The Chicago Bulls dropped Game Four in Atlanta 100-88 Sunday night to even up the series at two apiece.  A few things factored into 12-point loss: defense, could be the main one.

The defense wasn’t as tight and that led to the Hawks shooting 13-24 in the first quarter.

The Bulls allowed the Hawks to shoot 49.4% on the floor, while five players went into double figures. The Bulls have also been out-rebounding the Hawks 10-plus, but managed to out-rebound Atlanta 37-36 Sunday night.

Meanwhile, the Bulls weren’t so hot on offense; they actually maintained a lead shooting 39% but finished the night at 41%. The Bulls were three-for-16 from downtown (18.8%) while the Bench Mob was outscored again 17-15, including a 0-5 performance behind the arc from sharp-shooter Kyle Korver.

Derrick Rose led the way with 34 points, on a 12-for-32 shooting, and 10 assists, but turned the ball over three times (all in the fourth quarter). Carlos Boozer, who is nursing two torn ligaments in his big toe, posted 18 point and six rebounds.

Another key stat for the Bulls was the “Cleanup Crew” (which I dubbed for the big men on the Bulls, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, with cameo appearances by Boozer, Luol Deng and Omer Asik, who grab the offensive boards and normally convert them into valuable points). Noah finished with 11 rebounds (four offensive) and six points, Gibson had no rebounds in 13 minutes and nine points and four blocks. Omer Asik earned some early playing time and had eight rebounds (three offensive), two blocks and three points.

Deng chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

The final two and a half minutes of the game played a big part in the loss as well. Atlanta led 90-84, Rose put up a three as Jamal Crawford clearly made body contact, the ref, however, called jump ball. Crawford made no contact with the ball once-so-ever. The call stood, the Hawks (Jeff Teague) gained possession and Josh Smith found Al Horford for the wide open dunk inside extending the Hawk’s lead to eight with 1:26 remaining. If Rose were to make three free throws instead, the momentum could’ve gone the other way. However, the Bulls’ defense suffered tonight, especially inside the paint, where the Hawks out-scored the Bulls 56-40.

Bennett Salvatore admitted his mistake on the whistle after he reviewed the play after the game:

“I blew my whistle and didn’t mean to. I didn’t think it was a foul. Having watched the replay after the game, it was a foul and I should have called it. I made a mistake. I was wrong.”

Joe Johnson led the way for the Hawks with 24 points (nine-for-14 FG, three-for-five 3PT) and five assists. Smith had 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in 44 minutes. Horford chipped in 20 points and five rebounds and Crawford came off the bench with 12 points.

Teague had 12 points on the night, going six-for-12, has been shooting 52% in this series after just playing nine minutes total in the first round against Orlando.

Bulls Extras: The Bulls will return home to the United Center for Game Five at 7pm…