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ATLANTA (AP) _ Dikembe Mutombo and the Atlanta Hawks aren't getting carried away with their first two-game winning streak since Dec. 8.

``I hope I never get used to mediocrity,'' said Mutombo, who had 23 rebounds and 14 points in the Hawks' 96-89 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

``They decided to make a lot of changes here. Some of them work _ others do not.''

The Hawks entered Tuesday night's game with a 14-25 mark, the franchise's worst start in 23 years.

``Hopefully we can build on this,'' Mutombo said. ``There were some encouraging signs tonight.''

But Isaiah Rider, who helped Portland advance to the Western Conference finals last year, knows better.

``This team has a long, long way to go,'' said Rider, who scored a game-high 28 points. ``We can't be satisfied.''

Rider stressed that consecutive victories over Washington and Chicago only count for so much. The Hawks had lost four straight and 16 of 20 before beating the Wizards 111-93 on Saturday.

The Wizards and Bulls are the only teams below the Hawks in the Eastern Conference, thus leading to talk that time may be running out on Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens.

``We've heard it but we're phasing it out,'' Rider said. ``Some of you were at practice yesterday, where we had a very good practice. And we carried it over to today, which is good news.''

Mutombo's rebound total, his best since pulling down 29 against Minnesota on Dec. 14, helped Atlanta to a 52-42 advantage on the boards.

``I tried to get around him, but he's so big,'' said Elton Brand, who led the Bulls with 22 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:01 remaining. ``He's more block-oriented than when we played them the first time.''

Despite the second-worst record in the NBA, the Bulls had won three of four and six of 10.

But Chicago, which led by 11 on Randy Brown's basket with 11:32 left in the third quarter, allowed the Hawks their first lead since 2-0 when Rider put them up 53-52 with a 3-pointer six minutes later.

``I thought we played a fine first half _ considering it's back-to-back games _ and probably our worst half in 13 games in the second half,'' Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. ``We played like we were dead-legged.''

In going 4-for-20 for 14 points, Chicago's Toni Kukoc had his worst shooting night since shooting 1-for-14 in the season opener. The Bulls also had 17 points and four steals from Ron Artest.

``A guy blocks a shot or thinks he has himself going (then) I want to come out and calm that down and let him know who the real me is and how I really play,'' Rider said when asked about Artest. ``He's did a good job there for a while.''

After a pair of free throws by Mutombo gave the Hawks a 10-point lead with 2:03 remaining in the third, Chris Carr hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 to play to bring the Bulls within five.

The Hawks hit 11 of 12 free throws in the final 3:41 to secure the win.

Notes: Brand has scored 20 or more points in five straight games. ... After being whistled for his third foul, Atlanta's Alan Henderson was assessed a technical foul at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter. Henderson angrily charged at referee Marc Davis and slammed his protective eyewear against the floor. Henderson returned after halftime with a new pair of glasses and finished with eight points and five rebounds. ... Wilkens coached his 500th game with Atlanta. He is 297-203.