Deng hits game-winner as Bulls charge past Hawks

Jan 4, 2012, 6:13 GMT

Los Angeles - Luol Deng took a pass from Joakim Noah and hit the game-winning layup with 3.7 seconds as the Chicago Bulls rallied from 19 points down for a dramatic 76-74 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.

Reigning league most valuable player Derrick Rose erupted for 17 of his game-high 30 points in the final quarter, including a driving layup to put the Bulls ahead, 74-73 with 9.9 seconds left.

With the game deadlocked after Al Horford split a pair of free throws, Noah got the ball on the right wing and found Deng cutting along the right baseline for the difference-maker.

Joe Johnson had a final shot to give the Hawks the win, but his three-point try missed at the buzzer, and the Bulls (5-1) escaped with their fourth straight win.

Horford tallied 16 points for Atlanta (4-2), which was outscored 34-18 in the decisive fourth period.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 30 points and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers (4-1) silencing the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-93.

James Harden tallied 23 points, while Kevin Durant finished with 19 on a miserable 8-of-26 shooting for the Thunder, losers of two straight after starting the season 5-0.

Rudy Gay scored 23, reserve Sam Young had 20 and the Memphis Grizzlies rebounded from a 40-point drubbing by the Bulls on Sunday, to crush the visiting Sacramento Kings, 113-96.

Elsewhere: the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced the visiting Charlotte Bobcats, 115-101; the host Utah Jazz drummed the Milwaukee Bucks, 85-73, and the LA Lakers trimmed the visiting Houston Rockets, 108-99.