawks (2-2) altered their lineup to rest Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague. Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford rounded out the lineup.
It was the second exhibition game for Horford, who is returning from a torn right pectoral muscle suffered in December. He finished with four points and six rebounds in 16 minutes. Horford made his preseason debut in Tuesday’s win at the Heat and had two points in 11 minutes.
Scott was 5 of 10 from the field, including 1 of 3 from 3-point range. The Hawks also got double-figure scoring from Schroder with 11 points and John Jenkins with 10 points. All 14 players who entered the game for the Hawks scored at least two points. Training camp invitee Dexter Pittman did not play along with Millsap and Teague.
Jenkins hit a pair of free throws with 1:21 left in the first quarter to give the Hawks a 16-15 lead they would not relinquish until the final shot. The Hawks’ advantage grew to as many as 20 points, 70-50, in the fourth quarter.
The Bulls (3-2) tied the game, 82-82, with 14 seconds left on three free throws from Butler just before Schroder’s layup.
The Hawks have three exhibition games remaining, including Saturday’s home game against the Pistons.
