Jalen Johnson scored a career-high 30 points, including the go-ahead basket late in the fourth quarter, to help the Atlanta Hawks erase a 21-point deficit and defeat the visiting Chicago Bulls 141-133 on Thursday (Friday, December 27, Manila time).
Johnson scored 11 of Atlanta’s 50 points in the fourth quarter, and his basket with 2:44 remaining put the Hawks in the lead to stay. It was the highest-scoring fourth quarter for any NBA team this season.
Atlanta trailed 108-87 with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter and was down by 17 entering the fourth.
Johnson shot 11-for-16 from the field and added 15 rebounds and four assists. Trae Young produced 27 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, and 13 assists. He hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 126-126 with 3:03 to go. De’Andre Hunter scored 25 off the Atlanta bench.
Chicago’s Zach LaVine scored a season-high 37 points, 22 in the third quarter, and dished seven assists. It was the second time this season that LaVine had 30-plus points and five-plus assists. Reserve Jevon Carter scored a season-high 26, and Coby White amassed 23 points and nine assists.
The Bulls hit 22 of 43 3-point shots (51.2 percent). It was their 31st consecutive game with at least 10 successful 3-pointers, extending the longest such streak in team history.
Atlanta picked up where it left off in a 13-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday when it grabbed a 9-2 lead. But the Bulls began hitting 3-pointers, took the lead and had a 33-21 advantage after one quarter. The charge was led by Carter, who had six treys and 19 points in the opening quarter.
The Bulls stretched the lead to 16 on a basket by Jalen Smith and withstood a Hawks surge that featured 10 points from Larry Nance Jr. to hold a 64-53 lead at the break.
Atlanta whittled the deficit to five points after Hunter’s three-point play with 3:52 left in the third, only to have Chicago go on a 16-0 run to establish a 21-point lead. The Bulls scored 44 points in the period were ahead 108-91 going into the final quarter.
The Bulls were playing short-handed, as Josh Giddey (ankle), Ayo Dosunmu (Achilles) and Lonzo Ball (illness) were unavailable. Atlanta was without Bogdan Bogdanovic (leg) and Onyeka Okongwu (knee). – Rappler.com
