They won’t finish with a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference, but it’s tough to find anyone playing better basketball over the past month than the Atlanta Hawks. It’s nearly as hard to find a team playing worse than the Bulls. The Hawks can clinch a playoff berth with their ninth win in 10 games and sweep the season series from Chicago.
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SCHEDULING
The Eastern Conference’s Nos. 3-9 teams were separated by 4.5 games in the standings on Feb. 26, a point at which the Hawks were closer to finding themselves out of the playoff picture than the Bulls. That’s not the case one month later. Atlanta beat Chicago 103-88 that night to kick off a 13-3 SU and ATS stretch that has the Hawks occupying the conference’s third seed. The Hawks are in the middle of three-game road trip and a stretch of four of five away games, but they’ve performed well going 6-1 SU and ATS away from home during their run of success.
Chicago is not playing like a team that wants to stay in the playoff race. The Bulls will try to turn the momentum and remain within shouting distance of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference when they host the Hawks. Coming off their most disappointing loss of the season, the Bulls held a team meeting on Sunday between players and coaches and “aired some things out,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. The Bulls lost 111-89 to Orlando on Saturday, dealing their playoff hopes a serious blow. Chicago will play its next four games and seven of the next eight against teams competing for playoff spots in their respective conferences, including contests against Indiana and Detroit directly above them in the standings.
INJURIES
Hawks forward Paul Millsap left Saturday’s game with a head laceration that required 10 stitches and is listed as day-to-day.
Pau Gasol is nursing a sore ankle but is expected to play on Monday night. Taj Gibson is also expected to be in the lineup as he continues to deal with sore ribs. Guard E’Twaun Moore and forward Cameron Bairstow will not dress for Monday night’s game.
KEY MATCHUP
Atlanta has been arguably the best team in the NBA during their 13-3 run. Starting with the Hawks’ Feb. 26 win over Chicago, their plus-11.4 net rating is the league’s best – just ahead of San Antonio and Golden State – and their 94.8 defensive rating is easily leading the league. Paul Millsap led the Hawks in Saturday’s 112-95 win at Detroit, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks, a line only four other NBA players have reached since 2000. All that came in just over three quarters after Millsap exited the game and required stitches to close a gash above his eye. “When he plays with great energy and great force, his impact on the game is huge, and he knows that,” coach Mike Budenholzer said of Millsap.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
As the Bulls continue to free fall in the East, the road doesn’t get any easier. Forward Mike Dunleavy called this a “do-or-die week,” but after Sunday’s loss there are no easy answers to their recent struggles. Chicago is hopeful a team meeting, which was held on Sunday, can clear the air and lead to a strong finish. Seven of Chicago’s next eight games are against likely playoff clubs, starting with Monday’s clash against the Hawks, who look much like the team that won 60 games last season and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta sits a half-game up on fourth-place Boston and just 1.5 games clear of sixth-place Charlotte, so nothing has been settled yet. A renewed focus on defense limited the Pistons to 38.6 percent shooting in Saturday’s victory. The Hawks are also in the process of rediscovering their offense and buried 13 three-pointers on Saturday. A balanced effort – eight players scored double figures Saturday – will be too much for the Bulls to defend.
Atlanta 105, Chicago 97
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