CHICAGO -- Tired of watching his team's offense stall as players settled for long jump shots, Hawks coach Larry Drew called for his players to make more plays at the basket Friday night against the Bulls.
Joe Johnson wasn't so sure about that.
“Maybe,” the Hawks' All-Star guard said before the game. “But you look at a jump-shooting team -- we are a jump-shooting team. If shots are falling then, great, we are rolling. But one through five, we all are jump shooters. That’s pretty much what it is."
And that's how it went for the Hawks at Chicago. They played their best when they made jump shots, but couldn't get anything else to work when they didn't and lost 94-76 at the United Center.
The Hawks lost their fourth consecutive game, matching their longest losing streak of the season from back in November. The Hawks are 4-10 since Feb. 8 and dropped to 10-18 in games against opponents with winning records.
The Hawks led 50-48 after scoring 30 points in the second quarter behind hot shooting. They faltered in the third quarter as their offensive deficiencies and an inability to slow Bulls point guard Derrick Rose took their toll. The Hawks scored 10 points in the quarter and had five turnovers and four field goals.
As the Hawks struggled to score, Rose, a candidate for NBA MVP, constantly darted into the lane for scores and free throws while scoring 18 of his 34 points.
The Hawks missed 11 of 15 shots in the third quarter. They took only two shots in the paint and attempted only two free throws. They trailed 72-60 to start the fourth quarter and never cut the lead to less than 11 points from there.
"If we are making shots, then we are probably unstoppable," Johnson said. "But when we are not making shots, those are the games we have to grind out.”
The Hawks did that in the first meeting against the Bulls. They used rugged defense and Al Horford's 31 points to come from 19 points down to win 83-80 at Philips Arena on March 2.
On Friday, the Bulls pounded the Hawks for a 50-28 rebounding advantage and scored 74 points over the final three quarters. Chicago won its fifth consecutive game and improved to 12-2 since Feb. 9.
The Hawks had success running the fast break in a loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. They managed only seven fast-break points against the Bulls and had mixed results in their attempts to score closer to the basket, as Drew had hoped.
“First, establish ourselves in the low post,” Drew said before the game. “If the ball does come on the kick out, everything doesn’t have to be a [3-point attempt]. We are sitting outside, sitting at that 3-point line, [and] we can move in closer. Instead of turning it into a 3, turn it into an 18- to 20-footer.
"Our drive-and-kick game has to be up to par, force them to not just defend a shot on the closeout, but teams have to have a fear about closing out and putting the ball on the floor.”
Johnson started the game trying to drive, but was stripped of the ball on a few tries. He also couldn't get his floater or jump hooks to fall while missing his first four shots and five of six.
Josh Smith had a few nice spin moves into the lane, but couldn't finish consistently. Smith kept taking it to the Bulls, though, and earned five free-throw attempts in the first half and made four.
All of that changed in the third quarter, when the jump-shooting Hawks couldn't score and couldn't stop Rose.
Power forward Carlos Boozer (ankle) sat out for the Bulls, but they are accustomed to playing shorthanded. Boozer has missed 16 games and starting center Joakim Noah has missed 30 this season because of injuries.
With Boozer out, Chicago still had capable front-line players in Noah, Kurt Thomas, Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik. They combined for 31 rebounds.
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