Hawks Fly Through Bulls

The Atlanta Hawks cut down on their turnovers and came away with their first victory of the season.

Dikembe Mutombo scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead seven Atlanta scorers in double figures Saturday night as the Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 113-97.

The Hawks had six of their 11 turnovers in the first half as they took a 61-49 lead after trailing for most of the first quarter.

In their season-opening 94-87 loss at Washington on Tuesday, Atlanta had 23 turnovers and on Thursday night in its 119-109 home-opening loss in their first game at Philips Arena, the Hawks had 26.

"I try to learn with every mistake," said point guard Jason Terry, the Hawks' No. 1 draft pick, chosen 10th overall.

"The only way I'm going to get better is to get out there and play some minutes and have an opportunity to make those mistakes," said Terry, who had his best game so far.

Terry played 24 minutes in backing up starter Bimbo Coles, had 12 points, five assists, five steals and only four turnovers.

Isaiah Rider came off the bench to score 18 points for the Hawks. Jim Jackson added 15 points, including 3-for-3 on 3-pointers, while Chris Crawford had 14, Alan Henderson 13 and Coles 12.

The Hawks took the lead for good at 26-25 on a free throw by Coles 13 seconds efore the end of the quarter.

Atlanta broke it open in the second quarter with a 14-6 run as Terry scored eight points and Rider added six to give the Hawks a 52-41 lead with 2:48 remaining in the half.

The Hawks led 61-49 at halftime as Rider and Mutombo each scored 12 points.

"I'm just doing what I've got to do," said Rider, who missed the opener due to his grandfather's death and has come off the bench the last two games.

"Starting doesn't bother me, as long as I play," said Rider, who played 22 minutes and was 7-of-15 from the field.

Rookie Elton Brand, the overall No. 1 draft pick, and Toni Kukoc each had 21 points for the Bulls, who have lost their first three games. Brand also had 12 rebounds.

"We played the best we've played offensively in a half in the first half," Chicago coach Tim Floyd said.

Brand and Kukoc each had 15 points in the first half.

"I thought we more or less plugged the dike," Floyd said. "We cured some things in that area. Defensively, we got really exposed individually at every spot on the floor. They got us on our heels defensively, taking it at us, taking it by us."

Atlanta's biggest lead was 27 points, three times in the final quarter, the last at 105-78 on a dunk by Rider with 6:11 to play.

The Hawks shot 54 percent (44-of-81) for the game.

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