Chicago advance to first conference final since MJ

ATLANTA (AP):

The Chicago Bulls were turned down by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Now, they'll have a chance to beat 'em.

With MVP Derrick Rose in more of a supporting role, the Bulls cruised into the Eastern Conference final with a 93-73 rout of the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night, wrapping up the series in six games.

But Rose will surely play a leading part in the next round, when the Bulls take on Miami's super trio of James, Wade and Chris Bosh. Game One is tomorrow in Chicago.

"It's going to be a great matchup," Rose said. "We're fine with being considered the underdog."

The Bulls made a serious bid to sign James and Wade last summer, hoping they'd team with Rose in their own version of the Big Three. Of course, those two wound up in south Florida with Bosh, a group that knows anything less than a championship will be considered a failure.

But, first, they'll have to get by the Bulls.

Chicago, it turns out, won more games than anyone during the regular season with one star and plenty of guys around him who play their parts to perfection.

That was never more apparent than the series-clinching win against the Hawks.

Underrated

Carlos Boozer scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out five assists. Luol Deng hit some big baskets early and finished with 13 points, plus five steals. Joakim Noah scored 11 and stifled the Hawks with three blocks. Omer Asik chipped in with two swats of his own. Keith Bogans made only one basket, but it was a big three-pointer as the Bulls put it away in the third quarter. And, boy, did everyone play some defence.

"What goes underrated about them is the depth of their team," said Atlanta's Al Horford, who had a miserable night and a tough series overall. "They just wear on you. They just kept coming, kept coming every game. It seemed like their starters were fresh."

Rose was hardly invisible, scoring 19 points and dishing out 12 assists. But he took a playoff-low 14 shots and finished with his second-lowest scoring total of the post-season, content to let his teammates carry the load.

"D-Rose gets so much attention," said Boozer, who had been bothered by a toe injury and came under criticism at home for inconsistent play. "The 15-footer was open for me. I shot it."

Chicago shared the ball on offence, earning assists on all but seven of their 41 baskets. And the Bulls never let up at the defensive end, limiting the Hawks to just 37 per cent on 27-of-74 shooting.

"They just got on a roll," said Joe Johnson, who led Atlanta with 19 points. "Boozer probably had his best game that he played all series. You have him scoring and playing big like that, obviously they're going to be tough to beat."

The Bulls haven't been this far since 1998, when Michael Jordan (MJ) and Scottie Pippen were on their way to a second three-peat. Pippen sat near the Chicago bench, relishing a new generation that's carried his old team into contention for another championship.

"When we showed up for training camp, we knew we could be special," Rose said. "We were ready to put in the work and not be concerned with statistics. We just were concerned with winning each night."

Atlanta had hoped to extend this series to a Game Seven, feeling the pressure would be squarely on the Bulls if it came down to a winner-take-all. But Chicago squashed those hopes right from the opening tip. The Bulls never trailed and the lead was 10 by the end of the first quarter.

With the loss, Atlanta extended an infamous playoff mark: The Hawks have never advanced past the second round since moving from St. Louis in 1968.

Besides Johnson, Josh Smith was the only other Atlanta player in double figures with 18.

But a big call went against Smith, costing the Hawks a chance to cut the gap to single figures before half-time.