Hawks-Bulls
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Smith is capable of scoring, but can he do it for a seven-game series against Michael? I doubt it. Also, Smith and the streaky Blaylock both have their bad games. In fact, they had a bad game in Game 5 against Detroit and the Hawks still won. But they can't afford to have bad games against Chicago because they won't win.

Frontcourt: Advantage Bulls
At center, there's no question that Dikembe Mutombo gets the advantage over Luc Longley both offensively and defensively. At the small forward, Scottie Pippen gets the edge over Tyrone Corbin by a landslide.

At power forward, Christian Laettner has been able to score against Dennis Rodman. But Rodman is still a great rebounder, making this a wash.

Rodman will only get eight points, but he'll get you 17 rebounds. Laettner will get you 17 points but he'll "only" get eight rebounds. So those two will offset each other in different ways.

When you add in the Bulls' bench strength (see below), the edge goes to Chicago.

Bench: Advantage Bulls
It's not even close. Chicago has a tremendous advantage with Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, Randy Brown, Brian Williams and Jason Caffey.

SEASON SERIES

Nov. 16: Bulls 97, Hawks 69 Michael Jordan scored 25 points and Dennis Rodman grabbed 15 rebound in a laugher. Dec. 26: Hawks 108, Bulls 103 Christian Laettner dominated with 37 points and 14 rebounds. Feb. 14: Bulls 89, Hawks 88 Chicago stopped Atlanta's 20-game home winning streak ... barely. March 15: Bulls 99, Hawks 79 Luc Longley had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

All the Hawks bring is Alan Henderson. Their starters will play a minimum of 35 minutes, so don't expect much impact from the Atlanta bench.

Defense: Advantage Bulls
Atlant a is a team that will turn the ball over a great deal; Chicago will feast off of those turnovers and turn them into layups. With Michael and Scottie leading the way, it will be a problem for Atlanta.

CHICAGO's team defense is outstanding, while Atlanta's is porous. And the Hawks are that way because Mutombo is back there clogging up the pores. Chicago's defense is a team defense: the Bulls read, they recognize, they react and they rotate. With Mutombo, he reacts, he rotates, he blocks. Then his teammates' job is to pick up the blocked shots.

The edge goes to Chicago, but not by much because Mutombo does such a great job.

Three-point shooting: Advantage Bulls
Kerr, Jordan and Pippen versus Blaylock and Smith. Give the advantage to Chicago.

Overall: Bulls in five
Atlanta played them tough in the regular season, even though the Bulls won the season series 3-1.

In the halfcourt situations, Mutombo really becomes an equalizer and a major factor in policing the lane. As in hockey, where they talk about the goalies getting hot, Mutombo appears to now be getting hot. If he becomes like a goaltender in hockey and he gets hot at blocking shots, Chicago could have problems.

But Chicago will come with its head on tight, so expect a five-game series -- six at the most.

Series notes

The Hawks: Had to win the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs for second straight year. The Bulls: Who have swept their first playoff series six of the past seven years.