Derrick Rose may be the player who’ll soon be named NBA MVP, but he and his Chicago Bulls became the victims of simple math.

Two playmakers are better than one.

Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford exploited the mismatches they had, using their abilities to propel the Atlanta Hawks to a 103-95 victory over the Bulls in the United Center.

To say that Johnson (34 points on 12-18 FGs, 5-5 3FGs) had it going tonight would be a grand understatement. J.J. patiently seized the opportunities that presented themselves within Atlanta’s offense, and made critical shots and plays to close to game – including 10 points in the final quarter. His size and ability to create (for himself and others) has been overlooked at times. Nowadays, Johnson is easily one of the most heavily criticized players from a productivity standpoint, particularly because of the ridiculous contract that the Hawks signed him to in the offseason. (Ironically, the Bulls were one of the team who were heavily in the running for Johnson’s services.) But Atlanta knows that J.J. is fully capable of doing what he did tonight, and efforts like that can only be matched by a select number of players in the Association.

What truly makes the Hawks special, is having a performer the caliber of Jamal Crawford – coming off of their bench, nonetheless. Chicago knows Crawford (22 points, 3 assists) well, as the 6’5″ lead guard spent the first four seasons of his career there. He’s an established scorer (averaging over 17 ppg in 8 different seasons) with the unique ability to create opportunities for others. He’s earned the role of Atlanta’s ‘last shot taker / playmaker’, as his ability to create space and command help from additional defenders is unparallelled.

The Bulls will have to find a way to slow down five-time All-Star Joe Johnson.

Tonight, Tom Thibodeau had the unenviable task of wondering how he would defend these multi-talented players. Chicago had Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer at its disposal, but more often than not they’d be coming in for one another due to their inability to play the point. And when Kyle Korver hit the court, the Hawks were clearly going to let their guards go to work.

While shooting over 51% from the floor against one of the league’s best defensive units, the Hawks were also able to severely limit Rose’s effectiveness in Game One. Gifted with speed, a crafty handle, and amazing change of pace, Rose has also improved his outside shooting. Unfortunately, it remains a liability which was on display tonight. Atlanta went under every screen, daring Rose to launch triples (on which he was 2-7). Rose is rightfully the leading candidate for the season’s MVP award, but his incompleteness may keep his team from being as good as it can.

Neither team sported a discernible advantage in the paint, meaning the game’s deciding moments were determined by perimeter play.

And when all was said and done, Atlanta was more than prepared to contain the running of the Bulls.

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