Atlanta Hawks Star Joe Johnson Comes Up Huge in Game 1 Win Over the Chicago Bulls in the 2011 NBA Playoffs
Nobody gave the Hawks a chance to beat a rested Chicago Bulls team on the road. Without the services of Kirk Hinrich they seemed destined to get torn to pieces by Derrick Rose.
Instead, it was the Hawks that pulled off the major upset by the final score of 103-95. Joe Johnson was the star of the game, scoring 34 points on a scorching 12-of-18 from the floor. He drained all five of his three-point attempts.
The Bulls were very lethargic for the majority of the game. Rose only had five points on 2-of-10 shooting at the half and was benched for a six minute stretch. He finished the game with 24 points...but took 27 shots to get there. He showed a complete lack of aggressiveness by not attempting a single free throw. ESPN Chicago talked about the Bulls poor start:
Everyone, myself included, figured the Bulls would roll through this series. It sure seemed like the Bulls played with that lackadaisical attitude on Monday night. There was no edge to their game, on either end of the floor, and they repeatedly got outhustled to loose balls.
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To make matters worse, Rose appeared to have twisted his ankle in the closing seconds of the game. It didn't seem severe enough to warrant him missing Game Two, but it is a setback in his recovery from when he sprained it against the Pacers.
The Bulls have to increase their intensity and their aggressiveness. The Hawks showed them this isn't going to be a gimme series and now the Bulls have to retaliate.
Tami Donaldson Padma Lakshmi Sarah Mutch Gabrielle Union Alessandra Ambrosio
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