NBA
CHICAGO — Coby White made some vicious crossovers and spins toward the basket early on, eliciting roars from the crowd.
He was so effective that fans chanted his name as the final minutes wore on.
It was that kind of night.
White scored a career-high 42 points and the Chicago Bulls advanced to the play-in tournament with a 131-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
White never scored more than 37 points in a regular season or postseason game.
But in a breakout season, he delivered his best performance to date.
“It was a great moment for it to happen,” White said. “Thank you to the fans. It felt like a playoff atmosphere. The place was rocking tonight.”
Chicago will visit Miami on Friday for a first-round matchup with No. 8 seed Boston in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Heat lost to Philadelphia 105-104 on Wednesday.
Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points.
However, the Hawks fell short once again, dropping their final six games of the regular season.
For Chicago, Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 12 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan had 22 points and nine assists.
Ayo Dosunmu, who missed the final four games of the regular season with a right quadriceps contusion, added 19 points.
But White stole the spotlight.
He shot hard at the rim, making 15 of 21 from the field in a game where the Bulls shot 56.8 percent from the field.
He also had nine rebounds and six assists.
“I support the players who work hard and are great human beings,” Murray said. “DeMar DeRozan is a brother to me and he speaks highly of him. He says he works hard, he's a great guy, he does his job, he's a professional on and off the field. When I hear things like that, I just hope and root for the players in the league to be successful. I think he's always been good. I've never had a chance to show it off, and the sky is the limit.”
Atlanta's Trae Young and Clint Capela each scored 22 points.
Young, who missed 23 games late in the regular season with a torn ligament in his left pinky finger, had 10 assists but committed six turnovers.
Capela grabbed 17 rebounds. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 21 points.
The Bulls took an 88-85 lead after Vucevic hit a 3-pointer to start a 17-2 run with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
White spun past Young and set up a dunk on the sharp Javonte Green, sending fans into a frenzy.
White then made a layup following a block by Darren Terry to make it 105-87 with 1:27 left in the third.
The Bulls ended the first quarter on a 16-2 run, led by a steal by Alex Caruso and a dunk by Terry, to take a 40-22 lead.
Young committed five turnovers during this period.
The Hawks quickly found their groove and started the second with 14 straight hits.
The Bulls' rotation midway through the quarter saw Dosunmu block DeAndre Hunter, drawing a roar from the crowd, and DeRozan broke the lead with a 3-point play to cut the lead back to 58-44.
The Hawks pushed even further toward the end of the first half, closing the gap to three points in the final minutes.
But Caruso answered Capela's alley-oop dunk with a 3, and Chicago headed to the locker room with a 73-67 lead.
Caruso left the game in the third quarter with a left ankle injury.
It is unclear whether he will be ready to play against Miami.
“My mindset is to play until my body tells me I can't,” he said.
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