Hawks clinch 4th seed, home-court advantage

Al Horford didn’t need any reminders about what was on the line for the Hawks on Friday night.

He played like it, too, leading the way on both ends of the floor as the Hawks outlasted Indiana 122-118 to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase and the home-court advantage that comes with it in their first-round series.

“It was a track meet out there,” an exhausted Horford said with a smile. “But we’ve got to be aggressive at this time of the year, and that was something we had to do from the get-go. We knew how important this game was, and we had to go out there and win it in whatever fashion we needed to.”

Home-court advantage was actually theirs with two minutes to play in their game. Miami’s loss in Boston on Friday night secured it for the Hawks, who had no idea that they had clinched.

The last time the Hawks had a home-court advantage for a first-round series was against Detroit after the 1998-99 season.

But it’s sweeter this time around for Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his team, the nucleus of which has moved from 26 wins four years ago to 46 this season with two games to play.

“I couldn’t be happier for a group of guys who stuck in there the whole season,” Woodson said. “Some people predicted we wouldn’t make it to the playoffs, but these guys fought all year to make it to this point.

“It started back in training camp, this goal of getting one of the top four spots, and it held true. We’ve accomplished that and now we need to stay focused for these last two games and start preparing for the playoffs.”

Play like they did from early in the third quarter against the Pacers, and they’ll be ready for anything.

Once the Hawks started getting up and down the floor, there wasn’t much the Pacers could do to stop them.

Horford was one of five Hawks to score in double-figures and one of three to finish with 20 or more. He had 22 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and five assists. Josh Smith led the Hawks with 30 points and also had 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Joe Johnson added 24 points, and Mike Bibby had 15 points and nine assists.

Flip Murray added 15 off the bench for the Hawks, who collected their 30th home victory. The last time the Hawks won 30 or more home games was during the 1996-97 season, when they won 36.

“Words cannot describe how I feel,” Smith said afterward. “Personally for me, when I came into the league we won 13 games, and now being able to clinch the fourth spot is just special.

“Even last year, just making the playoffs, people were counting us out and saying we weren’t going to make the playoffs this year. But we proved them wrong.”

Marvin Williams even got in on the celebration. He returned to the rotation after missing 16 straight games with a lower back injury and played 12 minutes.

Williams said he noticed a difference in tone from both Horford and Smith at the start of the game, and particularly Smith.

“You could see the look on his face when walked into this locker room before the game that he was going have a big game,” Williams said. “We all knew coming in that we wanted to clinch the fourth spot, and it showed tonight.”