Bulls Game No. 24: Poor shooting ends three-game winning streak

Leave it to a former Chicago Bull to have a solid shooting night to have a quality shooting against his former club to end the Bulls’ three-game winning streak in the second game of the first back-t0-back this week.

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During his tenure for the Chicago Bulls, sharp-shooting Kyle Korver was a fan-favorite and one of the best weapons in the entire NBA from long range.

Sadly for the Bulls, Korver’s jumper hasn’t been lacking since his departure from the Windy City during the summer of 2012.

The former Creighton star drained four three-pointers for the Atlanta Hawks  in a 93-86 victory for the Hawks over the Bulls, who were riding a nice win streak coming into Monday night.

Monday wasn’t, shall we say, a “good shooting night” for the Bulls?

Between shooting 37.6 percent (35-for-93), including an abysmal 6-for-29 from three-point territory, the Bulls looked like a team who was playing on the back end of a back-to-back.

"“It feels like we’ve been on the road for so long and traveling so much. It will be good to come home and everybody get their game together. Fatigue plays a factor, but this is the pros and there are no excuses. You can’t blame it on fatigue. You can’t blame it on back-to-back games. We came out and lost the game. They [Atlanta] moved the ball great and they wanted to win.”-Derrick Rose on the Bulls’ road-heavy schedule, CSNChicago.com"

To a degree, Rose has a point.

Through the first 24 games, the Bulls have played 15 of those games away from the comforts of the United Center. Even through the rugged start to the season schedule-wise, the Bulls are 11-4 in those games.

The fourth quarter of Monday’s game was the definition of a team that simply “ran out of gas”. The Bulls were able to close the gap to 73-71 with 9:12 left, after leading for just 21 seconds throughout the first three quarters.

That would be as close as the Bulls would get to the Hawks down the stretch.

Thoughts + what’s next for the Bulls

Back-to-back games in the NBA are always tough, no matter the opponent. Throw in a loaded road schedule to start your season and the Bulls did look fatigued on Monday.

Not taking away from the Hawks, because hey, Atlanta has won eight of their last nine games, including a 12-2 home start in the first part of the season, but the Bulls didn’t play well.

The recipe for the Bulls to win games isn’t shooting 29 three-pointers in 48 minutes. Granted, the Bulls were +17 on the glass (57-40), but when the Bulls settle for jumpers, they’re not as good as they can be.

Game notes:

• Monday was the second game since November 24th that the Bulls hadn’t scored 100+ points.

• Taj Gibson was 7-for-11 from the field on Monday for 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.

• Derrick Rose is 1-for-12 from the three-point line in the last three games.

• Kyle Korver from long range this season: 71-for-130 (54.6%). Gimme the hot sauce, Kyle!

The Bulls (15-9) move on to a Thursday night meeting on national television against the New York Knicks (5-21). Thursday will be Carmelo Anthony‘s first trip to Chicago since this summer, when he shunned the Bulls during free agency.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM CT from the United Center.

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Next: Bulls Game No. 23: Mike Dunleavy's hot shooting lifts Bulls on South Beach