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Bulls let one slip away in Atlanta

One thing that hasn't been a problem for the Bulls this season is squandering games that should have been in the bag.

Well, there's a first time for everything. The Bulls rocketed to a 14-0 lead at the start and were ahead by 19 points at halftime in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

But they let it all slip away with a sluggish performance in the second half. The Hawks took their first lead of the night with 29.4 seconds remaining and hung on to win 83-80 at Philips Arena.

“I made some careless passes,” said Derrick Rose, who produced 12 points and 12 assists. “The game was definitely on me. But I guarantee it won't happen again.”

Atlanta's Al Horford dominated the game, finishing with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 15 points, while Joakim Noah added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bulls (41-18) scored 50 points in the first half, 30 in the second. The Hawks (37-24) had reason to be road weary, playing their first home game since Feb. 12, but they had all the energy at the end.

Among the troubling issues for the Bulls is Rose's shooting touch. Guarded by former teammate Kirk Hinrich on Wednesday, Rose hit just 5 of 21 attempts in Atlanta and is shooting 35 percent from the field in five games since the all-star break.

The Bulls also had a couple of uncharacteristically klutzy defensive efforts.

After Kyle Korver's 3-pointer gave the visitors some breathing room at 79-75 with 1:37 left, the Bulls got too focused on helping Korver against Jamal Crawford and allowed Marvin Williams to drain an open 3-pointer that cut the lead back to 1.

Horford tied the score with a free throw, then Noah hit 1 of 2 at the line to give the Bulls their final lead with 37.1 seconds remaining.

The Hawks came back with a screen-and-roll that resulted in an easy lane drive and dunk by Horford off a pass from Crawford. On the screen, Noah stepped out to challenge a potential Crawford jumper and no one moved over to slow down Horford.

“We should be able to count on our defense when we're not making shots, and all we had to do was get a stop at the end of the game there,” coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. “We had the lead. You get a stop, it's your game, and we couldn't do that.”

After Horford gave Atlanta its first lead, Rose bobbled a pass and it turned into a fastbreak dunk by Hawks guard Joe Johnson, giving the home team a 3-point lead with 20.6 seconds left.

The Bulls played on without a timeout. Rose chose to fire a 3-point shot. It missed, Noah grabbed the rebound, giving Korver an open look, but it fell short of the rim as time expired.

“Careless. Careless,” Rose said. “We let one escape for real.”

A turning point earlier in the fourth quarter came when Rose grabbed his own rebound and sprinted to the hoop for a dunk opportunity but had his shot blocked by Williams. Atlanta came back on the break, and Crawford's bank shot was goaltended by Deng, bringing the Hawks within 76-75 with 2:30 left.

Atlanta played without small forward Josh Smith because of a knee injury. Things don't get any easier for the Bulls, with games at Orlando and Miami this weekend.

Mike McGraw’s game tracker