Josh Smith tried to slip through a Philips Arena side door on his way to the offseason, only to be intercepted by waiting reporters. After jokingly expressing dismay that his escape plan had been foiled, Smith stopped to answer questions. Chief among them were queries about what the future holds for Smith.

It seemed Larry Drew had a good chance of returning as Hawks coach after the team’s management declared the season a success. But they didn’t talk to Drew about his contract option during the season, and he still hadn’t heard from them a week after it ended.

The support of Hawks players helped Larry Drew get the job as head coach in 2010. As Drew awaits word from the team if it will pick up his contract option for next season, he cites his relationship with players as his strong suit. “That’s something I take a lot of pride in and spent a lot of time talking about and trying to work on,” he said.

The NBA fined Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. and forward Ivan Johnson for their actions during the team’s recent playoff series against the Celtics. The league fined Gearon $35,000 for public criticism of officials and negative comments about Celtics forward Kevin Garnett.

Before the Hawks can decide what to do with their roster for next season, they have to evaluate what kind of team they were this season. That process is complicated by the run of injuries that helped derail Atlanta’s hopes of breaking through in the playoffs.

Losers in the NBA playoffs often check off what-ifs as they head home for the summer. For the Hawks, the list is as long as their perpetual injury report and as painful as the handful of plays that led to a first-round loss to the Celtics. “Yeah, it hurts,” Hawks guard Joe Johnson said after Boston’s series-clinching victory Thursday.

Celtics forward Kevin Garnett had his best game of the series to help eliminate the Hawks from the playoffs Thursday and then credited Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. for providing him extra motivation. Gearon, in a public speech at a local charity event Wednesday, called Garnett “the dirtiest guy in the game.

The NBA says a foul against Boston with 3.1 seconds left in Atlanta's season-ending loss on Thursday should have been called sooner, which would have given the Hawks a free throw instead of just the ball out of bounds. The Celtics' Marquis Daniels held the Hawks' Al Horford as Atlanta was inbounding the ball trailing 81-79.

The Hawks knew what was coming Thursday night at TD Garden because they had seen it before. “This place will be hot and energized,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said before Game 6 on Thursday. “I think they'll come out and try to get the knockout early.

Visions of a Hawks comeback against the Celtics are clouded by memories of the bludgeoning they absorbed the last time they were in Beantown. The grit the Hawks showed while winning 87-86 on Tuesday night in Game 5 at Philips Arena came two days after they were down by as many as 37 points in their 101-79 loss in Game 4.

The math suggests the Hawks have a slim chance of coming back to win their playoff series against the Celtics. Behind those bleak numbers there also was a qualitative problem the Hawks had to answer. Was their blowout loss to the Celtics in Game 4 an aberration, or the start of yet another weak retreat into the offseason? Not even Hawks guard Joe Johnson knew the answer.

Just the thought of it made Larry Drew smile — in spite of the gravity of the situation. The Hawks’ coach started a lineup Tuesday night he hasn’t been able to put on the floor in nearly four months. Facing playoff elimination, the Hawks started Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson at guard, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams at forward and Al Horford at center for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Celtics.

The Hawks have counted on their bench all season, a luxury in the lockout-compacted NBA schedule. The reserves have not been a factor in the playoff series with the Celtics through the first four games. It is part of the reason the Hawks find themselves trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

A day later, Joe Johnson was at loss for words about the Hawks’ embarrassing Game 4 loss to the Celtics on Sunday that has the team on the brink of playoff elimination. His one-word answer to a question on his number of shot attempts spoke volumes. Johnson took just eight shots in the 101-79 loss to the Celtics, who are up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 5 Tuesday at Philips Arena.

If the Hawks weren't in such desperate need of a victory against the Celtics Sunday, forward Josh Smith might have sat this one out. “I would probably be more cautious with the decision but this is a must-win game for us,” Smith said before Game 4.

Hawks center Al Horford played for the first time since his Jan. 17 pectoral tear. Horford warmed up before Game 4 and decided he felt good enough to play. Before the series, Horford changed his mind more than once about whether he'd be able to play against the Celtics.

As far as Hawks forward Josh Smith is concerned, the only thing could keep him from playing in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics on Sunday is an unexpected stumble. “If I fall down the escalator and re-injure something,” Smith said Saturday. That kind of freak accident may not be so implausible considering the way the Hawks’ injury luck has gone this year.

There was the potential for turnabout in this series, and Celtics coach Doc Rivers knew it. The Hawks seemingly had no chance in Game 3 at Boston. Their top three big men watched from the sidelines with injuries, and the fans at TD Garden gathered for the expected sacrifice.

The Hawks opened the playoffs with an electric display of running, shooting and scoring that suggested they finally had figured out how to break free from Boston’s suffocating defense. Alas, it hasn’t been the same since for the Hawks. “In the first two, three quarters we are probably at our best running and getting up down the floor,” Hawks guard Joe Johnson said.

Hawks forward Josh Smith avoided the rash of injuries that hobbled the team during the regular season, but his luck has run out in the playoffs. Smith suffered a sprained left knee Tuesday night during the Hawks’ 87-80 loss to Boston in Game 2 of their first-round series.

There was a constant, nagging sound that followed Hawks players from the light practice Tuesday morning to the locker room before the game that night to the team huddles during Game 2 against the Celtics. The voice told them that no Rajon Rondo didn’t mean they could relax.

The Celtics’ first few plays – all designed for Paul Pierce -- were scripted. His Tebowing moment, well, that was not. Pierce scored the Celtics’ first nine points en route to a game-high 36 points in an 87-80 victory over the Hawks Tuesday night at Philips Arena.

Hawks coach Larry Drew said he plans to stay with the same starting lineup for Game 2 Tuesday against the Celtics at Philips Arena. That's not surprising, considering how the Hawks got good things out of their big lineup Sunday in the 83-74 victory in Game 1.

Unlike most chest-bumps executed on a basketball court, there was nothing celebratory about Sunday's contact between Rajon Rondo and referee Marc Davis. A day later, the Celtics were certainly not in a festive mood following a ruling from the NBA. The league suspended Rondo on Monday for one game, without pay, for making contact with a game official.

Joe Johnson rocks his dribble back and forth, sizes up his defender and looks for the small opening he needs to score. It's a familiar sight for the Hawks guard, a scenario that's been good throughout a career that's included six consecutive selections to the All-Star game.