The Chicago Bulls can finish off the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night at Philips Arena, but the going will be anything but easy.

The Bulls came into the playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed after ending the regular season with the best record, and while the Hawks finished fifth in the East, the disparity in the teams’ placement in the standings hasn’t mattered much in the series.

Chicago took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set with a 95-83 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night at the United Center, as it used a 26-15 fourth quarter to ice Atlanta. The Bulls covered as 8.5-point favorites at SportsInteraction.com to improve to 3-2 ATS in the set.

Derrick Rose led the way for Chicago on Tuesday with 33 points and nine assists, and was also a game-high +17. Luol Deng (+15) dropped 23 points for the Bulls, who held the Hawks to 1 of 12 shooting (8.3%) from three-point range.

Kirk Hinrich (strained right hamstring) remains out of the series, but the good news for Atlanta backers is it didn’t matter much in Game 5. Jeff Teague went for 21 points and seven assists in the loss, while Josh Smith chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds.

If the Hawks are to stave off elimination and force a deciding Game 7 back in Chicago, they’ll need better performances from both Smith and Joe Johnson, who scored 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the floor in Game 5.

Atlanta certainly rode Johnson and Smith in its 100-88 win as 3.5-point underdogs in Game 4 at Philips Arena, as it pulled off a dominant fourth quarter of its own to even the series. Johnson poured in 24 points, while Smith filled up the stat sheet with 23 points, 16 boards, and eight assists.

The Hawks have been successful when they’ve made Rose into a volume shooter, and that’s the goal again on Thursday. Rose did go for 34 points and 10 assists in Game 4 – but he connected on just 12 of 32 shots, as the Bulls hit only three of 16 attempts (18.8%) from downtown.

As much as the tenor of the series suggests an Atlanta win on Thursday, bettors have to tread lightly with fading Chicago. The Hawks have covered in only one of the last four games in the series, and the Bulls are 11-5 ATS in their last 16 road games overall.

If Atlanta can send the set back to Chicago, it’d be bucking quite the trend to stun the Bulls in Game 7. Chicago hasn’t lost back to back games since February 7, after which it has gone 35-7 SU (26-16 ATS).