Hawks fall to Suns at Philips

The Hawks picked a bad time to go dark on offense: the last six minutes of Sunday night’s game against Phoenix.

In front of a sellout crowd of 19,153 at Philips Arena, with a lead, the momentum, and poised to claim their fourth in a row, the Hawks went listless. They missed eight consecutive shots, including three layups, and were left with a 104-99 loss to show for it.

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Jessica McGowan/jmcgowan@ajc.com

Hawks guard Joe Johnson had a double-double with 15 points and 13 assists.

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After Solomon Jones’ dunk put the Hawks up 95-94 on a great look by Mike Bibby with 6:06 left, the Hawks didn’t score again until only 43 seconds remained. Again it was Jones. He made two free throws and added a putback basket with 16.9 seconds to go.

Living up to his “Solo” nickname, Jones scored the Hawks’ last six points to match his season-high with 12 points. But without any other offensive contributors, the Hawks weren’t going to win.

“We just couldn’t make shots,” said Joe Johnson, who had 15 points and 13 assists against his former team but scored his last field goal three minutes into the second half. “We had some good looks, just couldn’t make them. I even missed a layup. It was just a tough night.”

Johnson faded, coming up empty on a couple of drives to the basket in the last few minutes of his game-high 42:51 on the floor.

Bibby was never really a factor. He was on the bench for most of the second quarter in foul trouble and never got into a flow. He shot 2-for-13 from the floor and made his one of seven 3-point tries with 6:38 left.

Amare Stoudemire, by contrast, got better as the game went on for the Suns. After being held to six points in the first half, he scored 17 points in the second half and sealed it with a 3-point play in the lane with 26.2 seconds left.

“(Steve) Nash has played with him so long that he finds him, whether he’s rolling or popping, and he made plays,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Stoudemire, who led all scorers with 23 points. “He made shots tonight.”

The redeeming news for the Hawks was that Detroit lost, so the Hawks kept their two-game lead for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They headed for Miami after the game, knowing the Heat will be gunning for them on Monday.

“We’re playing good basketball,” Woodson said. “We’re still in the position we need to be, in terms of trying to secure that fourth spot. We’ve just got to go get this one back.”

That’s what Phoenix was doing on Sunday. The Suns were coming off their first ever loss to the Charlotte Bobcats and were in danger of losing a season-high fourth game in a row.

But they relied on some familiar strengths, with Nash finding gaps in the defense (13 assists) and Shaquille O’Neal filling up space in the lane. The Hawks tried wave after wave of bodies on O’Neal and still watched him accumulate 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jones (five), Zaza Pachulia (five), Josh Smith (five), and Randolph Morris (four) accumulated fouls.

“We were shorthanded not having Al [Horford] to help rebound and bang around,” Woodson said. “He’s a big part of our interior defense. But hey, I feel good about our bigs tonight. They didn’t run away. Shaq is a load for everybody in this league. He’s probably their most consistent player this season.”

Smith did give the Hawks a memorable moment — Nash as well — with his one-handed monster dunk over Nash in the second quarter on his way to 19 points and 12 rebounds. But even that felt insignificant in the end.

“I would say so,” said Smith, when asked if it ranked among his all-time dunks. “It’s messed up that we didn’t get the win though.”