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Saturday, January 17, 2009
“FIGHTING AND SCRAPING”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - Getting back home from a Western Conference road trip is usually the best medicine for a struggling team.
But the Hawks will find no solace here, or anywhere else for that matter.
Not with the losses and injuries mounting and an unforgiving schedule, at home and away, allowing little time for rest, recovery, introspection and revival.
The Hawks are fumbling away games against teams they should be handling at home and away - their “get away” game last Sunday was a humbling 109-94 loss to Philadelphia at Philips Arena and the finale of their three-game trip this week was a deflating 119-114 loss to a Golden State team that’s won just 14 times in 41 games.
“We’re not playing great,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson told reporters in Oakland after the game. “We’re fighting and scraping. We’re in games. [Friday night] it was just a shootout and we just didn’t make the plays we needed.”
The Hawks aren’t playing great right now. And it’s a complete about face from where they were just a few weeks ago when they finished December by winning nine of 10 games.
They’ve lost six of eight since then. And after opening the season with four straight impressive road wins, they’re just 4-12 away from Philips Arena since then.
So Monday afternoon’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day game against Toronto offers no more security for the Hawks than Tuesday’s game in Chicago.
WILLIAMS SCARE
Toss in the injury Marvin Williams suffered with 9:06 to play before halftime Friday, and the Hawks have every reason to be worried.
That leaves two starters (Al Horford has a bone bruise in his right knee and is out for at leas the next week) questionable for what is turning into a huge week for the Hawks.
Williams could very well be back in the mix as early as Monday. But there are no guarantees. He was taken to an area hospital for observation after his head bounced off the floor, courtesy of a hard foul by Ronny Turiaf on a shot attempt.
While shaken up, Williams did manage to shoot two foul shots on the play. And he did walk off the floor on his own.
“Marvin is a big part of what we are doing and right now he is still being evaluated for a head injury,” Woodson said before the Hawks departed for Atlanta, a trip Williams reportedly did not make, “so we just wish him well and a speedy recovery.”
SLIPPIN’ AWAY
Joe Johnson looked unstoppable early on against the Warriors, scoring 21 points in the first half, including 13 on 5-for-8 shooting in the second quarter.
But he finished the game with 25 points, going 1-for-9 from the floor in the game’s final 24 minutes.
The Hawks still managed to take a 106-102 lead with 3:27 to play, after a 3-pointer and driving layup from Flip Murray completed the Hawks’ comeback from an earlier 12-point deficit.
“We were up four with three minutes left and let it slip away,” Mike Bibby said after his 20-point, seven-assist showing. “Flip hit a big 3-pointer to put us over that hump. I thought we were going to keep going, but we gave up two layups after that. Like I said, I think we let this one slip away.”
What transpired over the next two minutes cost the Hawks the game. It went a little something like this:
Josh Smith foul with 3:13 to play.
Joe Johnson missed runner at 2:51.
Johnson missed jumper at 2:22.
Smith missed jumper at 1:48.
Smith offensive rebound at 1:45.
Smith turnover at 1:45.
By the time Johnson sank two free throws with 1:13 to play, the Warriors had already crawled back ahead 110-106 behind huge shots from Jamal Crawford.
Former Hawks captain Stephen Jackson nailed a jumper with 52 seconds left for a 112-108 Warriors lead. And after Bibby missed a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to play, Corey Maggette put the finishing touch on the game with two free throws for a 114-108 lead with 40 seconds left.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting [Joe] the ball in areas where he can be more effective,” Woodson said. “We had our chances and just couldn’t get key stops. This is a great offensive team and they can really score the basketball. We just didn’t get the stops to win the game.”
The Hawks went from being down 12, then up four and then ran out of gas with the game on the line.
“I don’t know if fatigue set in,” Woodson said, “but we just didn’t make plays to win the game.”
Evans comes up big
Mo Evans picked up some major slack with Williams out, finishing with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting in 38 minutes before fouling out late.
It was his heaviest workload, minutes-wise, since the season opener in Orlando, when he logged a season-high 42 minutes.
But that was no comfort after the Hawks finished the trip with a 1-2 mark, losing at Phoenix to begin the journey, winning in Los Angeles (Clippers) in the middle and then going down to the Warriors at the end.
“It’s very frustrating to end a trip like this,” Evans said. “It’s tough to beat any NBA team at home, but we had a chance when we went up 106-102. I really thought we were going to seal the deal, but we let them get their momentum back and they closed it out.”
As for his contributions, Evans made it clear that he was just doing his job.
“Minutes have been scarce,” he said. “The rotation has been a little short due to injuries, so all of my energy was dedicated to team play tonight.”
