Smith's triple-double leads Hawks past Bulls
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| Bulls guard John Salmons loses control of the ball, and his footing, while defended by Atlanta Hawks forward Maurice Evans on Friday night in Atlanta. (John Amis / AP) |
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ATLANTA – The assist Josh Smith needed for his triple-double set up the basket the Atlanta Hawks needed to finally pull away from the Bulls.
Smith and Joe Johnson each scored 18 points, and the Hawks recovered in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulls, 91-81, on Friday night.
Smith also had 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double as the Hawks regrouped after trailing by six to open the final quarter.
He had a double-double in points and rebounds when his offensive rebound and pass set up a three-pointer by Mike Bibby with 2:13 remaining for his 10th assist, matching his career high.
Bibby’s basket gave the Hawks an 86-78 lead, matching their biggest advantage since the second quarter.
“It was big,” Smith said. “It feels even better that we got the win.”
The Hawks had two 8-0 runs and outscored the Bulls 27-11 in the fourth.
Luol Deng had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Derrick Rose scored 19 points for the Bulls, who lost their third in a row.
The Bulls led,70-64, entering the fourth.
“We wasted, I thought, a pretty good effort,” said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.
“Too many [Hawks] rebounds. Too many second shots. We hung in there. But in the fourth quarter they showed why they’re one of the better teams.”
Del Negro said the Hawks “knocked us back on our heels a little bit” by opening the final quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by Horford’s jam.
“They just caught on fire,” said Rose. “We had them. They were just making some tough shots.”
The Hawks crushed the Bulls, 118-83, on Dec. 9 in Atlanta in the Bulls’ most lopsided loss of the season, but the rematch was no runaway.
Atlanta ended the Bulls’ recent trend of road wins against teams with winning records.
The Bulls closed a seven-game road trip from Jan. 18-29 with five victories in a row against teams with winning records.
The Hawks improved to 21-5 at Philips Arena with their fifth consecutive home win.
The Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich had 13 points and a season-high nine rebounds.
Bulls center Joakim Noah was in Chicago receiving treatment for plantar fasciiitis, a painful irritation and swelling of the bottom of the heel. He is not expected to return to action until after the All-Star break. Brad Miller was the fill-in starter and had 10 points, all in the first half.
