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Friday, Jan. 14 8:30pm ET
Rider's key hoops hoist Hawks | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
CHICAGO (AP) -- Isaiah Rider didn't have to look at his stats to know he didn't have his best game. He made his shots when the Atlanta Hawks needed them most, though, and that's all that mattered. Rider scored 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter, and his 15-foot jumper with 45 seconds left sealed the Atlanta Hawks' 89-83 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. "I struggled in that game, but we needed somebody to step up and hit shots," said Rider, who was only 9-of-24 from the floor. The victory snapped a seven-game road losing streak for the Hawks. They hadn't won on the road since beating Toronto on Nov. 30. Jim Jackson added 18 points for Atlanta despite sitting out all but eight minutes of the first half in foul trouble. Alan Henderson was the only other Hawk in double figures with 14 points. "Isaiah gave us a spark when we were a little sluggish," Jackson said. "He carried us for a while. He gave us the lead and we finished it off." The Bulls still managed to give them a scare, though. Lorenzen Wright's hook shot gave Atlanta a 75-64 lead with 7:07 left, but Chris Anstey got the Bulls back into the game by scoring nine points to spark a 13-4 run that cut Atlanta's lead to 79-77 with 3:20 left. The biggest shot of the run came from Matt Maloney, who'd been struggling all night. He hit a 3-pointer, his first basket of the night, with 3:48 left to bring the Bulls within 79-75. Elton Brand's layup with 1:04 left made it 83-81, and that's when Rider decided he'd had enough. He hit a 15-foot jumper from the left wing, his first basket of the fourth quarter, and the Bulls couldn't get any closer. Anstey scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Toni Kukoc also had 19, and Brand added 18. "I think it was as bad as we've been offensively in a month. The ball died in some guys' hands when they caught it," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. "This was a game we could go get. We simply didn't step up and take good shots." They didn't stop Rider, either. Trailing by 7 at the start of the third quarter, Rider took over the game. He hit two 3-pointers in a row as Atlanta went on a 12-5 run, tying the game at 51 on Rider's layup with 6:38 left in the third. He and Jackson combined to score all but two of Atlanta's last 14 points in the third quarter, and Jackson opened the fourth with two more baskets to give the Hawks a 69-61 lead. "Isaiah was very patient with himself," coach Lenny Wilkens said. "He made some big shots. We had to sit Jimmy Jackson with three fouls, so we needed it." Atlanta hadn't played since last Saturday and the Bulls had been off since Tuesday -- their game Wednesday against Charlotte was canceled after Bobby Phills was killed -- and both teams looked sluggish in the first half. There were bad passes, turnovers and shots that looked like something out of a Globetrotters game. It didn't help that the Hawks played most of the half without Jackson, who picked up his third foul with 3:54 left in the first quarter. The Hawks shot just 40 percent in the first half -- the Bulls weren't much better with 43 percent -- and they got 10 of their points off 11 Chicago turnovers. Game notesThere was a moment of silence before the game for Phills. ... Dikembe Mutumbo had 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. ... A fan propped up a sign behind the Bulls' bench reading, "Don't Go Toni." Kukoc has been the subject of trade rumors since his return from the injured list. ... Brand had 14 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. ... The Bulls had 22 turnovers, and Atlanta had 17. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Atlanta Clubhouse Chicago Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 102 Orlando 100
Atlanta 89
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