Washington. The Atlanta Hawks put an emphatic end to Chicago’s six-game NBA winning streak on Saturday, pummelling the Bulls 109-94.

Josh Smith scored 25 points with five rebounds and five assists to lead Atlanta, who received 17 points apiece from Joe Johnson and Vladimir Radmanovic.

With Chicago’s NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose limited to eight points in 28 minutes, reserve John Lucas led the Bulls with 16 points. He scored 14 in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls, who never led and trailed by as many as 29 in the third period, never made it close.

The Hawks, playing their third game in as many days, connected on nine of 12 three-point attempts, made 16 steals and blocked eight shots -- six of those blocks belonging to Smith.

“I thought we just took it to them,” said Atlanta coach Larry Drew.

Rose, who also had six assists and five turnovers in 28 minutes, said his sore left elbow -- bruised on Wednesday in Detroit -- wasn’t a hindrance.

“The reason we lost this game was defence, plain and simple,” Rose said.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had cautioned before the contest that Chicago couldn’t expect the Hawks to be tired playing the third game of their back-to-back-to-back run. All teams are facing demanding stretches in the lockout-shortened season.

“This is the NBA,” Thibodeau said. “You have to bring great intensity every night. If you let down even a little bit, this is what happens.”

The Chicago Bulls stretched their NBA winning streak to six games on Friday as they dealt the Orlando Magic their first home defeat of the season, 97-83.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose shrugged off a sore elbow to score 21 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Bulls.

Britain’s Luol Deng also scored 21 for Chicago and Carlos Boozer added 20 with 13 rebounds.
Rose, who fell hard on his left elbow in a win at Detroit on Wednesday, said it felt fine most of the night -- apart from a collision with Orlando’s Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

“Other than the play where I went to the hole and Big Baby fouled me, other than that I was fine,” he said.
“I thought he had a really good command of the game,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose. “He did a great job of play-making and when he needed to score, he scored.”

Deng’s performance erased the taste of a disappointing two-point showing against Detroit. He, Boozer and reserve Kyle Korver delivered key shots to help thwart Orlando’s comeback bid.

Chicago’s Joakim Noah grabbed 10 rebounds while defending Orlando star Dwight Howard, whose game-high 28 points and 15 rebounds were not enough.

“Quite simply, we’re not on that level right now,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of how his team stacks up against the Bulls. “I’m not saying that crying or complaining. That’s just how it is.”

Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 15 seconds left, as the New York Knicks rallied for a 99-96 NBA victory over winless Washington on Friday.

“It was a hard-fought win,” said Anthony, who hurt his lower back with some three minutes to play. “We needed this one after starting off slow once again.”

The Wizards had jumped out to a 32-18 lead after one quarter, and led by as many as 16 in the second period. But a game that featured nine lead changes saw them finish the night still the NBA’s only team without a victory in the lockout-shortened season.

Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points for the Knicks and Tyson Chandler added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Nick Young led the Wizards with 24 points, but was off-target with a three-point attempt with two seconds remaining. Stoudemire corralled the rebound to end the contest.

John Wall scored 22 for Washington and Andray Blatche added 15 but they could not prevent the Wizards from falling to 0-7.

Despite the victory, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni admitted his team still have plenty of things to work on.
“We’re a long ways from being very good,” he said. “But we have the spirit and we are fighting, so that’s good.”

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