Smith says he must ‘refocus’

Josh Smith wants to get back to being the “old Josh.”

The Josh who runs the floor, rebounds, blocks shots and scores in dramatic fashion.

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AP

Josh Smith was at his best in the win Saturday over the Pistons, leading the Hawks with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two assists.

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The Josh who played like one of the league’s most dynamic players in the Hawks’ first four games of the season.

His team, ankles deep in a string of six straight home games, including New Orleans Monday night at Philips Arena, could use a lot more of the Smith who showed up for Saturday’s seismic win over Detroit.

The Hawks swept the Pistons in a season series for the first time in 15 years and did so convincingly with Smith playing a leading role.

Smith was at his best in the win over the Pistons, leading the Hawks with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two assists the night after being benched by Hawks coach Mike Woodson for the second half of a loss in Charlotte.

“I just wanted to establish myself early in that game the same way I’ve wanted to this whole season,” he said. “I wanted to get back to being the old Josh. I needed to get our there and play with that confidence and have some fun again. That’s what this whole team needs.”

After dropping two straight road games against teams beneath them in the Eastern Conference standings, it was the clear the Hawks (35-28) needed something.

A double shot of Smith and Al Horford (18 points, 12 rebounds) seemed to be the perfect jolt for the Hawks, who haven’t had Smith and Horford working in tandem like they did against the Pistons in weeks.

Saturday’s game was the first time they had matching double doubles in the same game this season.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Horford said. “It’s going to be hard to get away from us when we’re both playing well like that. We really need Josh to stay active and it wasn’t only on the boards. He was playing great defensively and helping everybody out and doing the little things. That’s what we need to do to win.”

Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson can suffer through a tough night when Smith and Horford are playing as well they did. And that has as much to do with the improvements his frontcourt duo has made as it does with the overall improvement of the rest of the Hawks’ regular rotation players.

“When those two guys are active like that we’re a tough team to beat,” said Johnson, who was held nine points below his season average against the Pistons. “There’s no doubt about that. It’s just about playing with the right kind of energy right now and the rest of the way.”

It also helps when Smith is making his free throws the way he did Saturday. A .560 shooter from the free throw line this season, Smith made seven of nine free throws against the Pistons, punctuating his redemption game with his best night from the line in a month.

“I felt more confident than ever on my free throw shooting,” Smith said. “I need that confidence to where it needs to be every night. And to do that I have to refocus. We all had to refocus as a team.”

The best way for Smith and Horford to help that cause is by duplicating the performance they had against the Pistons, or at least cloning the effort and intensity.

“I think it’s pretty obvious we play well together,” Smith said. “We just have to do it on a consistent basis. We can do it every night if we want to. Even through we’re a bit undersized we have to try and use our quickness on the offensive boards and outsmart other teams.

“I’ll put the onus on myself, I haven’t been going to the boards in previous games like I should have been. But again, I have to get back to playing like the old Josh.”