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Hawks seek to hold on to eighth place in East

Mar 25, 2008 - 1:31 PM Atlanta (30-39) at Chicago (27-42) 8:30 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Atlanta Hawks are starting to round into shape at the right time.

Atlanta goes for their fifth victory in six games on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls.

Last time out, All-Star Joe Johnson poured in 34 points and Mike Bibby added 20 as the Hawks posted a 98-90 victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

"Joe refused to let us lose, he and Bibby both," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. "I wanted to rest both of them, but it's time now. We just have to keep pushing and scraping and scratching to do whatever we can to win games. You can't afford to lose now."

The Hawks are just one-game ahead of the New Jersey Nets for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference standings with 13 games remaining.

Luol Deng scored 28 points and Ben Gordon contributed 21 off the bench but if wasn't enough to keep Chicago from dropping a 108-101 decision to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

The Bulls fell to 18-26 since the firing of former coach Scott Skiles, who guided the club to the playoffs each of the last three seasons.

In the pervious meeting here, Deng and Gordon combined for 33 points to lift Chicago to a convincing 90-78 victory on November 27. Johnson led Atlanta with 21 points.