Hawks’ reserves get vote of confidence from Woodson

There was a time when Mike Woodson had almost no confidence in his bench, when he didn’t feel comfortable with putting more than a reserve or two on the floor at the same time, let alone five of them.

That was last season, when Flip Murray and Mo Evans were playing for other teams. When Acie Law IV and Solomon Jones were trying to find a niche and when Zaza Pachulia was struggling to regain his confidence.

And that was before those reserves impressed during the Hawks’ recent 5-3 preseason run.

“Last year I just wasn’t feeling it, I wasn’t feeling those guys on the bench and I went with seven or eight guys,” Woodson said. “They are the key now. There’s no doubt about that. And it’s kind of nice to have that luxury.”

What Woodson calls a luxury the reserves call their duty.

No matter who is one the floor, they believe it is their responsibility to make sure Woodson remains confident in their abilities and comfortable with putting them in the game.

“I know one thing that coach has said the past couple of years is that the bench has to be just as important as the starters because the season is so long,” Pachulia said. “It is a team game. And that’s one thing we have to think about, being successful as a team. We have a great example in last year and the playoffs. We did it as a team.”

There’s no better example of what a solid bench can do than the effort the reserves gave in Thursday’s preseason finale in Detroit.

Playing without starters Joe Johnson, who stayed home with a strained groin, and Josh Smith, who sprained his right ankle before halftime, the Hawks’ bench rallied the team from a 14-point deficit to an 88-87 victory.

Marvin Williams was on the floor for the final three minutes of the game, but Murray, Pachulia and Evans, who started for Johnson, had already seized the momentum from Detroit’s reserves.

Murray finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Evans missed all seven of his 3-pointers but finished with 14 points, including a crucial steal and dunk that helped the Hawks come back after trailing for much of the second half. And Pachulia bullied his way to 18 points and nine rebounds, going 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Law finished with six points and three assists, spelling Mike Bibby, while also running the show with the game on the line.

“That’s crucial to any team’s success,” Evans said. “It’s just such a long season that you can’t expect your starters to be on every night. But you definitely need a strong eight to nine guys to be successful in this league.”

It helps when two of those guys are like Evans and Murray, veterans capable of playing through the emotional highs and lows that every game can bring and delivering when called upon.

“We’ve got confidence,” Evans said. “Look at [Thursday’s game], I shot the ball horribly. But I’m confident because I’ve done this before. I’ve had games where I’ve missed my first six shots and then made my next eight. So I’m always thinking and always believing that the next shot is going to go in. And our bench playing with that confidence all year is what’s going to help us finish out some games during the season and get an extra five to 10 wins and reach that 40- or 50-win plateau.”