Hawks coach Larry Drew ripped into his Atlanta Hawks team at the break, telling his club that they were taking the same poor shots that got them into trouble in many of their losses.The Hawks still haven't gotten the memo and they are down big at the break.
Derrick Rose has 16 points and Joakim Noah added 12 to post the Chicago Bulls to a 48-37 edge over the Hawks at the break.
Jeff Teague has 12 points and Jamal Crawford eight for Atlanta, which shot just 33-percent (14-for-43) from the field in the first quarter.
Atlanta's woes can simply be traced to this: they are taking terrible shots, not controlling the boards and losing the transition battle. Yes, some credit should be given to Chicago, which is keying in on Joe Johnson, but instead of taking the ball and going to the hoop with it off of a Johnson double-team, Hawks, such as Josh Smith are jacking up ill-advised jumpers.
That's what the losing Hawks team does and that's why the Hawks are doing exactly that in this one.
Joe Johnson has seven points and Al Horford added four for Atlanta. Every other Atlanta player has two points or less.
Chicago is getting it done despite connecting on just 41-percent (17-for-42) from the field because they are 11-for-11 from the free throw line and hold a 29-19 edge on the glass.
Atlanta's going to have to make adjustments and play smart basketball if they are to climb back into this one. This can be done, but it won't be easy against a Bulls team that seems to have made the right adjustments after their eight-point Game 1 setback.