Hawks not satisfied with season’s start

On the surface, the Hawks’ 7-4 record looks good considering their rugged early season schedule.

It’s when you focus on how the Hawks got to that mark that you understand why the team is less than impressed.

“With the quality of the teams we beat to go 6-0 and the quality of the teams we lost to on our 0-4 stretch, it stings a little bit,” Mo Evans said. “But to be 7-4 this far … it’s a long season. What we know is that we’re a much better team during that 6-0 stretch than we are in our last five games.

“And even in going 6-0 we still had chemistry issues, depth issues and still trying to find out minutes and shots and all that kind of stuff. Now with the injuries we’re throwing guys in … so we still have a lot of issues to work out. But that’s what goes into an 82-game season and that’s what makes it special when you get to the playoffs and have a successful season.”

Getting to this point with only four games from Josh Smith (ankle sprain) and with Al Horford (ankle sprain) playing only six minutes and 48 seconds of the past two games speaks volumes what the Hawks have done.

They have played nearly twice as many road games (4-3 on the road) as they have home games (3-1). Nit picking about the results after such a small sample seems a bit premature. Still, when you start 6-0 the expectations, internal and otherwise, get inflated.

“I’ll take 7-4 over 6-5,” Horford said, “and that’s where we were before the Washington game. I felt like guys really stepped up at that place where we needed it. And that’s something to build on. We’ve got another big game [against Charlotte Friday]. And if we take care of our business, we’ll be headed in the right direction.”

That direction includes a return to the swarming defense, ball-sharing team that trusted each other with every move during that six-game stretch to start the season.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson spoke repeatedly about his team’s sagging “trust factor” during their week of disarray before Tuesday’s win over Washington. He explained what he meant after practice Thursday.

“We can’t be a team that when we lose a game or two we hang our heads and not play with high energy,” Woodson said. “I don’t want to see that. When you get down and adversity smacks you in the face a little bit, you can’t run from it. I want guys to do something about it, like they did [Wednesday night]. They willed themselves to win that game.”

Woodson knows his team has matured from a year ago, when they would have struggled mightily to pull out a win like they did Wednesday. Against the Wizards, the Hawks battled back from a four-point deficit in the final 65 seconds to snatch the win.

“Listen, we know it could have been better,” Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said of his team’s start. “Going 6-0 gave us a little cushion, but we’ve still got a lot more work ahead of us. Our last four games, really our last five, haven’t been worth a thing.

“We just have to get some guys back healthy and we’ll be alright.”

Injury updates

Both Horford and Smith worked out on their own Thursday. Smith ran on the treadmill for the first time, though he isn’t expected to resume practice or game action until after Thanksgiving. Horford had treatment on his right ankle and did some on-court work and shooting drills alongside Zaza Pachulia. Horford said he’ll see how he feels at shootaround [Friday morning] and will try and play against the Bobcats.