Deng's return only bright spot in loss
ATLANTA -- The final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference seems a little further away today than it did before the Bulls arrived here.
Despite the return of Luol Deng from an Achilles injury, the Bulls looked like a ragged D-League team at the start and lost badly to the Hawks 105-84 on Sunday afternoon.
A victory would have moved the Bulls (14-21) within 1 game of eighth-place Atlanta. Instead, the Hawks snapped a 12-game losing streak in the series by beating the Bulls for the first time since April 9, 2004.
The Bulls jumped to an early 6-2 lead, then Atlanta ended the suspense quickly by executing a 23-3 run. The Hawks (16-17) decided to start the game by letting 6-foot-7 Joe Johnson shoot over the Bulls' smaller guards.
The strategy was effective, to say the least.
Johnson attempted 6 of Atlanta's first 7 shots, and by the end of the first quarter he was 8-for-10 from the field for 19 points.
At one point late in the opening quarter, the Hawks were 14 of 17 from the field, a snappy 82 percent, and led 34-15. The Bulls never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
"Our lack of energy and physical play in the first half really opened up the gates for them, let them get out and run," coach Jim Boylan said. "The second half, we tried to establish a more physical presence on defense.
"In the past, we've had success against Atlanta by doing that, getting physical and not letting them run their offense, not letting them get out and get their transition baskets. In the first half, we didn't do any of that."
Johnson finished with 37 points. The Bulls used 6-7 Thabo Sefolosha to guard him for most of the second half.
Deng comes back strong: One bright spot in Sunday's loss was the play of Luol Deng, who hit 10 of 15 shots and scored a team-high 28 points after missing the previous three games with left Achilles' tendinitis.
"To begin the game, it was a little tight," Deng said. "As the game went on, it felt better. I wasn't able to get the lift I wanted on some of the plays."
Boylan shares authority: Bulls coach Jim Boylan didn't have a problem with the players taking exception to his original decision to sideline Joakim Noah for one game. Noah was put on the inactive list for Friday's game at Philadelphia, but the team requested he be made inactive for the Atlanta game Sunday as well.
"We talked about the team taking some ownership in their group, and they have," Boylan said. "They've spoken and they came to me and expressed some hesitation as far as letting Jo just have one game.
"They felt it deserved more, and it was the entire team that felt that way. So I back my team and the decision they made and appreciate the leadership that they've shown."
Bull horns: The Bulls received 2 technical fouls in Sunday's game, 1 each by coach Jim Boylan and Andres Nocioni. … Viktor Khryapa made his first game appearance since Dec. 21, while Aaron Gray did not play after scoring 20 points in the previous two contests.