A historic fourth.
The Atlanta Hawks faced off against the Chicago Bulls as they play the first of three games in four nights. The Bulls came into the game winning five of the last six games played between the two. On the other side, the Hawks have won six of their last 10 games.
The Hawks ended a three-game streak of 20 or more turnovers as they only committed 14 turnovers in the game. The Bulls’ Jevon Carter had a great first quarter for the Bulls as he connected on six three-pointers. Carter finished the quarter with 19 points as he almost outscored the Hawks single-handedly.
Nikola Vucevic and Carter scored 25 of 28 points in the first quarter for the Bulls. The Hawks shot under 35% from the field in the opening quarter as the Bulls shot 55.6%. The Bulls led at the end of the quarter 33-21.
The Hawks battled back as they made 32-of-34 free throws in the game. The Hawks’ Big Three of Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and De’Andre Hunter were good as they kept the game close throughout the night.
The Hawks have three players averaging 19 points per game or more on the season with Trae Young averaging 21.8, De’Andre Hunter 20.1 and Jalen Johnson 19.4. Young was clutch for the Hawks the second half as he ended the game with 27 points and 13 assists. Hunter leads the league in bench scoring while also averaging over 22 points per game in the month of December. Hunter finished this game with 25 points.
The Hawks did not do an excellent job of preventing the Bulls from making three-pointers as they came in the game ranked second in the league with 16 makes a game. They finished the game with 21 made 3-pointers. The Bulls took their foot off the brakes in the last quarter as they lost all momentum as the Hawks showed great grit in the game.
The fourth quarter proved to be the turning point in the game. The Hawks scored 50 points and committed zero turnovers in the quarter while allowing the Bulls to score 25 points. The Hawks made 60% of their shots while getting to the free throw line 17 times.
The Bulls entered the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead as they continued to make three pointers. They even made 10 threes in the quarter.
Johnson did a great job of keeping the Hawks close with 19 points and 11 rebounds going into the fourth. Johnson finished the game with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
The fourth started with the Nance scoring on the first possession and creating a turnover on the Bulls first possession. The Hawks came out with tons of energy in the quarter as they cut the lead to three with 3:16 left.
The Hawks went on a 23-2 run to tie the game at 126-126 as Young tied the game with a three. The Bulls didn’t have a single field goal during the Hawks run that lasted 3:41.
The sold-out crowd was electric during the run as they pushed the Hawks to another level. The Hawks dominated the quarter as they overcame a 21-point deficit to win the game. The Hawks used their shooting to go along with clutch baskets to steal the win and defeat the Bulls 141-133.
Their next game will be a matchup with the Miami Heat on Saturday afternoon.