Category: Atlanta Hawks Blog

Atlanta Hawks blog

Jamario Moon to have hernia surgery

jamario moon surgery hernia

The Miami HEAT announced today that forward Jamario Moon will undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia on Thursday, April 30.

The procedure will be performed by Dr. David Edelman at Baptist Doctors Hospital in Miami. Moon will rest for a period of two weeks and then be re-evaluated. He will travel with the HEAT to Atlanta for Game 5.

Moon was acquired by the HEAT in a February 13, 2009 trade. He appeared in 80 games (60 starts) during the 2008-09 season, averaging 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.08 steals in 25.9 minutes per game.

Hawks stifle Wade, tie series with Heat

The AP reports: Mike Bibby scored 15 points, Pachulia had 12 points and 18 rebounds, and Atlanta frustrated an ailing Dwyane Wade endlessly to beat the Miami Heat 81-71 Monday night, tying the first-round Eastern Conference series at two games apiece… Joe Johnson added 14 and Josh Smith 13 for the Hawks. Wade scored 22 points, shooting 9-for-26 and wincing from back spasms that started at the morning shootaround, flared in the first quarter and continued from there. Jermaine O’Neal scored 20 points and James Jones added 19—10 of them coming in a spectacular first-half spurt—for the Heat, who shot 38 percent and never led.

Heat roll again, take 2-1 series lead on Hawks

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade swished a 3-pointer, then turned and shook his hand like it was burning. Yep, Wade and the Miami Heat are that hot right now. Wade finished with 29 points and eight assists, Jermaine O’Neal added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Heat extended Atlanta’s decade-plus road playoff drought, beating the Hawks 107-78 Saturday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup. It was over early: Atlanta missed 17 of its first 19 shots, and a 25-6 Heat run to end the first half pushed the lead to 50-29. “We knew there would be a lot of energy in the building, so we played off that early,” Wade said. “And defensively we came out very tough.” Josh Smith, Al Horford and Mike Bibby scored 13 apiece for Atlanta, which is 0-12 in road playoff games since May 8, 1997, losing all but one by at least 10 points.

Live hawk got loose in Hawks arena during game

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sekou Smith) reports: Spirit the Hawk, a bird from Zoo Atlanta, ignored his usual pre-game flight path in favor of a leisurely stroll around the arena that included stops in the stands, a trip to the top of the Jumbotron high over the center of court and finally a perch atop the camera on the shot clock above the basket in front of the Hawks’ bench. Spirit made a couple of trips back and forth to that final perch before the game officials stopped play with 8:48 to play in the first quarter to allow its handler, John Elmore, to retrieve the bird.

Wade scores 33, Heat beat Hawks 108-93, tie series

The AP reports: With 13 straight points to close the first half and an unlikely 3-pointer off the backboard in the waning minutes, Dwyane Wade showed it’s hard to keep him down two games in a row. He scored 33 points in all, leading the Miami Heat to a 108-93 victory over the Atlanta Hawks that evened their playoff series at one game apiece Wednesday night… This was vintage D-Wade—6-of-10 from 3-point range, 11-of-20 overall, five rebounds, seven assists, two blocked shots and a steal… Unlike the loss in Game 1, when only one other Miami player scored in double figures, Wade had plenty of help this time. Daequan Cook scored 20 points, going 6-of-9 from 3-point range to make up for an 0-for-5 showing beyond the arc on Sunday night. Jermaine O’Neal scored 19 points, giving the Heat a presence on the inside. Michael Beasley added 12 and Udonis Haslem 10… Mike Bibby led the Hawks with 18 points, but the home team shot only 44 percent from the field and struggled at the foul line, making 19-of-30.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Hawks had nice offensive balance here, but needed better defense. They allowed the Heat to shoot 55.6% from the field. And Miami nailed 15-of-26 from three-point range. The Hawks shot 44.2% but just 6-of-20 three-points… Atlanta got to the free throw line more than Miami, but shot badly from there… All five Hawks starters scored double-digits, plus Filp Murray (just 4-of-15) had 15 off the bench… Al Horford and Josh Smith had double-digit boards for Atlanta… Both Dwyane Wade and Miami point guard Mario Chalmers dished seven assists. Wade did have five turnovers, though, but the ball is in his hands a lot, to say the least.

Dikembe Mutombo suffers career-ending knee injury

Dikembe Mutombo, 42, was carried away on a stretcher in the first quarter of the Rockets’ 107-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 with what he said was a career-ending left knee injury. “It’s over for me for my career,” said Mutombo, who will be examined by team doctors when the Rockets return to Houston today. An eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Mutombo is one of the game’s great humanitarians and had a distinguished 18-year career with Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston.

More Dikembe quotes from the Chronicle: “It’s not something that I planned,” Mutombo said. “All I can say right now is I had a wonderful run of 18 years and stayed injury-free. I thank God a lot for all this blessing and putting such great people around me for all of my career in the NBA. I’m just happy. “I have to go out with my head high and not be disappointed and have no regrets. I have so many things I can be so thankful for over my 18 years.”

InsideHoops.com note: Mutombo was banging for position against Blazers center Greg Oden, who has had several early-career knee injuries himself, when he suffered the injury.

Read fan discussion of Mutombo’s career in this forum topic. 

Rockets players imitate Mutombo’s voice:


Hawks more than a one-man team

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sekou Smith) reports: “I know we’ve been cast as a one-man team in the past,” Hawks forward Josh Smith said, referring to captain and All-Star Joe Johnson. “But the truth is, that’s never really been the case. Never. “And that’s really the beauty of our team, when you think about it. We’ve got six or seven guys that can get going at any time and change the game for us. You never know who it’s going to be.” In Sunday’s Game 1 romp over Miami, it was Smith serving as the catalyst on both ends of the floor. He finished with a game-high 23 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in the Hawks’ 90-64 win. “The beauty behind that is Joe Johnson doesn’t care. Mike Bibby doesn’t and Flip Murray doesn’t and Mo Evans doesn’t and Zaza Pachulia doesn’t,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “That’s how you build a team. When guys could care less about who’s going to get the glory and just pass the baton around, it makes winning the top priority.”

Mike Brown named Coach of Year

Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989).

Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals.

Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Houston coach Rick Adelman finished second in the voting with 13 first-place votes and 151 total points.

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finished third with 13 first-place votes and 150 total points.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan finished fourth with  15 first-place votes and 127 total points.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finished fifth with 11 first-place votes and 117 total points.

The next five coaches to receive some votes were Jerry Sloan, Erik Spoelstra, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.

Hawks destroy Heat 90-64 in Game 1

The AP reports: With Josh Smith delivering one rim-shaking dunk after another and plenty of teammates chipping in, the Hawks made Miami look like a one-man team, running Dwyane Wade and the Heat ragged for a 90-64 blowout in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference series Sunday night… “We can’t worry about what anyone else is doing,” Joe Johnson said. “We’ve got to control our own destiny.” For one night at least, they did just that by holding Wade to 19 points—11 below his NBA-leading average—and allowing only one other Miami player to reach double figures… The Hawks tied a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game. Wade spent much of the night on his backside or complaining to the referees, his frustration growing as the Hawks raced to a 20-point lead by halftime in the opener to the best-of-seven series.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Heat shot just 36.6%… Both teams were lousy from three-point range… The Hawks had 50 rebounds, the Heat 35. The Hawks had 23 assists, the Heat 12… All five Hawks starters scored 10 or more points, plus Zaza Pachulia had 10 with 10 rebounds off the bench… Wade had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals but 8 turnovers.