Do the Hawks have a back-up point guard?

Acie Law IV’s breakout moment this season didn’t exactly go as planned.

Mike Bibby was on the bench, injured for the first time this year. Law, the Hawks’ backup point guard, was poised to finally show himself capable of running the team in Bibby’s absence.

Instead, the Hawks were humbled by 24 points by the Los Angeles Clippers at home, a perfect storm of events that turned Law’s big night upside down.

The Hawks face a dilemma. If Bibby can’t play, can Law be ready when he hasn’t been playing significant minutes?

“It’s frustrating,” Law said. “You don’t play the whole year and people tell you to be patient and to keep working hard and wait your turn, and then the one chance you get, the Clippers come out and hit every shot they throw up. I mean, they don’t miss.

“Joe [Johnson] is sick, Al [Horford] is coming off a long layoff from his injury. The team’s not at full strength, and it’s a bad showing. So you’re sitting here now wondering, ‘Where do we go from here?’”

Now that the Hawks know what it’s like without Bibby, Law’s question is in need of an answer.

It might not come tonight against Washington at Philips Arena as Hawks coach Mike Woodson said Bibby “might play” after his sprained left foot kept him out Saturday.

“Listen, I came into this season and I told everybody that nobody’s minutes are guaranteed,” Woodson said. “What minutes you get, you make the most of them. But you better be ready to play because you just never know when you’re going to be called upon. And that’s any team, I don’t care who it is. You just can’t play 12 guys consistently.”

Law, a former lottery pick from Texas A&M, has missed four games this season due to injuries and family matters. He hasn’t played in seven others because of a coach’s decision.

Still, injuries have forced the Hawks to go deeper into the rotation, with Law noticeably absent from that mix. He’s averaging 10.3 minutes in the 39 games he’s played, averaging 3.1 points and 1.5 assists.

He played a season-high 28 minutes against the Clippers, finishing with eight points, six assists and one turnover. Yet all that will be remembered is the way the 12-39 Clippers thumped the Hawks without Bibby.

“In Acie’s defense, he hasn’t played and he’s not running the first team on a regular basis,” Woodson said. “But I can’t start two point guards. So at the end of the day, there really is no excuse. Acie was rusty. It happens. The bottom line is he has to be ready.”

The Hawks’ reserves have played far better than many expected this season. Atlanta has compiled a 17-13 record in games without Johnson, Horford, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.

They’re 9-1 with backup swingman Mo Evans in the starting lineup. Evans and Flip Murray are the only players on the roster who have played in all 50 games.

It’s not like their reserves aren’t capable. Johnson insists there’s just something about the point guard position that makes it tougher on the backup than any other in basketball. He would know, having filled in for two-time league MVP Steve Nash when the two played together in Phoenix.

“Acie has a lot more room to grow,” Johnson said. “He’s only in his second year. And the fact is he’s behind a great point guard in Mike, so he needs to learn what he can from him while still being true to his own game.

“What he can’t do is worry about how Mike does things and how Mike runs the team. Acie has to do it his own way when he’s out there, because we have to establish some kind of flow and continuity when Acie is on the floor and roll with that.”