Atlanta Hawks Blog – Page 53 – NBA Blog

Bulls shut down Hawks in 97-58 rout

Tom Thibodeau sent a strong wake-up message to his team at a heated shootaround Monday morning. He got the response he was looking for.

Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls held Atlanta to a franchise-low 20 points in the first half of a 97-58 victory over the Hawks on Monday night…

Reserve forward Mike Scott scored 10 points to lead Atlanta as none of the starters reached double figures. Josh Smith and Kyle Korver had nine points each.

Jeff Teague had a layup with 7.9 seconds left to prevent the Hawks’ lowest scoring total in franchise history…

The Bulls held the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter and led 48-20 at the break. Ivan Johnson had a basket for the Hawks with 2:54 left in the first quarter, and Atlanta did not score again until Al Horford’s tip with 5:15 left in the second. The Hawks missed 17 consecutive shots during the drought while getting outscored 14-0.

They finished the 2 for 21 from the field in the second quarter, with Smith making a free throw and a jumper for Atlanta’s other points. The Hawks shot 20.5 percent on 8-of-39 shooting in the first half. Josh Smith was 3 for 10 and Horford 2 for 8 in the opening two periods…

The Bulls set a record for the fewest points allowed, eclipsing the previous mark of 59 by Orlando last March 19. Atlanta’s 20 points in the first half also set a Chicago record for the fewest allowed in a half, bettering the 22 scored by the Knicks in 1999. The Bulls also limited New York to five points in the second quarter of that game…

The Hawks’ previous scoring lows were six points in a quarter (at Minnesota) in 1994, and 25 in a half – accomplished three times, most recently against New Orleans in 2011.

— Reported by the Associated Press

John Wall returns in Wizards win over Hawks

John Wall gave his teammates a lift with 14 points and four assists in his first game of the season, and the worst-in-NBA Washington Wizards have their first winning streak after a 93-83 victory Saturday night over the Atlanta Hawks.

Wall’s playing time will be limited as he returns from a knee injury, but he appeared to have his old speed and explosiveness back while playing seven minutes in the first half and 15 in the second half.

No. 3 overall pick Bradley Beal, getting to play with Wall for the first time, scored 16 points for the Wizards, who are 6-28 but have strung together two wins in a row following their upset of Oklahoma City on Monday.

A.J Price added 16 points and Martell Webster had 15 for the Wizards, who never trailed in the second half.

Jeff Teague scored 19 points, Al Horford had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 11 points for the Hawks, who have lost five of six. Atlanta had won 18 of its previous 19 against Washington, including six in a row.

— Reported by Joseph White of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving scores 33, Cavs beat Hawks

Kyrie Irving gave the Cleveland Cavaliers some much-needed good news Wednesday night.

Irving scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and the injury-riddled Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 99-83 – Cleveland’s largest margin of victory this season.

Irving’s big night came at a perfect time for his team, which hasn’t had much to feel good about lately. The Cavaliers lost five of six overall and six straight at home going into the game, but that seemed minor compared to the news that came earlier in the day.

Center Anderson Varejao will have surgery Thursday to repair a muscle that split near his right knee. He will miss six to eight weeks. Varejao was having an All-Star caliber season, averaging 14.1 points and an NBA-leading 14.4 rebounds. Irving admitted the Cavaliers, who had only 10 available players, were thinking about their sidelined teammate throughout the night…

Josh Smith scored 17 points to lead Atlanta, which has lost a season-worst four straight. Hawks coach Larry Drew, who called his team ”soft” following Tuesday night’s loss to Minnesota, watched them get completely outplayed after tying the game early in the third. His mood wasn’t any better following the latest lackluster effort…

Alonzo Gee scored 15 points for Cleveland, while Tristan Thompson added 11 points and 14 rebounds. Rookie Tyler Zeller, who moved into the starting lineup after Varejao was injured Dec. 18, scored 11 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds.

Jeff Teague added 15 points for Atlanta and Horford scored 14…

C.J. Miles (back spasms), Daniel Gibson (concussion) and Luke Walton (personal matter) also missed the game for Cleveland.

— Reported by Steve Herrick of the Associated Press

Nikola Pekovic powers Timberwolves over slumping Hawks

Nikola Pekovic is bulldozing the paint and Ricky Rubio is ready to start ramping up his minutes, giving the Minnesota Timberwolves hope that they can withstand another long stretch without All-Star forward Kevin Love.

Larry Drew’s Atlanta Hawks have hit the skids after a superb start to the season, prompting the coach to label them ”soft,” which never sits very well with professional athletes.

Pekovic had 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Andrei Kirilenko added 21 points and the Timberwolves beat the Hawks 108-103 on Tuesday night.

Derrick Williams scored 17 points and Alexey Shved had 15 for the Timberwolves, who were missing coach Rick Adelman due to personal reasons and will be without Love for the foreseeable future while he deals with a broken right hand for the second time this season. Terry Porter filled in as coach and led the Wolves to their first victory over Atlanta since 2006, snapping an 11-game skid…

Josh Smith had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Al Horford had 19 points and 11 boards for the Hawks, who have lost three straight and four of their last five. They lost for the first time this year when Smith and Horford each get a double-double…

Rubio had eight assists, four steals and four points in 18 minutes in his first game back after missing the previous four with back spasms…

Lou Williams finished with 21 points and eight assists for the Hawks, who trailed by 14 to start the fourth but had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Larry Drew, Vinny Del Negro named NBA Coaches of Month for December

Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew and Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in December.

Drew led the Hawks to a 10-5 (.667) month, including a 4-3 record on the road. Atlanta notched victories over the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls during December, a month in which the Hawks shot .456 from the field as a team and .384 from three-point range. For the first time in team history, the Hawks connected on 10-or-more three-pointers in four consecutive games (Dec. 22-29).

Del Negro led the Clippers to a perfect 16-0 record in December, including wins over the Boston Celtics and three wins over the Utah Jazz. The Clippers’ franchise-best 17-game winning streak, which included the sixteen December wins, ended with their first game in January. The streak stands as the longest in the NBA since the 2008 season when Boston won 19 consecutive games.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Golden State’s Mark Jackson, Indiana’s Frank Vogel, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, New York’s Mike Woodson, Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks and Portland’s Terry Stotts.

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Rockets bounce back with 123-104 win over Hawks

The Houston Rockets had allowed 120 points in consecutive tough losses entering Monday night’s game against Atlanta.

This time it was Houston’s turn to put on an offensive show that left the other team at a loss.

James Harden had 28 points and the Rockets rebounded from their worst loss of the season with a 123-104 win over the Hawks.

The Rockets were coming off a 30-point defeat by Oklahoma City that was preceded by a loss to the Spurs…

Lou Williams had 21 points to lead the Hawks, who saw a four game winning streak snapped with the loss…

Smith scored 17 with seven rebounds in his return after missing a game with a hip injury, and Al Horford had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Delfino returned from a two-game absence with an illness to score a season-high 22 points, with six 3-pointers, and a career-high-tying eight assists. Asik added 11 points and 17 rebounds for the Rockets and Jeremy Lin added 16 points with eight assists.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Ex-Sixer Lou Williams anxious to face former team

Lou Williams at first tried to downplay his first return tonight to play the 76ers, but the Atlanta Hawks guard then quickly changed gears and admitted that this is not a typical NBA game.

Williams played his first seven years with the Sixers and is in his first season with the Hawks. He is enjoying the same success in the super-sub role.

Last season Williams led the Sixers in scoring, averaging 14.9 points. This season he is averaging 14.3 points for the surprising 15-8 Hawks, who trail first place Miami by two games in the Southeast Division.

“It’s one of those games that will be emotional,” Williams said following this morning’s shootaround at the Wells Fargo Center.

— Reported by Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Blog)

Durant scores 41, Thunder beat Hawks for 12th straight win

Oklahoma City’s biggest stars displayed a unique version of balanced scoring against Atlanta: Russell Westbrook led the Thunder in the first half and Kevin Durant dominated the Hawks over the final two quarters.

Durant set a season high with 41 points and Oklahoma City held off Atlanta 100-92 on Wednesday night for its 12th straight win.

Westbrook had 27 points – 21 in the first half – and 11 assists. Durant scored 28 points in the second half, including 18 in the fourth, and also had 13 rebounds.

No other Oklahoma City player scored in double figures…

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 19 points, Josh Smith had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Al Horford and Lou Williams scored 13 apiece.

Durant was especially strong after Atlanta cut a 16-point deficit midway through the third quarter to 73-69.

Durant slowed Atlanta’s comeback attempt when he dominated a sequence on both ends of the floor, blocking a shot by Smith before throwing down a jam. Smith drew a foul and Durant sank the free throw to push the lead to 85-75.

With about 3 minutes remaining, Durant hit a fallaway jumper. Less than a minute late, he made a spin move and then sank a 3-pointer over the 6-foot-7 Kyle Korver, who was left shaking his head.

— Reported by Charles Odum of the Associated Press

Devin Harris, Josh Smith lead Hawks past Bobcats 113-90

Kyle Korver thinks the Atlanta Hawks have been too hesitant to beat a struggling opponent decisively.

That wasn’t the case this time.

Devin Harris scored 20 points, Josh Smith added 18 and the surging Hawks beat Charlotte 113-90 on Thursday night to hand the Bobcats their 10th straight defeat.

”I think mentally, in the locker room, we just decided that we were going to do it,” Korver said. ”It’s easy to let up when you’ve got a lead and you’re trying to create some energy, and we’ve done that several times.”

Gerald Henderson finished with 17 points and Ramon Sessions had 16 for Charlotte.

The Hawks are 12-3 since losing three of their first five games this season. Atlanta, which moved into a first-place tie with Miami in the Southeast Division, has won two straight and five of six…

Lou Williams had eight of his nine assists in the first half for Atlanta. Williams, who finished with 13 points, matched his career high in assists, and Ivan Johnson added a season-high 16 points.

Hawks center Al Horford finished with 11 points and three rebounds, ending his streak of seven consecutive double-doubles…

Hawks starting F DeShawn Stevenson scored nine points after missing Wednesday’s win at Orlando with a knee injury.

— Reported by George Henry of the Associated Press

Josh Smith and Blake Griffin named NBA Players of Week

The Atlanta Hawks’ Josh Smith and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 9.

In helping the Hawks go 3-0 on the week, Smith ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference in scoring (21.0 ppg) and rebounding (12.0 rpg), and tied for sixth in steals (2.00 spg). Smith grabbed a season-high 15 boards in a 104-95 win vs. Washington on Dec. 7, and followed that up the following night with a season-high three steals in a 93-83 triumph at Memphis.

Griffin averaged a point/rebound double-double in leading the Clippers to four wins in as many games. Among Western Conference players, Griffin ranked ninth in scoring (23.0 ppg), seventh in rebounding (10.0 rpg), and second in steals (2.50 spg). Additionally, Griffin’s .639 field goal percentage ranked sixth in the conference. In a 117-99 win over Phoenix Dec. 8, Griffin recorded a career-best four steals to go along with 24 points and eight rebounds.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Al Horford, Boston’s Rajon Rondo, Chicago’s Joakim Noah, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and David Lee, Memphis’ Zach Randolph, New York’s Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Glen Davis, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, and San Antonio’s Tony Parker.