ATLANTA -- Al Horford broke out of the three-game scoring slump to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 92-75 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night at Philips Arena. Horford, shooting a miserable 26 percent (9 of 35) from the field in the last week, scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds for his first double-double since Dec. 12 at Orlando. Josh Smith scored 12 points and had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Luol Deng, whose sore left shoulder made him a game-time decision, led the Bulls (15-11) with 11 points. Joakim Noah had 10 points and nine rebounds. Lou Williams, making his first start for the Hawks, scored 16 points, including the Hawks' first basket after they got off to an 0-for-6 start in a sluggish first quarter for both teams. The Hawks (16-9) built a dominating lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulls 36-16. Kyle Korver's 3-point buzzer-beater at the half put the Hawks up 53-37; he finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Both teams played Friday night and traveled, and it showed in the ragged beginning of the game. The first points didn't come until Noah's lay-up at 8:49 after a collective 10 missed jump shots. The Hawks had lost two straight and three of their last four while the Bulls came into the game 6-0 on the road against Eastern Conference teams. With the game already out of reach at 72-47 at 3:58 in the third quarter, Bulls rookie guard Marquis Teague entered the game, the first time he has played against his older brother, Hawks guard Jeff Teague, as professionals. Jeff Teague outscored his brother 11-8 and also had eight assists. NOTES: Hawks coach Larry Drew, displeased by his team's lack of energy in Friday night's 99-80 loss to the Sixers in Philadelphia, started Williams, hoping the Hawks would get off to a faster start. Not that he had a lot of choice: Devin Harris missed a second consecutive game with a sore left foot and DeShawn Stevenson's balky knees always make him a game-time decision in back-to-back games. ... Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, reflecting on the chaotic, ejection-filled end to Friday night's 110-106 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, said of Noah, "It's an emotional game. I don't want to take that away. But I do want him to control it. Once they start calling technicals and are throwing people out, you've got to realize, OK, they're not taking anymore." ... Taj Gibson (right ankle) and Deng (left shoulder) were game-time decisions after warming up; Deng ended up starting.
The so-called "Battle of Manila" may be over, but remnants of the tense political contest seem to have spurred another fight, this time between socialites on Twitter.
