Derrick Rose struggled on a balky left ankle but still managed to score 25 points as the Chicago Bulls evened their Eastern Conference playoff series at a game apiece with a 86-73 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Rose shot 10-of-27 from the floor and committed eight turnovers to go along with 10 assists, but Joakim Noah picked him up with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

The Bulls did not need much from Rose, who received his trophy as the NBA's Most Valuable Player earlier in the day, and instead turned their focus to the defensive end of the floor.

After allowing the Hawks to shoot 51 percent in Game 1, Chicago broke out the form that made them No. 1 in field goal percentage defense in the NBA during the regular season, and held Atlanta to 34 percent in Game 2.

The Hawks pulled to within six points 77-71 with 4:16 left, but the Bulls called a timeout, regrouped and ripped off an 8-2 spurt over the next three minutes to put it away.

Jeff Teague scored 21 points and Joe Johnson added 16 for Atlanta, which hosts Game 3 on Friday.