Things are getting a bit chippy in Game 5 at the United Center. Yep, it's definitely looking like there's going to be a very good finish in this one.
Derrick Rose has 22 points and Luol Deng 21 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a slim 69-68 edge over the Atlanta Hawks through three quarters in on Tuesday night in the Windy City.
Jeff Teague has 16 and Josh Smith has 14 for Atlanta, which roared back from a 15 point deficit in this one.
Unlike the other four games in this series, it's turning into a gritty defensive struggle late. There's a lot of contact and there are definitely some battles going on both on and off the court. And they almost came to blows.
Smith went to the rim and dunked the basketball to cut the Chicago lead to 61-60 with 4:07 left, but dangled on the rim a little too long for the liking of Carlos Boozer. For whatever reason, Boozer threw a forearm at J-Smoove and Smith retaliated with a shove. Both players were separated by their respective coaches before getting ejected.
They both will be playing with technical fouls, however.
This may be the Hawks' night. Atlanta took its first lead of the game on a 22-foot jumper by Smith with 1:45 left and even Zaza Pachulia is red-hot from the field, draining jumpers to keep Atlanta in this game.
Pachulia has 13 points of the bench, Joe Johnson 11 and Al Horford 10 for the Hawks, who are shooting 53-percent (29-for-55) from the field.
Carlos Boozer and Keith Bogans have 11 each for Chicago, which has just four points from its non-existent bench.
The Hawks will have to continue to excel on defense, keep sharing the basketball and take good shots if they want to win this game. They have 17 assists on 29 field goals through the first 36 minutes.