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 Chicago dropped back to .500 with their third straight loss on
Saturday and sits two games behind the eighth-place Detroit Pistons
in the East. Each of the last three losses have come against teams
out of the playoff race, including an embarrassing 111-89 setback at
Orlando on Saturday. “I think it’s just a team that’s a little bit
lost in terms of going out there every night knowing what it takes
to win,” Bulls swingman Mike Dunleavy bluntly told reporters. “We
give off the impression of beaten down, but I don’t think anybody’s
given in right now. I just don’t think we’re good enough.” The Hawks
have certainly looked good enough of late and tried to do the Bulls
a favor with a 112-95 win over the Pistons on Saturday.
 TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE HAWKS (44-30): Atlanta sits a half-game ahead of the
fourth-place Boston Celtics and just 1 1/2 games clear of the
sixth-place Charlotte Hornets in a tight bunch that also includes
the Miami Heat. The Hawks have won three straight and 13 of the last
16 while showing off a renewed focus on the defensive end and held
the Detroit Pistons to 38.6 percent from the field in Saturday’s
triumph. Atlanta is in the process of rediscovering the offense that
served it well in last season’s run to the top of the East and
buried 13 3-pointers on Saturday, with seven different players
connecting on at least one.
ABOUT THE BULLS (36-36): Chicago is searching for answers for its
lack of performance and is coming up empty. “It’s not just one
little thing here or there,” Dunleavy told reporters. “It’s not on
the defensive end or the offensive, it’s both. It’s just a lot of
stuff. To say it’s like one thing we’re not doing right and that
would solve everything, that’s just not the case.” The Bulls will
play their 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 East.
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BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks F Paul Millsap left Saturday’s game with a head laceration
that required stitches and is day-to-day.
2. Bulls F Taj Gibson is doing everything he can to help his team
and is averaging 13.5 points on 64.2 percent shooting in the last
six games.
3. Atlanta took each of the previews three meetings this season by
an average of 17.7 points.
PREDICTION: Hawks 108, Bulls 89
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