It's becoming obvious that the Bulls won't start winning on the road until they decide to play a little defense.
They dropped their seventh straight road game on Saturday in Atlanta while allowing a season-high 129 points. The Hawks also shot 55.7 percent from the field, another season high for a Bulls opponent. "I thought our guys worked hard," coach Vinny Del Negro said after the game. "We changed defenses. But when you're taking jump shots and giving up points in the paint as easy as we have, it makes it very difficult. We have to keep on working and keep on finding ways to improve in that department."
The players offered a variety of suggestions on how to solve the defensive problems. Andres Nocioni thinks everyone will have to take defense as a personal challenge. Derrick Rose wants better communication on the floor. Ben Gordon feels the things can only be solved in practice.
The Bulls have one more stop, on Monday, on the current four-game road trip. New Jersey has been a painful place for them to play. They've lost 13 straight at the building now known as the Izod Center, dating back to April 2001. The Bulls won just 15 games that season, but that was one of them.
The Bulls did beat the Nets 113-104 at the United Center on Dec. 13 behind Ben Gordon's 29 points. New Jersey's Vince Carter scored 39 in a losing effort.
HAWKS 129, BULLS 117: The Bulls gave the scoreboard a workout but couldn't muster much defense and went cold in the fourth quarter of a loss at Philips Arena on Saturday. Through the first three quarters, the Bulls shot 62.1 percent from the field. But they fell behind during a 21-2 Hawks run in the second quarter and couldn't recover. In the fourth quarter, they shot 33 percent and scored a relatively low 22 points. Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 33 points, while Derrick Rose added 27.
Atlanta guard Joe Johnson (41 points) became the second opponent in four days to light up the Bulls for 40 points, joining Detroit's Rodney Stuckey.
