Series Tied After Tough Bulls Loss

MVP Derrick Rose blames himself for Sunday's 100-88 loss to tie the series.

"It was a tough game but no excuses," Rose said. "Put this game on me. Two turnovers at the end of the game."

Indeed, Rose turned it over twice during Atlanta's decisive run, and Chicago also was hurt by an admitted blown call from referee Bennett Salvatore, who blew his whistle, said he didn't mean to and ruled a jump ball that was won by the Hawks.

After the Hawks' embarrassing performance two nights earlier, they changed up their lineup, going back to a bigger lineup that worked so well against Dwight Howard and Orlando in the opening round.

Seven-footer Jason Collins started at center between Al Horford and Smith, putting Marvin Williams in a reserve role. Collins had a couple of early dunks, but he wound up playing less than 12 minutes.

More significant was the way Atlanta changed up its defense on Rose, charging at him with double-teams — even a few triple-teams — whenever it looked as though he was about to make a move toward the hoop.

No one stops Rose completely, of course. He still had plenty of moves for the highlight film, including a soaring dunk of his own miss when no one blocked him out early on.

But down the stretch, the Hawks clamped down on the Chicago star. Rose tied it at 84 on a drive with 4½ minutes to go, but he made only one more basket, a late one that didn't matter, and finished 12 of 32 from the field.

"I put us in a bad position at the end of the game," he said. "Turnovers, loose balls. Just learn from it and just try not to do it the next game."

Watching from the bench, Hinrich noticed a big difference from Game 3 to Game 4.

"Our second line of defense was so much better," he said. "When Derrick got in the lane, we made him play in a crowd. That's what you have to do."