Third-quarter drought dooms Hawks
Basketball Betting Lines
02/21/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta went through the definition of futile in the third quarter, ending the period without a field goal, as the Chicago Bulls widened a halftime edge and rolled to a 106-81 rout of the Hawks at the United Center.
Atlanta made eight free throws during the period, not making a field goal for 14:06 spanning three periods. Chicago outscored the Hawks 28-8 in the decisive period, and opened a 76-51 lead at the stanza's conclusion.
"In the third quarter, we couldn't make a shot," Hawks head coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought we had good looks, but they got on a nice roll and we continued to not make shots."
The Bulls have owned the Hawks of late, winning their 10th straight in the series. Atlanta's last victory occurred on April 9, 2004 at the United Center, but a Chicago victory in the last season meeting would result in three straight season sweeps.
Chris Duhon scored a game-high 17 points with seven assists, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng added 16 points apiece and Malik Allen donated 12 points for Chicago, which snapped a brief two-game losing streak.
Josh Childress scored 16 points with seven boards and Marvin Williams added 12 points with six rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost two of three.
Atlanta was positioned nicely entering the third quarter, trailing just 48-43, before going the entire period without a basket from the floor. The Hawks finished the stanza 0-for-16 from the field.
"We were good (on defense) and they just missed some shots," said Chicago head coach Scott Skiles. "When they had opportunities, we fouled them and they weren't able to get the shot off."
P.J. Brown's free throws capped 10 in a row out of the halftime gates for a 58-43 edge, then a Ben Wallace tip-in made the score 70-47 with 2:15 on the clock.
The Bulls cruised to victory from there.
Chicago led 26-19 after one quarter before Atlanta cut into the deficit. It drew within two points multiple times in the second quarter, the last coming at 34-32 on Childress' jumper with 6:29 remaining.
Game Notes
Ben Gordon left the game with a left thigh bruise and could have returned if the game was close. Gordon finished with six points on 3-of-11 from the floor...Chicago improved to 21-7 at home this season, while Atlanta fell to 12-17 on the road...The Bulls held a 51-40 edge on the glass.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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