Derrick Rose is having all sort of problems scoring for the Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, for the Atlanta Hawks, Luol Deng is imposing his will on Atlanta's defense.
Luol Deng has a game-leading 17 points and Kurt Thomas has six, but the Hawks are still clinging to a 51-50 lead over the Bulls through two quarters.
Derrick Rose is having a terrible shooting night, posting just five points on 2-for-10 shooting for the field for Chicago, which shot 43-percent (18-for-42) in the first 24 minutes.
The Hawks lead by as many as 11 in this one before the Bulls rallied late in the frame, posting a 12-5 run to end the frame. While Atlanta has played well for a lot of this one, they are on edge at times and have had some difficulties at both defending the perimeter and defending the paint.
The result has been too many easy buckets for Chicago, which is back in the game.
Joe Johnson has 13 points and Jamal Crawford nine for Atlanta, which is playing pretty well without Kirk Hinrich.
Jeff Teague has done a good job fronting Rose, who is expected to be named the league's MVP. He also has six points. Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Jason Collins have five each for an Atlanta team that shot 56-percent (22-for-39) from the field.
Al Horford netted four points, but is in foul trouble. After sitting a bit after picking up a pair of fouls early, coach Larry Drew let him back into the game late in the second quarter. But he picked up foul No. 3 and was benched for the remainder of the frame.