Jan. 10--The Chicago Bulls dropped to 22-13 with their 120-105 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday at Philips Arena. Here are three observations.
Slow starts are a problem
During their six-game winning streak, the Bulls' high-octane offense helped mask some issues -- most notably some recent slow starts. The Bulls have a tendency to come out flat in the first quarter and it was more of the same against the Hawks. Only this time, the Bulls couldn't overcome it as the Hawks seemed to win nearly every 50-50 battle for the ball and dropped 30 points in the first quarter. The trend continued in the second when the Hawks kept coming and scored 34 as the Bulls couldn't keep a handle on the ball. The result: A 19-point deficit.
"The way we've been coming out has been not up to par," Jimmy Butler said. "Not guarding, not making shots. Luckily, we've been able to get ourselves back in a few of these last games but this one it wasn't the case."
Added Derrick Rose, who was effective cutting to the basket but too often got in deep and then left his feet before attempting a pass resulting in a game-high six turnovers: "If you're scoring the ball good it's kind of an easy game but you have to find ways to win these games when our shot isn't falling at the beginning."
One more from coach Fred Hoiberg: "For whatever reason, we didn't have it coming out of the gate. Our third-quarter energy was great but you have to find a way to bring that out of the chute. We're giving up 30 pretty regularly now in the first quarter and we have to find a way to stop that. All the energy and hustle plays they beat us in the first half."
A defensive adjustment is needed
The Hawks thrived in the paint, outscoring the Bulls 66-40. The Bulls didn't have an answer for the Hawks' pick-and-roll, which resulted in veteran Al Horford scoring 33 points.
"They were getting whatever they wanted out there," Hoiberg said.
Getting Joakim Noah back from injury should help the interior defense. He's adept at filling passing lanes. If Noah makes it through Sunday's workouts without aggravating the shoulder injury that has caused him to miss the last nine games, that will be a bonus defensively.
There are no easy games
The Bulls' six-game winning streak that has moved them into second place in the Eastern Conference served notice to opponents -- and that can be a bad thing.
"It's going to test our character knowing that that team really had their eyes set on us from the way they jumped out on us," Taj Gibson said. "Like Coach said, we have a bulls-eye on our back. People are starting to see us come around so we just have to adjust and make the right kind of plays and make the right kind of hustle plays. I think we'll be fine."
Gibson said the Bulls will focus more on the third-quarter comeback they staged to pull within two points of the Hawks than falling behind 19 and not being able to recover.
"Just knowing the fact that we just came from having a good streak where before that everybody was talking about how tough we'd been having it and there was so much going on," he said. "We're in a good space right now as a team and guys believe in each other and the system."
