The good news is that Josh Smith may have finally figured out that in order for the Atlanta Hawks to win this one, he's going to have to be active at the bucket. The bad news is that he's missing those shots, too.
Derrick Rose has 18 points and Joakim Noah added 14 to post the Chicago Bulls to a 65-58 lead over the Hawks through three quarters in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup at the United Center on Wednesday.
Luol Deng netted 10 and Carlos Boozer and Keith Bogans have six each for Chicago, which is shooting just 38-percent (24-for-63) from the field.
Fortunately, for the Bulls, the Hawks are even worse.
Atlanta is connecting on just 33-percent of their shots (14-for-43) and is having all sorts of trouble establishing a post game.
Although the Hawks showed some signs of life late in the third frame, posting an 8-2 run behind four inside points by Josh Smith, who finally went to the bucket with authority in the third.
Nevertheless, the Atlanta power forward is just 3-for-11 from the field in this one and has just nine points.
Joe Johnson leads the Hawks with 16 points and Jeff Teague has 15 for Atlanta's basketball team.
The Hawks need to continue pounding the paint in order to chip away at the Chicago lead. While it may not be an easy task, it's something that can be done on an off-shooting night for both teams.