Chicago at Atlanta

[Real Deal]

TIME: 7:00 PM ET

TV: NBALP

[Real Deal]

ATLANTA -- Larry Drew knew why his Atlanta Hawks blew out the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, he just couldn't explain why they looked so different one night after being beaten handily in Philadelphia.

 

Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and every Atlanta starter scored in double figures in a 92-75 win on Saturday. The Hawks (16-9) and Bulls (15-11) played role reversal from their performances on Friday night.

 

Atlanta looked nothing like the squad that lost 99-80 in Philadelphia, and Chicago didn't resemble the team that dominated the Knicks in a 110-106 win in New York.

 

Drew said several times that, "energy," enabled the Hawks to break a two-game losing streak. Trying to figure out how his team had so much of it Saturday and so little Friday was perplexing.

 

"I wish I had the answer to that, to be perfectly honest," Drew said after pushing his career record to 100-73. "I don't care what our strategy is, or what the game plan is. If we don't play with good energy we're not going to be successful.

 

"That's the thing that will have you pulling your hair out ... it was a complete opposite."

 

It took a while to see a difference in the teams. The Bulls led 21-17 after one quarter, and neither club scored for the first three-plus minutes.

 

Chicago led 31-28 before Atlanta took off on a 25-6 run over the final 6:58 of the second quarter to build a 53-37 lead by halftime. The Bulls never recovered.

 

From the middle of the second quarter, the Bulls looked as though they were emotionally gassed by the game in New York. The Bulls and Knicks combined for nine technical fouls and four ejections in that one.

 

Luol Deng paced Chicago with 11 points, and Joakim Noah -- who was ejected on Friday -- had 10, but they were the only Bulls to score in double figures. Atlanta starters outscored Chicago starters 72-39.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121222_CHI@ATL