Bulls Win with Century Mark, Pacers Look to Extend Home Court Success Against the Mavericks

The Chicago Bulls (26-25) won their second straight game on Tuesday with a 100-85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks (25-25). A nod of thanks needs to go out to Joakim Noah.

The player had a triple-double with his 19 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists–his first for the season and No. 4 in his career. Noah is now tied in the fourth spot on the Bulls’ all-time list and from his career triple-doubles, this has him tied at No. 3 for the league list (tied with Mickey Johnson). During that same time span, Kevin Durant is ahead of him with five and Rajon Rondo has 11, according to ESPN stats.

And just to make it even more enjoyable for fans at the United Center on Tuesday, a win gave them free Big Macs.

Noah’s play has strong lately as he had a minimum of 10 rebounds in four consecutive games and at least 14 points during three of these games.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Noah’s recent play via the Associated Press, “I think the big thing is he’s healthy. He’s gotten into rhythm. I think missing training camp set him back offensively. Defensively he’s been terrific all year.”

Noah sits at 45/1 to win the 2014 NBA All Star Game MVP honor.

As for the rest of the Bulls players, others contributed to Tuesday’s win with 24 points and 12 rebounds from Taj Gibson, who took an injured Carlos Boozer’s place–something NBC Sports thinks should happen more often–while Jimmy Butler added 12 points with 13 rebounds. For the night, six Bulls players scored in double digits.

For the Hawks, they have now lost four straight games–a season high. At one point they had a 25-point deficit by the second quarter. Paul Millsap led in scoring for the night with 15 points but only two rebounds, ending a four-game streak of at least 10 rebounds. Lou Williams contributed 13 points and Jeff Teague added 12 points.

The highlight for the Hawks may have been another night of Kyle Korver successfully hitting 3-pointers. He hit one during the second quarter which kept his league streak of one 3-pointer or more per game alive at 119.

The last time he went without a 3-pointer? On Nov. 2, 2012 in the Houston game.

The Bulls have now won four consecutive games versus the Hawks and sixth straight ones on their home court. On Thursday the Bulls will return to action against the Brooklyn Nets (23-26). Chicago sits at  66/1 to win the 2014 NBA Championship.

The Hawks will try to snap their losing streak against the Toronto Raptors (27-24) on Wednesday. This won’t happen as Toronto gets the win (-6.5, 202 o/u).

Atlanta sits at 125/1 to win this year’s NBA Championship.

Looking ahead to other Wednesday action, the Central Division-leading Indiana Pacers (40-11) will take on the Dallas Mavericks (31-22). This is the final game for the Pacers before the All-Star break and they’ll look for home win No. 26.

The team is coming off a Monday home win over the Denver Nuggets (24-26), 119-80. From its number of points and 57.5 shooting percentage, this represented season highs for the team and it now has a 25-2 home record in the season’s first half.

David West

David West had 25 points on Monday and over his four previous games, has a 22.8 point average and 65.0 percent shooting from the field.

As for the Mavericks, they just ended a five-game win streak on Tuesday in their 114-89 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats (23-29). The team also saw Dirk Nowitzki go down in the second quarter with an ankle injury. He returned after the halftime break and contributed 14 points. After the game, the veteran said he expected to play against the Pacers.

In their last three games, the Pacers have defeated the Mavericks with the two from last season by 45 points combined. On Wednesday, the Pacers will get the win (-9.5, 197.5 o/u).