NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose scored 33 points to lead Chicago to a 95-83 victory Tuesday that put the Bulls one win away from reaching the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals.
Luol Deng added 23 points for Chicago, who took a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven second-round playoff series.
The last time Chicago reached the conference finals was in 1998, when superstar Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen completed their second NBA title three-peat.
The Hawks will try to rebound on Thursday when they host game six.
Taj Gibson came off the bench and scored 11 points for the Bulls, all in the fourth quarter. Rose also scored 11 in the fourth, as Chicago out-scored the Hawks 26-15 in the period.
Rose, who needed 32 shots to score 34 points in the Bulls’ game-four defeat, made 11-of-24 and handed out nine assists.
Jeff Teague, playing in place of injured Kirk Hinrich, had 21 points and Josh Smith added 16 points for the Hawks.
Joe Johnson scored 15 and Al Horford chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta.
The winner of the series will play either Miami or Boston in the conference finals for a chance to take on a team from the West for the NBA crown.
The Heat lead their series 3-1 and will try to close out the Celtics in game five on Wednesday in Miami.
While Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history as he helped the Bulls build the league’s best regular-season record, Chicago have had their struggles in these playoffs.
They gave themselves the upper hand over Atlanta, however, with a solid fourth quarter.
“Just playing together,” Rose said of Chicago’s surge in the final period, in which they trailed 70-69 in the early going but turned things around with a 9-0 scoring run.
“Making sure there’s help-side defense. Making everything tough on them, and some of the people that came off the bench, they played tremendous for us.”
Rose started the charge with a lay-up, then delivered a no-look pass to Gibson for a three-point play and added another basket.
Midway through the fourth Rose drove to the basket and was fouled, converting the three-point play for an 85-76 Chicago lead.
The Hawks trimmed the deficit to six, only for Chicago to score eight straight points, six of them from Gibson.
“I just came in and played my heart out,” Gibson said. “I’m so happy we got this win. I have great teammates.”
As for himself, Rose said, he coped with the Hawks defense by “just going hard.”
“I was just trying to attack the basket, get fouled, shoot floaters, and tonight they were going in,” he said.
The Bulls had led by as many as 15 in the first half, but Atlanta narrowed the gap to 48-42 at halftime.
Smith’s dunk late in the third saw the Hawks close the gap to 61-60, and as he hung on the rim Chicago’s Carlos Boozer swung his arm in the Atlanta player’s face. After Smith shoved back, both received technical fouls.
The Hawks took the lead for the first time in the third quarter, although the Bulls had edged ahead 69-68 going into the fourth.
“We felt confident going into the fourth,” Horford said. “We weathered the storm. We were down big early in the game. We just stayed with it.
“They just made more plays than us (in the fourth quarter). They were more aggressive in going to the basket. That’s something we probably need to do more of, instead of settling for jump shots.”
