The Atlanta Hawks were in at home against the Chicago Bulls on Monday evening. Both teams may have seen this as just a regular season game, but for standings purposes it was bound to be competitive.
A win for the Bulls would mean they separate themselves further in the standings from the Hawks, but a win for Atlanta would help them creep up higher in the standings.
Jalen Johnson popped off the game for the Hawks with this dunk.
Jalen on the break is a WAGON pic.twitter.com/Wdy2CgbMBz
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
The Hawks pulled away with a 10-point lead as the first quarter progressed and led by as much as 13. Bogdan Bogdanovic did his usual, knocking down back-to-back three points in the quarter to increase the Hawks lead.
Back-to-back Bogi Buckets with the QUICKNESS pic.twitter.com/YlavAibyht
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
The Bulls made a slight run to cut their deficit to seven points and went into the second quarter trailing 33-26. The Bulls didn’t stop their run from there and continued to put pressure on the Hawks, cutting their deficit down to two points early in the quarter.
De’Andre Hunter got into the fun in the second quarter, knocking down back-to-back threes, including an and-one. With that sequence, the Hawks were back up by double digits.
Dre just scored 7 points in 35 seconds pic.twitter.com/rrKTGYDeqR
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
Just like the first quarter, the Bulls went on a run down the stretch, but this time they were able to grab the lead. To go into halftime, the Hawks trailed 60-59. Going into the third quarter, it was a back-and-forth contest between both teams, with the Bulls having a slight advantage.
Hunter continued his strong play off the bench, scoring another ‘and-1’ — but this one coming from inside the paint.
Dre hit another 3 then connects on another and-1
He’s up to 19 tonight pic.twitter.com/5xtGCtD2eQ
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
Onyeka Okongwu scored over 10 points in this game, making it nine straight games of him doing so.
Big O reaches the 10-point mark for the 9th game in a row, the longest streak of his career pic.twitter.com/QzXIdP3nN4
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
The Hawks trailed for most of the third quarter and went into the fourth trailing 97-92. Bogdanovic started playing heroics in the fourth, knocking down shot after shot to keep the Hawks in the game.
BOGI SURGING pic.twitter.com/Uv50MobOQy
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2024
Down the stretch, the Bulls hit down some shots to extend their lead to double digits. The Hawks tried to make a run to comeback, but it was too late.
Bogdanovic finished with 28 points, Hunter finished with 23 points, and Young finished with 19 points and 14 assists.
The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday evening against the Charlotte Hornets.