The AP reports: The goal is 50 wins and home-court advantage in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks are determined to make it happen. Josh Smith scored 26 points, Joe Johnson added 21 and Atlanta beat the Clippers 97-80 on Wednesday night to end a four-game losing streak and hand Los Angeles its 12th straight loss… Ronald Murray added 17 points for the Hawks, who avoided a season-high fifth consecutive loss by beating up on the Western Conference’s second-worst team… Al Thornton scored 25 points, and rookie Eric Gordon added 18 for the Clippers, who haven’t won since a 117-109 double-overtime victory at Indiana on Dec. 19. They fell to 3-16 at Staples Center this season. Marcus Camby had 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Category: Atlanta Hawks Blog
Atlanta Hawks blog
Suns hold off Hawks as Shaq scores 26
The AP reports: The Shaquille O’Neal of old is leading the new-look Phoenix Suns. O’Neal had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the Suns won their third straight Tuesday night with a 107-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, who lost their fourth in a row. The Suns are 8-1 this season when O’Neal scores 20 or more points. This was his ninth 20-point game of the season, surpassing his total of eight all last season… O’Neal made 10 of his 17 field goal attempts, but for the first time in three games he missed a foul shot… Steve Nash finished with 23 points and six assists, Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points and Stoudemire had 17 for the Suns. Barnes added 10 rebounds. Josh Smith led the Hawks with 24 points. He was followed by Mike Bibby with 17, Marvin Williams with 16 and Flip Murray with 14. Williams also had 12 rebounds, Zaza Pachulia 11 and Smith 10.
Atlanta Hawks slumping
The Atlanta Hawks (22 wins, 14 losses) were smoking hot from December 12 and on. They had won nine of 10 games, including wins against the Cavaliers, Pistons and Nuggets. But lately they’ve taken a dive, dropping four of their last five games. It doesn’t help that key big-man Al Horford is out indefinitely with a bone bruise in his right knee – likely a short-term injury.
“We’re just not playing with any intensity, and it’s coming from the way we’re starting these games,” said Mo Evans to Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You saw Philly jump on us at the start. And then at the end of the game, they were still outrebounding us and getting to all the loose balls when we’re the team that needs to be playing with a sense of urgency. “In my opinion, there seems like a complacency on our team right now, like we already clinched a playoff seed or home court advantage or something and we’re barely out of the starting gate of this season.”
Joe Johnson to the Journal-Constitution: “I don’t think we’re playing together on either end of the floor… We’re just not helping one another. We’re not playing with any energy, and really, you have to put it on the starting five because we’re not doing [expletive] at the start of these games.”
The Hawks now head out West, for a tough game in Phoenix, followed by games they should be able to win on the road against the Warriors and Clippers.
76ers rule the paint in 109-94 win over Hawks
The AP reports: Andre Iguodala took advantage of the absence of Al Horford to score 27 points, and Philadelphia dominated near the basket to beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-94 on Sunday. The 76ers, who have their first four-game winning streak of the season, scored 56 points in the paint and had a combined 49 points by their starting forwards. Thaddeus Young added 22 points and nine rebounds for Philadelphia. “It seems like we’re getting it together a little bit,” said 76ers guard Andre Miller, who had 19 points… Joe Johnson, who led the Hawks with 25 points, refused to blame the loss on Horford’s injury… Mike Bibby had 22 points.
Magic lead by 38 at half, rout Hawks 121-87
The AP reports: The Orlando Magic won their 11th straight home game and put on their most devastating offensive show of the season in routing the Atlanta Hawks 121-87 on Friday night… Orlando scored a season-high 41 points in the first quarter, then tied its season highs for points in a half (71) and game. The Magic also tied a season high with 16 3-pointers. Turkoglu hit all five of his attempts from long range and reserve J.J. Redick was 4-of-5 from behind the arc while scoring a season-high 15 points. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson added 14 points and nine assists… The Hawks starters, by contrast, were only 15-of-48 from the field and only Joe Johnson reached double figures with 11. Acie Law scored 16 and fellow reserve Solomon Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta.
Orlando builds big lead, holds on to beat Hawks 106-102
The AP reports: Putting on a show for the home folks, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 19 rebounds as Orlando preserved a 106-102 victory Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Orlando nearly squandered a 21-point advantage, catching a huge break when Mike Bibby missed a breakaway layup that should have made it a two-point game with just under 1 1/2 minutes remaining… Josh Smith led Atlanta with 21 points, but he missed all four of his free-throw attempts—the worst culprit in a 14-of-25 performance at the line that came back to haunt the Hawks at the end… Mike Bibby scored 17 points but was only 6-of-17 from the field. Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ leading scorer, was just 5-of-17 for 13 points—matching his second-lowest output of the season.
Bibby hits winner as Hawks beat Rockets 103-100
The AP reports: Mike Bibby made a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining, and Josh Smith scored a season-high 29 points in the Hawks’ 103-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. Joe Johnson had a season-high 14 assists, the last when he drove from the perimeter and into the left side of the lane before passing to Bibby for the winner… Flip Murray finished with 17 points for Atlanta, which snapped a three-game losing streak to Houston. The Hawks won their sixth straight at home, improving to 15-2 this season at Philips Arena. Overall, Atlanta has won six of seven… Reserve Carl Landry scored 18 points, and Yao Ming had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead Houston, which has dropped two straight and five of seven. Aaron Brooks missed a 3 from the left corner at the buzzer that would’ve forced overtime. Von Wafer had 17 points for Houston, and Brent Barry added 16.
Joe Johnson leads streaking Hawks past Pacers
The AP reports: Joe Johnson’s stellar play is putting him in high company. The Atlanta guard scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the final five of the game, and the streaking Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 110-104 on Tuesday night… Josh Smith finished with 24 points, Mike Bibby scored 15 and Al Horford added 12 points and 14 rebounds for Atlanta. Danny Granger had 25 points, Jack 22 and Jeff Foster finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, losers of four straight. Indiana has dropped eight home games this season by eight points or less.
Johnson’s 25 points lift Hawks past Denver, 109-91
The AP reports: Joe Johnson scored 25 points and the Hawks beat the Denver Nuggets 109-91 on Monday night to close out the homestand with a long-awaited milestone. The Hawks (20-10) reached 20 wins before New Year’s Day for the first time since the 1987-88 season, when second-year center Al Horford was 1… The Hawks, bolstered by their strong start, are shooting for their first 50-win season since 1997-98… The Hawks made 12 of 23 3-point attempts, including 5-of-6 by Mike Bibby, who had 20 points and nine assists… Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 points in the Nuggets’ 117-110 victory at the New York Knicks on Sunday, had only half that total with 16 points on 4-for-17 shooting from the field.
Dec 27: Hawks 129, Bulls 117
The AP reports: After holding 14 of their last 15 opponents under 100 points, the Atlanta Hawks expected a low-scoring game against Chicago. When that plan failed, the Hawks seemed to enjoy a rare opportunity to change their style. Joe Johnson scored a season-high 41 points, Josh Smith also set a season high with 24, and the Hawks withstood Ben Gordon’s 3-point barrage to beat the Bulls 129-117 on Saturday night. The Bulls lost despite shooting 54.4 percent from the field and matching their scoring high for the season only one night after a 90-77 loss at Miami… Ben Gordon scored 33 points and was 6-of-8 behind the arc to pass Scottie Pippen and become the Bulls’ career leader in 3-pointers. Rookie Derrick Rose added a career-high 27 points.