Slam Dunk Central

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Three years and 12 games later, the Atlanta Hawks got the proverbial “monkey off their back”.? But they got a big assist from swingman Joe Johnson in doing so; he scored 25 first-half points, leading the Hawks to an impressive victory over the Chicago Bulls Sunday 105-84 at Philips Arena.

The Hawks outhustled the Bulls in every way possible - rebounds (54-40), assists (23-22), steals (8-3) and blocked shots (12-6).? Just an overall poor effort by Chicago Sunday.? Atlanta shot very well in the first half, enabling them to grab a sizeable 69-49 lead at halftime; Johnson had 19 in the first quarter alone, pushing Atlanta ahead 38-22 in the period.? The Hawks built a 22-point lead in the first half and the Bulls could never get back into the game from that point on.

But there was an interesting development prior to the game - the Bulls squad took a vote and decided that maligned rookie forward/center Joakim Noah would not play in tonight’s game; apparently a culmination of events led to this happening, beginning with an altercation between Noah and Bulls assistant coach Ron Adams at practice Friday.? Noah didn’t play Friday and the team decided 1 game wasn’t enough for Noah.

Johnson led Atlanta with 37 points - including 5 three-pointers - along with 9 rebounds and 6 assists.? Josh Childress added 14 and grabbed 9 boards, while Marvin Williams chipped in with 11 with 2 steals and 4 blocked shots.? Chicago was led by Luol Deng, returning from an Achilles injury with 28 points; Andres Nocioni pitched in with 20, while Joe Smith added12 and 8 rebounds.? Atlanta (16-17) remains on their current homestand to host the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night, while Chicago (14-21) travels south to Florida to take on the Orlando Magic - also on Tuesday.