Category: Atlanta Hawks Blog

The AP reports: After a mostly disappointing series, Joe Johnson finally showed up when the Hawks needed him most, making six 3-pointers and scoring 27 points to lead Atlanta into the second round of the playoffs with a 91-78 victory over Dwyane Wade and the Heat in Game 7 Sunday. Atlanta got past the first round for the first time since 1999. Their reward? A matchup with LeBron James and the top-seeded Cavaliers, beginning Tuesday night in Cleveland… Johnson finished 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, leading the Hawks to the final blowout in a series that was totally devoid of any drama. Every game was decided by at least 10 points… The Hawks turned the contest into a laugher in the final quarter. Flip Murray hit a 3-pointer to give Atlanta its biggest lead, 85-66, and both teams cleared their benches in the closing minutes… Dwyane Wade scored 31 points but the majority of those came after the Hawks had already built a comfortable lead.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Heat scored just 18 points in the first quarter, 18 in the second, and 16 in the third. The Heat were also very quiet in the first and third quarters, but won the second quarter 29-18… Joe Johnson had 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Josh Smith (7-of-12) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Flip Murray (just 4-of-14, 3-of-9 three-pointers) had 15 off the bench… In the loss, Wade shot 10-of-25 for his 31 points, but he had 4 assists with 4 turnovers. Michael Beasley had 17 with 7 rebounds off the bench. Udonis Haslem had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Barely any other Heat players did much of anything… The Heat committed 17 turnovers and only had 12 total assists… Heat starting point guard Mario Chalmers shot 1-of-6 and was awful. Heat starting center Joel Anthony in 22 minutes had 6 rebounds and little else. James Jones shot 1-of-5… Both team shot badly, but the Hawks nailed threes, the Heat did not.

Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 41 points, Michael Beasley busted out of a slump with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the Heat stayed alive by routing the Atlanta Hawks 98-72 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night. So a wild back-and-forth series—three routs for the Hawks, three routs for the Heat—will be decided Sunday in Atlanta… Mike Bibby scored all 20 of his points in the first half for Atlanta, which fell behind by 15 in the opening quarter, cut the deficit to nine by halftime, but never really challenged from there. Flip Murray and Joe Johnson added 13 apiece for the Hawks, who lost a first-round Game 7 last season against Boston… Hawks F Marvin Williams returned from a sprained right wrist. He played only 5 minutes, missing his lone shot. F Al Horford (sprained right ankle) warmed up but did not play.

The AP reports: The Hawks kept up the theme of this matchup between division rivals—no game has been close—but there were several subplots after a night of hard fouls and staredowns left the Heat feeling as though Atlanta rubbed it in a little too much in a 106-91 victory Wednesday. Joe Johnson scored 25 points in his first big game of the series, which the Hawks now lead 3-2, and Flip Murray added 23 from a bench that has taken on an increasingly important role. They already were without one injured starter (Marvin Williams) and lost another when Al Horford hobbled off the court with a sprained right ankle… Wade scored 29 points but didn’t get going until the game had been decided. The NBA’s leading scorer already was bothered by back spasms, and he was feeling even worse after colliding with Josh Smith late in the first quarter and banging the back of his head on the court… The Hawks made 13-of-16 from the field in the second quarter, including their last 12 attempts, to push a 24-20 lead to a commanding 63-40 lead by halftime.

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.

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.