The Bulls held the Hawks to just 20 points in the first 23 minutes of the second half, but their reserves game up three easy buckets in the final minute, which displeased Tom Thibodeau.
“You want to play 48 minutes,” Thibodeau said. “I liked our defense in the second half. I didn't like the last 1:16.”
The Bulls gave up 52.5 percent shooting to Atlanta in the first half.
“I prefer the games in which we play defense early, because I think you're playing with fire when you let a team like that shoot the percentage we allowed in the first half,” Thibodeau said. “They've already gotten their confidence. Now your job is much harder."
“Even though Thibs is annoying sometimes, I think we respect how much effort he puts into it,” center Joakim Noah said. “When you see a coach put that much into it and you see him put his heart and soul in it, you can't be too mad at his intensity.”