Basisphilosophie » ple of hits away." The Royals, who had not mad

CHICAGO -- If there has been a bright spot to the Chicago Bulls injury-filled season, it has been their defence. It came through again Saturday night, helping the Bulls overcome a 40.7 per cent shooting night to hold the Atlanta Hawks to nearly 20 points below their season average in a 91-84 victory. Opponents are shooting 43 per cent against the Bulls. "We have a defensive system and we work on it a lot," Joakim Noah said. "Its crazy how much we work on it. We work on defence every day." The Hawks, who were averaging 103.2 points, shot 37.2 per cent and were 8 of 28 from 3-point range. "We have a core of guys that understand it and are really good at it," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said about the defence. "We know if we defend and rebound and keep our turnovers down, were going to be in a position to win. Right now, when youre short-handed, thats really what you have to do. Its also what you have to do in every game, even when youre completely healthy." Mike Dunleavy scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Luol Deng added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, hitting two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to seal the win. Chicago led most of the way in winning for the fifth time in seven games. Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague scored 16 points apiece for the Hawks. A 3-point attempt by Kyle Korver that would have cut the Bulls lead to 84-82 with 4:18 left was overturned and ruled a shot clock violation upon review. Soon after, DeMarre Carroll was called for an offensive foul when the Hawks trailed 86-79. "That was a big swing, a big change in the game," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. Korver extended his NBA record of games with at least one 3-pointer made to 103 straight when he hit the first of his two 3-pointers with 9:59 left in the first quarter. Korver finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting. "I just have so much respect for those guys over there, how they continue to play hard every day and just grind and win games like tonight," Korver said. "They just find ways. Its not the prettiest basketball at times, but you have a lot of respect for them." The Hawks tied the game 67-all with 11:12 left on Mike Scotts free throw. It was the first time the Bulls hadnt led since there was 6:19 left in the first quarter. But Dunleavy answered with a 3-pointer, Noah scored on a putback and Jimmy Butler made a layup to put the Bulls ahead 74-69 with 8:41 remaining. Atlanta pulled to within one on Teagues layup with 5:38 left, but Dunleavy responded with a jumper and Taj Gibson scored on a dunk for an 84-79 lead. "Mike Dunleavy really had a heck of a second half," Budenholzer said. "Some of them were really well-contested, tough, difficult shots, and give him credit for making them." Carlos Boozer missed his first Bulls game of the season due to a sore right knee. MRI results on the knee were negative and the Bulls are hoping the injury isnt serious. Gibson started in his place. "The big thing is getting everyone back and healthy," Thibodeau said. "Hopefully, Carlos will be short term, which I believe he will be. This is the first time weve had the group relatively whole." Butler and D.J. Augustin each had 11 points, and Gibson and Noah had 10 points and 12 rebounds apiece. Scott scored 12 and Carroll had 10 for Atlanta. The Hawks pulled within one twice late in the third quarter but were unable to pull ahead. The Bulls led 67-64 after three quarters. "It was a close game and we just couldnt find a way," Budenholzer said. "I think we have to be a little smarter down the stretch. We have to compete every possession, every rebound." Deng made a half-court shot at the second-quarter buzzer to give the Bulls a 50-45 lead at the break. Korver had made a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left to cut the Bulls lead to 47-45 after they were ahead by as many as 10. The Bulls led 26-18 after the first quarter. Atlanta had scored at least 100 points in 10 of 11 games. The Hawks were playing the second game of a back-to-back. NOTES: Hawks guard John Jenkins (low back pain) missed his sixth straight game. He is expected to also miss the Hawks game Monday against Brooklyn. . Center Pero Antic remained in the Hawks lineup after he scored 16 points in his first career start on Friday against Golden State. . This was the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Bulls went 2-1 against Atlanta last season. C. J. Cron Twins Jersey . Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed on Sunday that his starting goalie has a head injury and the team will take it day by day. Jorge Polanco Twins Jersey . -- C.J. Cron hit an RBI single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues, doubled his second time up and hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night. http://www.twinssale.com/twins-kirby-puckett-jersey/ . The 10-horse field of 3-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at approximately 10:14pm et. Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field. Kyle Gibson Twins Jersey . "Ive got a lot of work to do on this team and the sooner that I can get back to my office and start that work, itll be better," he said straight-faced as the rest of the room erupted in laughter. Byron Buxton Twins Jersey . -- Once again, Carlos Santana was a huge hit in Kansas City.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon got the big hit and Norichika Aoki and Omar Infante spent all day setting the table. Gordon hit a three-run double in the first inning and Jeremy Guthrie pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 7-5 in their home opener Friday. Aoki and Infante were acquired in the off-season to get on base at the top of the order. They each had three hits, and Aoki worked a walk, too. "Thats why we made those additions, guys who can get on base and put the ball in play," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Nori and Omar were on base seven times, which was big. That set the table for Gordys big double. It was a good offensive day for us." Guthrie allowed four runs on seven hits, four walks and a hit batter in 5 2-3 innings. "It was just windy," Guthrie said. "It was never really cold. The grip is not perfect in conditions like that, but ... were fortunate enough that were moving around every play, so we stay pretty warm." Lorenzo Cain drove in two runs with a two-out fifth inning single that put Kansas City ahead 7-2. The Royals jumped on White Sox rookie right-hander Erik Johnson for six hits and four runs in the first two innings. Johnson retired only 14 of the 28 batters he faced, yielding seven runs on 10 hits, three walks and a hit batter to take the loss. "The biggest thing is that Ive got to compete better for my team," Johnson said. "We were right there. We put five runs on the board after I put them in a hole. Youve got to give credit to our offence for never giving up." Jose Abreu and Conor Gillaspie hit sacrifice flies against Guthrie, annd Adam Eaton hit a two-run single off reliever Kelvin Herrera in the sixth, but both runs were charged to Guthrie.dddddddddddd Tyler Flowers, who went 4-for-4 Thursday against Minnesota, had hits in his first three at-bats, but the streak ended in the eighth when Aoki dropped his fly ball to right. "I thought we came up with a couple of big hits," Flowers said. "But Guthrie made some good pitches in situations that could have escalated into bigger innings. We had him on the ropes a couple of times, but missed a couple of hits here or there. We were probably a couple of hits away." The Royals, who had not made a challenge in spring training or in the first two games against the Tigers, asked the umpires to review a call in the seventh when Abreu was called safe at first on a throwing error by third baseman Mike Moustakas that pulled Eric Hosmers foot off the bag. After a two minute, 49 second delay, the call was upheld. "I figured it was a good time to take a shot at it," Yost said. "I thought it would be a 50-50 chance." Greg Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save after setting a Royals record with 47 saves last season. Notes: RHP Nate Jones was put on the disabled list by the White Sox with a muscle strain in his left hip. RHP Jake Petricka was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. Jones had allowed four runs without retiring a batter in his first two appearances. Petricka pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings after Johnson was pulled in the fifth. . LHP Bruce Chen, who is 7-2 against the White Sox since the start of the 2011 season, starts Saturday. LHP John Danks will make his first White Sox start. ' ' '