Butler, Wade Can't Do It All in Late Collapse to Hawks

Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade are the only reasons to pay attention to the Bulls this year.  They play the best basketball of anybody on the team and happen to be very good at what they do.  In Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, they were poised to carry the Bulls to victory by themselves.  But their supporting cast couldn't help them protect a lead that lasted almost four quarters and the Bulls lost, 119-114, for their seventh consecutive loss to the Hawks.

Though Atlanta never really went away, it seemed like its effort wouldn't be enough to stop Butler (40 points) and Wade (33 points) either.  The two combined to get the Bulls to a 110-100 lead with 3:02 left.  That's when the Hawks scored 12 unanswered points for their first lead en route to a 19-4 run that ended the game.  Not helping in the final few minutes were ill-advised 3-point attempts by a trio of Bulls bigs:  Taj Gibson, Paul Zipser and Nikola Mirotic.

All five Hawks starters, plus Tim Hardaway Jr., scored in double figures:  an effort led by Dennis Schroder's 24 points and game-high nine assists.  Paul Millsap scored 21, Thabo Sefolosha had and Hardaway poured in 17.  Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore totaled 16 points apiece and for good measure, Howard hauled in 12 rebounds and Bazemore dished out seven assists.  Schroder and Hardaway each knocked four 3-pointers while Millsap and Sefolosha each made three.

Even more telling than the Hawks' successful reliance on the long ball was leading the Bulls, 29-18, in the assists category.  They were smarter and better offensively while making just enough defensive stops.  The Bulls, as they have done far too often this season, tried to play hero ball more than they should have and didn't run the proper offensive sets when the tough got going.  In other words, they took a crack at more challenging opportunities when they should have simplified things because nobody besides Wade and Butler was contributing much of anything.

The Bulls fell back to a game below .500 with this loss and the more we see these types of games, the greater the chance they'll finish the season at that mark.  Yet remarkably, that might still be enough to reach the playoffs in the East.  Even at 23-24, they lead Milwaukee for the conference's final spot.  Maybe reaching the postseason is all the organization cares about, but everyone and their mother knows it will just be a bandage over a wound that will continue to grow until a clear direction is determined.

The second of a three-game homestand will be played Friday against the Miami Heat.  The Bulls have won the first two meetings of the series this season and can earn the sweep with a win.  They'll need to put this latest disaster behind them though.  And for the sake of Wade's future, let's hope he lets this roll off his back as well.