Hawks take to the road for another five-game trip

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This five-game road trip may be tougher than the last one for the Hawks.

It certainly presents a more difficult challenge than last month’s excursion, from which they returned home with a 4-1 record. All four wins came against teams that currently have losing records and three that still haven’t reached a double-digit win total.

The Hawks open Tuesday against the Lakers, play the next night at the Suns and end at the Trail Blazers, Bulls and Knicks. The 10-day trip will cover 6,561 air miles. The Hawks then host the Magic in a road-home, back-to-back matchup following the Knicks game.

The Hawks (18-10) are 9-5 on the road this season and will play in venues where they have not had much recent success. The Hawks have:

* Lost five straight games in Los Angeles, last winning in February 2006.

* Lost four straight games in Phoenix, last winning in February 2007.

* Won six straight against Portland, including the past two games in Oregon.

* Lost the last two games at both Chicago and New York.

The opposition on the road swing is a combined 79-62 (.560) and three of the teams are currently in playoff position. The Hawks are 13-1 against teams below .500 and 5-9 against teams over the mark.

The Hawks hope the road offers a respite from recent poor showings at home. They were blown out by the Heat Sunday night in front of a national television audience. It was their fourth loss in the past five games at home. A win at the Magic broke up the run of five games at Philips Arena.

“We are going out on that road to get well because we weren’t as competitive on this homestand as I was hoping to be after coming off that 10-day trip [in January],” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “Hopefully we can go out on the road and get our mojo back.”

The Hawks lost four of the past five at home by a combined 69 points. They trailed by as many as 30 points twice and as many as 20 points in the two other losses.

“The crazy thing is this has happened to us a few times at home,” forward Marvin Williams said. “Most teams the road is so tough to go out there and play. We play well on the road. When we come back home, we don’t seem to bring that same road team back to our building. That is the frustrating part.”

The Hawks have a season-long six-game road trip next month, which includes another trip to California.

NEARING A MILESTONE

Hawks guard Joe Johnson needs 13 points to become the seventh player in Hawks history to reach the 10,000-point mark. He figures to reach the mark on the upcoming five-game road trip. Here is the list of the franchise’s all-time leading scorers.

Player/Points/Years with Hawks

Dominique Wilkins/23,292/1982-94

Bob Petitt/20,880/1954-65*

Lou Hudson/16,049/1968-77**

Cliff Hagan/13,447/1956-66*

John Drew/12,621/1974-82

Kevin Willis/10,582/1984-94, 2004-05

Joe Johnson/9,987/2005-present

*  All years in St. Louis

** Years in St. Louis and Atlanta