It took a dramatic finish, but the Chicago Bulls finished of a stunning 76-74 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. After trailing by as much as 19 points in the third quarter, the Bulls' offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter and key missed free throws by Atlanta down the stretch allowed Chicago to pull off the comeback.
After three quarters at the United Center, the Bulls trailed 56-42 and looked to be on their way to a second defeat on the season. But Chicago's offense finally burst into action in a 34-point fourth quarter performance that nearly matched the team's point total in the first three quarters combined.
Derrick Rose was positively unreal, making numerous key three-point shots and layups down the stretch to allow the Bulls to come back after trailing for most of the game. Chicago's star point guard finished the game with 30 points and 7 assists, but his impact on the team's play in the fourth quarter was truly the kind of stuff that makes an MVP.
But as much as the Bulls played well to come back and win the game, the Hawks struggled down the stretch to lose the game. While Atlanta struggled to get good shots for essentially the entire game, it was poor free throw shooting that ultimately allowed the Bulls to get back into the game. The Hawks made just 14 of 25 attempts from the charity stripe, and missed numerous key opportunities in the game's final minutes.
It's probably not the kind of victory that Tom Thibodeau and the rest of team envisioned at the beginning of the night, but the Bulls will take it to bump their record to 5-1 on the season. The Hawks were coming off an impressive victory over the Miami Heat before faltering late on Tuesday, but they're still standing strong at 4-2 so far.
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