Al Horford Sparks Hawks Comeback Win over Bulls

The Chicago Bulls wasted no time getting a lead on an Atlanta Hawks team that has looked lazy and content in the last few games. The Bulls raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as the Hawks couldn't convert one of their first seven attempts.

Going into the second quarter the Bulls were ahead by 19 points and it looked like the Hawks were going to suffer another embarrassing home loss. Then Al Horford took over. Horford matched a career high by scoring 31 points and led the team in rebounding with 16. Horford said that he was simply trying to fill the void of an injured Josh Smith, who is out with an MCL sprain.

Derrick Rose accepted responsibility for the 83-80 loss. He said that he played carelessly and that he his passing wasn't up to his standards. He finished the game with 12 points and 12 assists, but turned the ball over 6 times.

The Bulls had the lead for almost the entire game. The Hawks went ahead for the first time with less than 30 seconds remaining courtesy of a Horford dunk. He followed the dunk by stripping Rose on the other end of the court, setting up a dunk for Joe Johnson that pushed the Hawks lead to 3 points and sealed the game.

Horford's Hawks teammates say that Joakim Noah may be partly to blame for Horford's exceptional play. Marvin Williams believes that there is a personal rivalry in play when Horford matches up against his former college teammate.