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The Chicago Bulls usually bounce back after a loss, but nobody saw the defensive beat down they delivered to the Atlanta Hawks coming. And when I say beat down, I’m being generous. The Bulls straight up embarrassed the Hawks tonight at the United Center.
After 2 quarters, the Bulls led the Hawks 48-20, and no that is not a typo. 48-20. The Bulls set a franchise record for points allowed in a half, and the Hawks set all types of franchise records, it’s just not the ones you would like to set. 20 points in the 1st half was a franchise low for the Hawks, the current record before that was 25. The Hawks also scored 5 points in the 2nd quarter….5 total points. That’s a season-low in the NBA. Bulls continued the rout in the second half, and beat the Hawks 97-58.
It was a complete team effort for the Bulls, but it was all led by Carlos Boozer who has been playing lights out as of late. Boozer finished the game with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. Boozer shot 7-14 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. The only negative you can take out of Boozer’s play tonight, from a fantasy basketball point of view, was his 5 turnovers.
Boozer and the Bulls were so impressive tonight, they held every player on the Hawks roster to under ten points, except one. A rookie named Mike Scott. I wish I could elaborate more, but I have no idea who Mike Scott is.
The Bulls were a hangnail away from holding the Hawks to a franchise-low for points scored in a game, but thanks to Jeff Teague, who put in a layup with 7.9 seconds left, the Hawks avoided that embarrassing feat.
Michael J. Igyarto is a featured columnist and fantasy basketball expert at Rant Sports
Follow Michael on twitter: @windycityiggy
