The Chicago Bulls hope to follow up two straight disappointing finishes at the United Center with a victory tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Before a national TV audience on NBA-TV, Chicago is also aiming to overtake the low-hovering Hawks for the 5^th seed in the Eastern Conference.

With apologies to the Pacers, the Bulls were perhaps the last impressive victory for the Hawks, winners of just two of their last eight games. The 92-75 win in Atlanta on December 22 kicked off a 4-0 stretch for the Hawks over the Christmas holiday and featured every starter scoring in double figures. The Hawks managed a 25-point fourth quarter lead that not even their fellow-feathered neighbors at the Georgia Dome could blow.

Meanwhile, there’s a little pressure on the team with the #1 attendance average in the NBA to produce for its home crowd. The Bulls are 10-5 on the road but just 10-10 at the Madhouse on Madison. They’ve come up short in four of their last six home games, including a streak-busting defeat to Charlotte and back-to-back home losses to Milwaukee and Phoenix. That’s despite impressive road wins at New York (twice) and Miami in recent weeks. On the season, the Bulls have averaged just 91.7 PPG at home (2^nd lowest in NBA), compared to 95.9 PPG (12^th highest in NBA) in away games.

Suppressing opponents with Coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive strategies (90.4 Opponent PPG) have kept them competitive at United Center, but not as dominant as they could be as they await the healthy return of their superstar, Derrick Rose.

This will mark a return for the sharpshooting Kyle Korver to his previous NBA home. Along with a couple other jettisoned members of the Bench Mob, the most accurate 3-point marksman in the last two Bulls’ seasons is sorely missed in the Windy City. He and Lou Williams each went 3-for-6 against the Bulls, still fairly stingy with perimeter defense, the last time out.

If Luol Deng is hampered at all by a torn wrist ligament carried over by last season, having elected to forgo surgery in the offseason, it certainly isn’t showing. He leads the NBA once again in minutes per game (40.2 MPG), up a tick from his league-leading 39.4 MPG in 2011-12. Chicago’s leading scorer (17.7 PPG) is finding his way to the rim often on backdoor cuts, so it will be wise for Hawk defenders to deny him space along the baseline. He is also helping Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah with offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Boozer and Noah generally split the rebounding duties, with Boozer the primary option on the defensive end (7.3 Defensive RPG, 10^th in NBA) and Noah at the opposite end (3.8 Offensive RPG, 7^th in NBA). Hawk centers would do well to challenge Boozer and force Noah to stay at home under the basket more. Noah’s collegiate teammate Al Horford has a total of two offensive boards in his last three games. He and Josh Smith managed three offensive boards each in their last matchup with the Bulls, individually outdoing the two from Noah, Boozer, and Deng combined.

Former Hawk Kirk Hinrich has picked up the passing duties admirably in Rose’s absence, doubling his assists to 5.5 per game from last season. His scoring capabilities seem to have fallen off a cliff though, with career-lows of 6.6 PPG and 35.1 FG%. He shot just 3-for-11 in his December 22 return to Philips Arena.

As we near the midseason trade deadline, Richard Hamilton ($5 million contract in 2013-14; just $1 million guaranteed) is a likely trade target, or at least that’s what many Bulls fans seem to be hoping.

Free agent acquisition Marco Belinelli (team-leading 40.6 3FG%) is playing for his next contract and, while not as reliable from mid-range, has provided about as much offensive punch as could be expected from Rip at this stage of his career.

Nate is Nate. Robinson’s trademark zeal makes up for repeated breakdowns in defensive play with aggressive drives to the basket. When he’s not settling for three-point shots, he can be a handful. His per-minute scoring rate (18.4 points per 36 minutes) leads the team, and ranking top-20 in the league in assist percentage (30.3 assists per 100 possessions) has made him and his previously unguaranteed contract impossible to shed from the roster even with Rose’s impending return. Perhaps a sign of over-expended energy, Robinson has provided a bigger scoring boost in the first halves of games (45.9 FG%) than in the second halves (39.1 FG%).

This isn’t really a team you want to see getting their offense off of cheap fouls. Five of their top 6 scorers (the exception being Boozer) are shooting above 80% on their freebies. Deng has boosted his percentage to a career-high 81.9%, as has Belinelli (84.5%). Even Gibson, a career mid-60’s free throw shooter, has improved at the line (74.6 FT%). How nice to see a team that seems to work at that!

Chicago’s starters are not going to make a lot of three-pointers. Their top two three-point shooters, Robinson and Belinelli, come off the bench now that Hamilton has returned. Hamilton is 3-for-7 in his last seven games but has not taken a three-point shot in any of his last four. Former Three-Point Shootout champ Daequan Cook has been picked up on waivers, and will work his way into the Bulls’ rotation if he can effectively stretch the floor.

The Bulls’ defense strives to make opponents take tough shots off the dribble. Opponents have the fewest assists per game in the league. An NBA-low 47.1% of opponent at-rim shots are assisted. The Hawks will need to pound the ball down low repeatedly, making Carlos Boozer work on defense (Luis Scola filled that role for Phoenix on Saturday, with 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting) , and penetrate into the lane (as Shannon Brown and Michael Beasley did for the Suns), forcing Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson to provide help. Atlanta must punish the Bulls when they go with a Hinrich-Belinelli backcourt, with guards beating them down the court for transition baskets.

Go Hawks!

~lw3