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…

The Chicago Bulls have beaten the Indian Pacers to close out round one of the NBA Playoffs and they can thank Pacers head coach Frank Vogel for his comments Tuesday morning.

Even though the Bulls led the series at 3-1, they weren’t playing their best basketball and could’ve easily been down 3-1 in the series.

Game 5 presented us the Bulls team we witnessed in the regular season; an intense, hard-nosed, defensive-minded, united team.

Vogel stated:

                “We feel like if we win tonight, we’ll win this series.”

Those words awakened the Bulls in Game 5, blowing out the Pacers 116-89. The Bulls won their first series since 2007.

Derrick Rose, who suffered a left ankle sprain in Game 4, went through treatments and sucked it up to start the game. Rose put up 25 points and six assists. Keith Bogans went five-for-seven from downtown, scoring 15 points. The Bulls shot 45% behind the arc (14-31).

The Bulls started this game with a lot of energy and a well-established offense, something they’ve lacked in this series. Within the first 10 seconds after the Bulls won the tip, Luol Deng found Bogans for a three to start a 14-2 run in the first three minutes. Deng finished with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points and six rebounds. Tyler Hansbrough chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulls played a lot more physical in Game 5, which resulted in four players in foul trouble early on. Chicago’s hard-nosed play also resulted in a Pacers public display of frustration. Pacers’ forward Josh McRoberts and Bulls center Joakim Noah were getting physical inside the paint. This included McRoberts showing his frustration by elbowing and shoving Noah, collecting two type two flagrant fouls which got him tossed out of the game.

After trailing 82-65, the Pacers showed their frustration

The Bulls defense forced the Pacers to 21 turnovers, while they only had 14 and held them to 39% shooting on the floor.

In attendance tonight were Joakim Noah’s grandfather and sister, his game was definitely loud due to family presence. He scored 14 points, grabbed eight boards, dished out three assists and blocked four shots.

The Bulls Bench Mob, almost non-existent in the series, out-scored the Pacers bench 36-30. Korver scored 13 points, CJ Watson dished out seven assists, six in the fourth quarter. Taj Gibson added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Carlos Boozer continued struggling in this series, talling two points and five rebounds. He was benched with 6:17 remaining in the third and did not return. Boozer mentioned that he felt his right big toe pop early in the second quarter. No results returned on his condition yet.

Bulls Extras: Whoever wins the series between the Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks will face the Chicago Bulls in the second round…The Bulls out-scored the Pacers in the third quarter 30-19…Dish alert: Bulls posted 27 assists on the night while Indiana only had 14.