DeRozan 22+9, Trae Young slump 4 of 12, NBA miracle was born, and Spurs veterans became wonders!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On April 18, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA play-offs in the Eastern Conference continued, and the Atlanta Hawks went to Chicago to challenge the Bulls away. In the final standings of the East this season, the Hawks are in 10th place in the East with a 36-46 record, while the Bulls are in 9th place in the East with a 39-43 record. The two teams have met three times in the regular season this season, with the Hawks having a slight disadvantage with two losses and one win. Before the game, the American media ESPN also gave a timely prediction of the winning rate: the Hawks won 39.6%, and the Bulls were 60.4%.
As two teams outside the play-in zone, the Hawks and Bulls have only one chance, and the loser is eliminated outright, and the team that wins today will have to play the Heat again to fight for the last playoff spot in the East. The Hawks' form has declined seriously this season, Trae Young is also suffering from injuries, and the team stumbled into the play-offs under the leadership of Murray's single core. The same is true for the Bulls, the ball brother Ball has not yet recovered, and LaVine has also been reimbursed for the season due to injury, but since LaVine retired from injury, the team's state has not fallen but risen, and it has played all the way from the bottom of the East to the ninth.
In terms of injuries, the Hawks' Saddiq Bey, Okongu, and Jalen Johnson are absent, and the starting five are: Trae Young, Hunter, Capela, Murray, and Bogdanovic, while the Bulls' LaVine, Ball, Phillips, and Pawe are absent, and the starting lineup is: Dosunm, Kobe White, DeRozan, Caruso, and Vucevic.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Murray scored a two-pointer to get the Hawks off to a good start, DeRozan received a pass from his teammates in the bottom corner, and responded with a three-point shot, Trae Young broke through and encountered the Bulls' three-man package, forced a throw against the defense to cause a foul, stood on the free throw line, and then played a block with Capela, who took off directly and caught the ball with both hands. DeRozan dribbled under the crotch and hit a jumper from the back of the defense, and then the Hawks entered a scoring drought, and the Bulls launched a 16-2 attack wave, and at the end of the first quarter, the Bulls had led the Hawks by as many as 18 points at 40-22.
DeRozan played the full first quarter, scoring 11 points and 5 assists on 5-of-7 shooting, and the offensive organization grabbed it. Back in the second quarter, Drummond returned to the defense and bumped into teammate Caruso, who returned to the bench to check for injuries, and then Drummond went down to catch the ball with a one-arm dunk but dunked away. Murray hit a three-pointer on a counterattack to score 10 points in the quarter, and the Hawks went on a 14-2 run to chase down the four-point deficit. After DeRozan stealed, he counterattacked with a one-arm split dunk and added free throws, Trae Young stopped the ball and finally hit a long-range three-pointer, and then made consecutive fouls, and at halftime, the Hawks chased 67-73 to a six-point difference.
DeRozan was 8-of-12 in the first half, 1-of-1 from three-point range to score 18 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists, White contributed 19 points and 4 assists, Dejounte Murray shot 8-of-14, 2-of-4 three-pointers and got 23 points, 3 boards, 4 assists and 1 steal, Trae Young struggled, only 1 of 5 shots, only 10 points, 6 assists and 5 turnovers, the lowest plus/minus of -18, the Hawks trailed by 18 points in the first quarter because of Trae Young's drag, all thanks to Murray to lead the team back in the second quarter.
Murray continued the hot feeling of the first half, facing DeRozan's defensive three-pointer again, and scored 26 points, Trae Young's signature breakthrough emergency stop, another foul, and two free throws. Then Murray cut to receive the pass from his teammates, took off directly and exploded with one arm to dunk Vucevic, Trae Young continued to try to dribble under his crotch, and there were difficult three-point shots, and Vucevic responded with three empty points, and then the Hawks made mistakes one after another, White broke through one to four, turned around and scored an easy layup, and the Bulls' lead came to 18 points again, and the Hawks had no choice but to call a stop. After the pause, the Hawks' offense still did not improve, Fernando was beaten by Drummond with a layup, and ate a technical foul after an excited celebration, DeRozan hit a one-on-one single strong three-point shot, regretfully stepped on the line, and after the third quarter, the Bulls scored 37 points again in a single quarter, scoring 110 points in the third quarter, leading the Hawks by 18 points.
In the fourth quarter, White accelerated to break through and score a layup, and then scored a three-pointer from a long distance and a three-point shot on the wing, the Bulls led to 21 points, Bogdanovic hit a series to help the Hawks retain the last glimmer of hope, and the key moment was the play of White and Vucevic to help the Bulls completely kill the game, and finally the Bulls defeated the Hawks 131-116 and will compete with the Heat for the last ticket to the Eastern Conference playoffs.
In terms of data, on the Hawks' side, Dejounte Murray scored 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Trae Young was in a slump, with only 22 points and 10 assists on 4-of-12 shooting, as well as 6 turnovers, and a plus/minus of -27, the lowest in the game, which was simply the biggest war criminal in the Hawks' loss today, Capela 22 points, 17 rebounds and 4 assists, Bogdanovic 21 points and 5 rebounds;
On the Bulls' side, Spurs veteran Kobe White exploded, blasting 42 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, creating an NBA miracle, ranking second in the history of play-off single-game scoring, only Tatum scored 50 points per game higher than him, becoming the biggest wonder of the game! Vucevic 24 points and 12 rebounds, DeRozan 22 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Dosunmu 19 points and 3 assists.