With injuries mounting, Bulls no match for Hawks

The sight of Derrick Rose on the floor, grabbing his knee in pain, is enough in itself to make the Bulls seem vulnerable.

Tack on the fact that Luol Deng (knee) and Joakim Noah (foot) already were sidelined, and the Bulls were no match for the Atlanta Hawks at the United Center.

Rose played the second half and seemed to be OK. The Bulls came from 18 points down to close within 5 early in the fourth quarter. But Atlanta outscored the home team 31-13 over the final 71/2 minutes and won going away 116-92.

This was the second time in as many games that Rose banged knees with an opposing player. On Saturday at Indiana, Rose tried to prevent a drive to the basket by Earl Watson and was struck in the left knee. He sat out the final three minutes after that injury but claimed to feel fine before Monday's game.

Then at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter, Rose caught an outlet pass from Brad Miller, turned upcourt and crashed into Atlanta guard Mike Bibby. This time it was his right knee.

"This one was worse," Rose said in the locker room. "(Against Indiana), it was kind of to the side of my knee. Today it was like right on the side of my kneecap. It hurt, but I tried to fight through it."

The referees didn't see fit to call a foul on the play, and the Hawks recorded an alley-oop dunk and 3-point play by Josh Smith while Rose rolled on the ground in agony.

By the time Rose returned to the floor at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter, Atlanta (38-21) had added 10 points to the lead.

Rose didn't do much during the rest of the first half but looked more like his usual self after halftime, finishing with 24 points.

"I thought about (sitting out) a little bit," Rose said. "My brother Reggie came back there and was talking about great players play through it when they're hurt. I didn't want to hear his mouth, so that's what made me go out there and try to play."

The absence of Noah and Deng, the Bulls' top two rebounders, also produced painful results. The Hawks piled up a whopping 63-37 rebounding advantage, including 22-8 on the offensive glass.

"Tonight, it was just bounding our way," said Smith, who produced 17 points and 18 rebounds for Atlanta. "There were a couple of long rebounds and we just had a big advantage with Joakim not out there. Without him, they didn't have much rebounding except (Taj) Gibson."

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls (31-29) pulled within 5 twice. Down 85-79, they had one chance to get closer, but Rose missed a jumper and the Hawks scored the next 9 points, all on layups and putbacks.

Noah is going to be out for several days, if not more, while the Bulls are hoping Deng can get healthy with a couple of days off before hosting Memphis on Thursday.

"I'm sure Jo's going to be out another week at least," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It's going to be a few days, for sure. Luol, I expect to play on Thursday. His knee was really stiff and it swelled up a little more. Obviously, Joakim is a big concern, because you can see what happens rebounding-wise."

Deng missed his first game of the season, resulting in the first NBA start for rookie James Johnson. He did OK, scoring 9 points in 24 minutes, but the Bulls could have used more than 2 rebounds from the 6-foot-9 forward.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Hawks 116, Bulls 92</p>

<p class="News"><b>Playing short:</b> Luol Deng (knee) and Joakim Noah (foot) did not play at all, while Derrick Rose left for more than a quarter after knocking knees with an opponent for the second game in a row. Rose looked fine in the second half, but the short-handed Bulls were no match for full-strength Atlanta.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Comeback cut off:</b> After trailing by 18 in the second quarter, the Bulls got as close as 5 early in the fourth. Down 85-79, the Bulls missed a chance to get within 4 and the Hawks flew away, scoring the next 9 points and finishing the game on a 31-13 run.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Second-chance sale:</b> A huge difference in this game was not only Atlanta's 22-8 advantage on the offensive glass, but the fact that eight different Hawks collected at least 2 offensive rebounds.</p>

<div class="infoBox">

<h1>More Coverage</h1>

<div class="infoBoxContent">

<div class="infoArea">

<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=362860">Discouraged Noah staying optimistic<span class="date"> [3/1/10]</span></a></li>

</ul>

</div>

</div>

</div>