2011 NBA Playoffs: 10 Reasons Hawks Beat Bulls in Game 4
The Bulls dropped Game 4, Atlanta played with energy and their crowd made it sound like a Bulls road game. The defensive intensity favored Atlanta and surprisingly, so did the shot selection. The Bulls are still in control of home court, but Game 5 is a must win now, instead of just the first shot at a closeout. Here is what produced a 2-2 tie in this series.
1. The Defensive Adjustments Atlanta Made to Contain Derrick Rose
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The traps and defensive rotation on Rose was excellent, but more than anything, Rose's teammates did not knock down open looks. Derrick in turn, tried to do too much on certain possessions and this led to turnovers and too many high difficulty shots.
Kyle Korver, Luol Deng and Keith Bogans were a combined seven of 24 from the field and two for 13 from beyond the arc. Rose and the Bulls depend on their outside shooting to keep the spacing on the floor. When they don't make shots, the defense collapses, creating games like Game 4.
Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford
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Joe Johnson had another amazing shooting night, which I contend, he has to have for the Hawks to have a chance. Crawford made a few moderately big shots, but he was mostly held under control. The game plan against Johnson and Crawford is working: Joe was hot and Crawford was normal. Other areas of the defenses must tighten up to improve on Game 4's performance.
3. Boozer Finally Had a Good Game Offensively.
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The game Bulls fans have been waiting on from Boozer happened in Game 4, but the outcome wasn't what they wanted. One issue was that Boozer took one shot in the fourth quarter. The Bulls offense was stagnant and ragged for long stretches in the fourth period and Boozer didn't get any touches.
The Bulls spent a lot of time trying to get an ineffective Kyle Korver jump shots, which he wasn't knocking down.
4. Josh Smith Had a Good Game.
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Josh Smith played smarter in Game 4. He attacked the basket and played with energy. There were some mind boggling decisions made on the part of some Bulls defenders. For example, in the fourth quarter, game tied, Smith gets the ball baseline, 15 feet out. Instead of standing pat, two to three feet off of Smith, giving him the jump shot. The slower footed Boozer tries to close out on Smith. J-Smoove puts the ball on the floor blows past him for the foul.
The Bulls have to give him the jumper. He hasn't made it all series and will still take it, if you give it to him. The Bulls don't have anybody that can guard him if he puts it on the floor, maybe Noah. The Bulls don't want to switch their defensive assignments because Noah had played Horford well this series.
The Bulls interior defense was horrible in Game 4 and they can't repeat this performance and win. Josh was a less than stellar eight for 22 from the field, but his energy and offensive rebounds were big.
5. Paging Marvin Williams...
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Marvin has probably permanently lost his starting spot. He's close to losing his spot in the rotation. He was zero for five from the field and had almost no positive effect on the game.
The Hawks didn't get much from Jason Collins either, who took Marvin's place in the starting lineup. He did have four points and was a big body to clog the middle. Collins drew a charge from Keith Bogans in the first half.
6. Horford Gets the Best of Noah for the First Time This Series
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Horford bulled his way in against Noah on a few occasions and generally used his strength advantage to best Noah in Game 4. His pay was a big deciding factor in Game 4 as Atlanta pounded the Bulls for 56 points in the paint.
This is an unheard of amount against the Bulls defense normally. Thibodeau will likely stress the importance of protecting the basket at all cost as there were too many defensive breakdowns.
7. Drew Wins the Coaching Matchup
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Larry Drew was able to impress upon Josh Smith the importance of taking the ball to the basket. For this alone, he deserves a medal. The Bulls were unable to make the defensive adjustments to stop the easy baskets from Atlanta. While the Hawks were able to harass and collapse on the league's MVP and force him into a horrible 12 for 32 shooting night.
8. No Atlanta Bench Production
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The Hawks bench scored only 17 points in Game 4. Only 5, if you take Crawford's 12 out of the picture. The good thing for Atlanta is that the Bulls reserves could only muster up 14 points.
One of the Bulls biggest advantages over Atlanta is team depth. That depth was not evident in Game 4 and most of that can be attributed to Korver's one for eight shooting night. Korver is a terrible defender so when he's not shooting well, he is a liability. He hurt the Bulls in every way in Game 4.
9. Horford Brings Some Bang to Game 4
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Horford and Jason Collins brought some physical play to the game early. Horford continued throughout; it was nothing chippy or dirty, but it was effective as he and the Hawks had their best game in the paint of the series. Boozer, though effective, did most of his damage with outside shots. The Hawks outscored the Bulls 56-40 in the paint.
10. The Future for Both Teams
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I had previously stated that if the Hawks lost Game 4, the series was over. Well, the future will have to wait, because the Hawks have renewed confidence and this is a real series now. This was the Bulls opportunity to keep this as a fairly routine playoff experience. Now the best they can hope for is a Game 6 closeout and they will have to play well to do that. If you are the Bulls, you don't want a Game 7, even though it would be in Chicago. The Hawks have shooters that have proven they can be great-defense proof. One game scenarios are scariest for the favorites.
