Hawks hope return home revitalizes effort

No amount of film work or practice time is going to cure the main problem the Hawks have had with the Cleveland Cavaliers through two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“They’re beating us to the punch every time, on both ends of the floor,” said Hawks swingman Mo Evans. “It’s not even funny.”

Evans wasn’t interested in using the Hawks’ mounting injuries as an excuse for the way they performed in Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, when they lost by a combined 47 points.

“Honestly, I don’t think that, even if we were 100 percent, it would have made a difference,” he said. “Not with the effort we gave. I think they come out and they are playing team basketball on both ends of the floor. That’s something we have to get back to.”

Still, Evans is like the rest of the men in the Hawks locker room in that he believes there’s still an opening for his team to turn things around in Game 3 at Philips Arena.

“They did exactly what they were supposed to do,” he said. “They took care of home. Regardless of how well they played, the series still doesn’t start until you win on the other team’s home court. We’ve been a great home team all year, the regular season and the playoffs. We haven’t been a great road team all year long. That’s nothing new to us. [Philips Arena] is going to be a really great atmosphere for us, and hopefully this is where we can put things back together.”

Bench brigade makes its mark

A lead that was as large as 36 points in Game 2 was ultimately trimmed to 20 points by the end of the game.

Credit the Hawks’ bench players, who worked most of the fourth quarter against Cleveland’s reserves, for making sure the Hawks didn’t get blown away completely.

Their effort and resolve certainly struck a chord with the Hawks’ regulars, who praised their teammates for showing the resolve they did not while they were on the floor.

“I thought they came in and played with a lot of energy and a lot of heart,” said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson, who watched from the locker room as the medical staff tended to his sprained right ankle. “For us at the start of the game, I don’t know, it’s as if the effort is not there. Especially on the defensive end. I think we’re a better defensive team than that. We have shown that in the past. But, in these last two games, we haven’t helped each other defensively at all.”

Thomas Gardner was the Hawks’ second-leading scorer in the game, behind Evans who finished with 16, with 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Composure maintenance

Evans counted at least six hard fouls against the Hawks that weren’t called by the officials in Game 2.

Josh Smith was so frustrated after halftime that he lashed out at lead game official Danny Crawford, earning a technical foul for his outburst.

“It’s hard to hold your tongue sometimes when you think things are going against you,” Smith said. “They’re playing a physical brand of playoff basketball. We just have to match that and maintain our composure at the same time.”

Sticking together

Perhaps the change in venue, from Cleveland for the first two games to Atlanta for the second two, will help the Hawks clear up whatever ball-sharing issues they’ve had in this series.

Johnson and Mike Bibby managed just two assists between them in Game 2 after combining for 14 in Game 1.

Johnson believes early deficits have something to do with the Hawks’ approach.

“When we get down, it seems as if everybody is trying to do it by himself and try and get us back into the game when it’s virtually impossible,” he said. “We’ve got to learn to stick together through the good and bad.”