Bulls Game Notes For Saturday @ Atlanta

Atlanta had dropped three of the previous four games while trying to figure out how to deploy its three point guards.

The move brought the expectation that the offense would transform from a bottom of the barrel team to one of the best in the Association.

The Chicago game is the first of a three-game road trip for the C's. His recent scoring was highlighted by a 42-point explosion versus the Raptors, in which he scored 40 points in the second half, breaking a team record held by Michael Jordan.

After falling behind by 19 early, the Bulls made a rousing comeback to put a scare into the team sitting a couple spots below them in the Eastern Conference, as this could very well be a second-round playoff matchup come May.

The Chicago Bulls look to build on their nice six-game winning streak.

So why the sudden dramatic shift? That may not seem like much of a difference, but consider this: When Rose is off the court, Chicago's offensive rating jumps to 101.9, suggesting head coach Fred Hoiberg's club is more effective when its offense runs through Butler rather than Rose.

"You're not going to draw me in to that nonsense", .

Many feared that a budding star chastising his coach through the media would have profound adverse effects on the team.

Immediately after, however, the Bulls turned it around, and Butler has played a huge part.

The teams meet again Tuesday in Atlanta.

Butler has asserted his presence as the Bulls' on-floor leader all season. Gasol is averaging 16.7 points and 10.7 rebounds, seventh in the National Basketball Association.

Even without injured center Joakim Noah, who'll miss his 12 game with a sprained left shoulder, the Bulls have size aplenty in Pau Gasol (7 feet), Taj Gibson (6-9), Nikola Mirotic (6-10) in the starting lineup. He's also sixth in the league in blocked shots (2.3), and disrupts more than that. The Bulls are now second in the East with a game and a half lead over the Hawks (all in the loss column). He showed no effects of the injury and took the ball to the basket all night, finishing with 16 points. On January 5, Butler set a career-high with 10 assists against Milwaukee. His all-around game is reflected strongly in his nERD rating, of 12.2, good for eighth in the league.

"Tonight, they just didn't miss many shots", Prunty said.

They have since halted those questions and did so by changing their play. F Thabo Sefolosha couldn't play after falling during a win Thursday at Philadelphia and hurting his right wrist. In particular, his mixing and matching in the frontcourt was not providing consistent results. He has not played since December 21. The Atlanta Hawks are averaging 102.5 points 46 percent shooting and allowing 100.5 points and 44.9 percent shooting.

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