The Chicago Bulls were looking for someone, anyone, to provide a spark, and it figured that Derrick Rose would. It was no shocker, either that Taj Gibson provided one, too. Rose scored 33 points, Gibson scored all of his 11 in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-83 in Game 5 [...]

There’s a tape that Josh Smith’s coach wants him to see.   It shows the Atlanta Hawks forward attacking the basket. And defending. And rebounding. And finding the open man. About the only thing it doesn’t feature is Smith parking himself on the outside, putting up jumpers beyond his range. “I’ve been telling him from [...]

Derrick Rose’s night started with a trophy presentation from Commissioner David Stern and ended with those familiar “MVP! MVP!” chants from the crowd. In between, he dominated in spurts. He struggled at times, too.   In the end, all that mattered was this: The Bulls and Hawks are now tied.   Rose scored 25 points, [...]

The Atlanta Hawks stared down Superman and they weren’t blinking against the Bulls, either.   Joe Johnson scored 34 points and Atlanta beat top-seeded Chicago 103-95 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. As if the loss itself wasn’t bad enough, the Bulls got a scare when Derrick Rose came up [...]