Atlanta, Dec. 28 (BNA): DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, Zach Lavigne added 30, and the Chicago Bulls won their fourth game in a row by defeating the Atlanta Hawks 130-118 on Monday night.
Cam Reddish finished on 33 points, while Trae Young, who was cleared of health and safety protocols about 90 minutes before the tip, returned to the starting line-up and scored 29 goals for Atlanta in the first game of their home and home group with the Bulls, the AP reports.
DeRozan was 14 for 20 from the field. LaVine, in his second game after missing 15 days in protocols, went 11 to 21, including 5 of 8 from a 3-point range. Nikola Vucevic had his 14th double with 24 points and 17 rebounds.
Vucevic held in 3 with 3:15 left to make him a 10-point lead and essentially put the game out of hand after 15-foot DeRozan floated ahead at 126-116. Kobe White 3 from the left corner finished the match with 1:19 left.
Matt Thomas gave the Bulls 3 their biggest lead at 16 points in the final minutes of the third, and the Hawks didn’t really threaten the remainder of the road, although two 3s goals by Reddish twice cut them to five points early in the fourth. Reddish buried 3 from the left flank to make it 108-104 before Vucevic fired 3 seconds in a row to push the lead to seven.
Young, who is ranked fourth in the NBA with an average of 27.3 scoring and third with 9.3 assists per game, returned two negative Tests to be eligible for a comeback. He has missed his last three games after testing positive for COVID-19, and the Hawks have gone 1-2 without him.
The Bulls improved to 21-10, second best in the Eastern Conference. Today they started 10 games over .500 for the first time since January 2016.
The Falcons started the day with a draw at 10th in the East and dropped to 15-18, losing 8th in a row at home.
White’s straight 3 gave the Bulls their first double-digit lead with 9:10 to go in third. Vucevich’s throw against Clint Capella made it 80-70, and he called Atlanta a full time-out.
Young and Reddish combined for 23 points as Atlanta led 36-31 at the end of the first half. DeRozan scored 15 in the period on a 5-for-6 payout.
The Bulls returned from an eight-point deficit to equalize at 46-all on immersing Ayo Dosunmo midway two before Lavigne fired a free throw to give Chicago a 55-54 lead. LaVine 3 reached 58-56 and caused the Hawks to call in for a timeout.
The lead swelled to 11 on 3 from LaVine and DeRozan in the last minute before the break. LaVine beat the second-quarter whistle with a birdie and put the Bulls ahead 69-63 to enter third place.
Chicago went 9 for 18 outside of the arc, and DeRozan and LaVine together collected 44 points in the first inning.
Hint
The Bulls: Chicago had 22 assists and 10 turnovers. …acting coach Chris Fleming was happy to hear that Young had been cleared of a comeback. “You want to play against the best,” Fleming said. “This is how we get better.” …coach Billy Donovan missed his second game in a row in the protocols. “He had some mild symptoms at first,” Fleming said. “It looks like it now.” …minutes leader Lonzo Ball, Tony Bradley and Alfonzo McKinney are in the protocols. … G Alex Caruso (left hamstring strain) and F Derrick Jones Jr. were sidelined. (left hamstring strain) too.
Hawks: Reddish went 8 for 12 in 3s. …Atlanta’s 12 players, including John Collins, striker Danilo Galinari, goalkeeper Kevin Huerter, goalkeeper Lou Williams, striker Timothy Lowu-Caparrot and reserve midfielder Onika Okongo, were not in the protocols. …the Hawks won the series with Chicago 3-0 last season.
next one
Bulls: Host Atlanta on Wednesday.
Hawks: In Chicago on Wednesday.