CHICAGO—For two days the Bulls stewed over the way the Hawks sliced through their defense in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Chicago defensive guru Tom Thibodeau was presented with his Coach of the Year award before that game and then Hawks made his unit look ordinary in a 103-95 defeat. The top-seeded Bulls faced the prospect of falling behind 2-0 in the series to the fifth-seeded Hawks without a better effort on Wednesday.
The Bulls cranked up their defense and clamped down on the Hawks for an 86-73 victory in Game 2 at the United Center.
“If they get going early, they are hard to slow down,” Thibodeau said. "I thought we had the right mindset and had a multiple effort mentality. We did a great job of finishing our defense tonight.”
The Hawks are hardly finished in the best-of-seven series after earning a split in Chicago. They will take home-court advantage back to Philips Arena for Game 3 on Friday.
But coach Larry Drew had hoped his team would learn from its first-round series against the Magic, when he thought the Hawks relaxed after winning Game 1 at Orlando. Instead they fell behind early to the Bulls and couldn't overcome a 14-point deficit with a late run.
The Hawks wilted in the face of Chicago's defensive pressure and their 52 percent shooting in Game 1 dipped to 34 on Wednesday. They might have overcome that if the Bulls hadn't mauled them for 58-39 advantage in rebounds.
“You have to expect pushing and grabbing under the basket,” Drew said. “That's playoff basketball. We didn't respond to it well and we let them have their way in there.”
Before the game NBA commissioner David Stern presented the league MVP award to Bulls guard Derrick Rose. The Hawks again made Rose work for scoring chances and he needed 27 shots to score his game-high 25 points.
But center Joakim Noah helped Chicago's front court dominate. He had 19 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals largely on the strength of his hustle.
“His play was terrific,” Drew said. “He played with high energy and multiple effort.”
Bulls forwards Luol Deng (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Carlos Boozer (11 rebounds) helped Noah scrap for rebounds and baskets. Atlanta's front court couldn't counter as Al Horford and Josh Smith combined to miss 19 of 26 field-goal attempts.
Guards Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford didn't lift the Hawks with late shot-making like they did in Game 1. Johnson scored 16 points after he had 34 in Game 1 and Crawford missed 8 of 10 shots and finished with 11 points compared to 22 in the series opener.
The Hawks trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and were down 75-61 with less than seven minutes left in the game . Their defense was good enough to prevent the Bulls from pulling away and they tried to rally late.
Atlanta got within 75-69 with less than five minutes to go and, after Rose made a jump shot, Atlanta's Jeff Teague answered with a score. But the Bulls scored the next six points, with two scores near the basket, and the Hawks faded with a turnover and three missed jump shots over their next four possessions.
“We're not going to hang our heads after this game,” Drew said. “We'll look at this game and learn from it. We're going home with our heads up.”
The Hawks shot just 33 percent in the first half and it wasn't because they launched jumpers. They had seven missed shots from five feet or closer to the basket, including six layup attempts.
Smith, Crawford and Marvin Williams combined to shoot 3 for 20 from the field in the first half. Chicago also had a 29-19 rebounding edge while scoring 12 second-chance points.
Officials generally let contact around the basket go without whistles and the Hawks couldn't muscle in baskets.
“That's the way it is with playoff basketball,” Horford said. “It's going to be intense; it's going to be contact. You have to embrace that. You can't shy away from that and, at times, I think we shied away from that.”
Teague was among the bright spots for the Hawks. He had another strong performance while starting in place of injured point guard Kirk Hinrich.
After playing just nine minutes against Orlando, Teague was key to Atlanta's victory over the Bulls in Game 1. He scored a team-high 21 points on Wednesday and led the effort to slow Rose.
“It's the playoffs and you need to go out there and be confident,” Teague said.
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