Minutes rationed perfectly for Hawks in opener

By Sekou Smith

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mike Woodson stuck to his minutes plan in the Hawks' preseason home opener Wednesday night, a 108-102 win over New Orleans at Philips Arena.

Woodson said before the game that he wouldn’t work his starters more than 20 minutes or so. He nailed it on everyone but Josh Smith, who played 21 minutes.

"There's so much you try to get done in the course of training camp," Woodson said. "There's just no need to burn these guys right now. They'll all get a chance to get the minutes they need at some point between now and the end of the exhibition season."

Joe Johnson made the most of his minutes, scoring 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Smith added 14 and seven rebounds in his time, while Al Horford added 11 points in his 18 minutes, Marvin Williams had nine points in his 19 minutes and Mike Bibby three points and four assists in his 17 minutes.

"We're going to be smart about the preseason and make sure we get all our guys the work they need," Woodson said. "It's a long season. And we have to make sure these guys take care of their bodies and that we keep their minutes exactly where they need to be in order to be ready for whatever we face throughout the course of the season."

Crawford rests in second half

A strained left calf limited Jamal Crawford to just nine minutes of action, all in the first half, in his Hawks' debut.

Jeff Teague missed all four of his shot attempts from the floor but had two rebounds and two assists. He would have had at least two more assists if his teammates had finished with baskets on a couple of slick passes.

Sitting out

Hawks veterans Mo Evans (knee), Joe Smith (knee) and Jason Collins (quad) were all in suits for Wednesday's game. Woodson said they were held out of action strictly for precautionary reasons.

Snap offs

Rookie center Garret Siler must have forgotten his warmup pants were snap offs. Because when Woodson ordered him into the game late in the fourth quarter, the 7-footer yanked his pants down all the way over his shoes.