Hawks fall to Suns for first loss of season

By Michael Cunningham

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For the first time this season the Hawks faced a team that appears playoff bound and it showed: the Suns ended Atlanta's undefeated run Sunday at Philips Arena.

The Hawks lost 118-114, but not before rallying from an 18-point deficit and making Phoenix earn the victory in the final two minutes.

"We didn't give up," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "We just can't go out and start like that, especially in our house."

After coming back, the Hawks couldn't finish.

With the game tied at 112-112, Phoenix forward Channing Frye scored while Mike Bibby switched to guard him.

The Hawks set up a play that called for Johnson to shoot a jump shot off a screen or, failing that, get the ball near the free-throw line in the middle of the floor. That's where Johnson ended up with it. But he missed a driving attempt in traffic and the ball deflected out of bounds off Hawks center Al Horford.

"I had more guys guarding me than I expected," Johnson said. "When I went up, three other guys went up with me and I really couldn't see the rim. It was unfortunate, man.

"If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably do that play a little differently."

Steve Nash made four free throws to secure the victory for the Suns, who had lost to Portland, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I'm glad we had a brutal schedule to start, because we've played good in those games," Phoenix guard Jason Richardson said. "We've shown that we can battle back and keep on fighting and get a victory. The Hawks are really talented."

For six games Atlanta had been able to win despite injuries. With starting small forward Marvin Williams and lone backup Mo Evans out of the lineup, coach Larry Drew had managed to successfully shuffle his lineup and get good production from his bench players.

The Suns, however, showed it's more difficult for Atlanta to overcome its deficiencies against better competition. For 30 minutes the Suns were too fast, too precise and too deep for the Hawks.

The Hawks had little trouble outrunning the slow-footed Timberwolves Friday, but the Suns thrive in the open floor. With shooters at all positions, the Suns spread the Hawks out while making 11 of 23 3-point attempts.

"We couldn't match up the way we wanted to match up," Drew said. "Tonight was a clear case how bad we needed a Marvin or a Mo so we could look at going a lot smaller and trying some other things defensively."

Phoenix led 61-50 at the half on the strength of six 3-pointers to none for Atlanta. The Suns built their largest lead of the game at 79-61 when Atlanta finally responded.

Horford, who scored a game-high 30 points, rebounded Johnson's miss and dunked to start a 7-0 run that Mike Bibby ended with a 3-pointer. Bibby made another 3-pointer to make it 83-73, and Jamal Crawford converted the 30th four-point play of his career, and second in two games, to trim Phoenix's lead to 83-77.

The Hawks trailed 90-88 entering the final period. They got the score within 99-98, 104-102 and 106-104, but Phoenix scored each time.

Crawford made two free throws to make it 106-106, Atlanta's first tie or lead since the first quarter. The game was tied three more times in the final two minutes but the Hawks never took the lead.

"They just made plays every time the game got close," Smith said.