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Horford leads charge as Hawks rally past Bulls

Mar 3, 2011 - 3:56 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Al Horford put the Hawks ahead for the first time in the game on a slam with 29.4 seconds remaining, then assisted on Joe Johnson's dunk, as Atlanta rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls, 83-80.

Horford scored 22 of his career-high tying 31 points in the second half for the Hawks, who have won three of four. Horford also pulled down 16 rebounds. Johnson and Jamal Crawford each added 12 points while Kirk Hinrich, playing in his first home game in Atlanta, had three points.

Luol Deng finished with 15 points and five boards for the Bulls, who fell to 2-1 on a five-game road trip. Joakim Noah donated 13 points and 12 rebounds in defeat.

"It's a tough loss," Noah said. "But our schedule doesn't get any easier. We can learn a lot from this game. It just shows you've got to play the game for 48 minutes."

The Hawks entered the second half down by 17, 50-33, but started the third quarter on a 15-4 run to make it a game. Horford tallied nine points during the surge, including a three-pointer to cut the gap to 54-48 with over five minutes to go.

Atlanta ripped off five straight points moments later to get within three, 61-58, on Horford's dunk with 1:13 left. Ronnie Brewer made a layup at the other end to give the Bulls a 63-58 edge after three periods.

Chicago continued to hold a small margin in the fourth and went ahead by four, 79-75, on Kyle Korver's trey with 1:37 remaining. But Marvin Williams responded with a trey of his own at the opposite end to spark Atlanta's comeback.

Derrick Rose, who was limited to 12 points on 5-of-21 shooting, was off the mark with a 15-foot jumper. Noah got the offensive rebound before missing a tip-in. He then fouled Horford, who made 1-of-2 from the foul line to tie the game at 79-79 with 56.9 seconds to play.

Noah made 1-of-2 at the line at the other end to put the Bulls ahead by one, 80-79, with 37.1 ticks left.

Horford brought the crowd to its feet with an emphatic slam with 29.4 seconds remaining. That gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, and Horford then stole the ball from Rose. Johnson put home another dunk to make it an 83-80 contest with 20.6 ticks to go.

The Bulls went for the tie at the other end, but Rose and Korver each missed three-pointers.

"I think we responded well as a team," Horford said. "We stayed with it, we kept defending, rebounding and just got it done."

Chicago started the game on a 14-0 run and that led to a 28-19 edge after 12 minutes.

The Bulls built their largest lead of the game with over 2 1/2 minutes to play in the first half, when Noah put home a slam for a 44-25 margin.

Chicago shot 51.4 percent from the field in the first half en route to a 50-33 lead.

Game Notes

Atlanta has won eight of its past nine meetings with Chicago...The Bulls have lost six in a row at Atlanta...The Hawks were without forward Josh Smith (knee)...Carlos Boozer had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who got 12 assists from Rose.