They called Jamal Crawford "The Difference" because his scoring punch off the bench helped jolt the Hawks to 53 victories last season.
Now things are just different for Atlanta's shooting guard.
There are fewer big scoring games that made him a fan favorite and Sixth Man Award Winner last season. There are more nights where he hardly shoots at all, can't find his rhythm when he does or generally appears passive on the court.
Crawford said there's been tension this season between his instincts and his altered role in coach Larry Drew’s offense. He's a natural scorer off the dribble who sometimes has to be a playmaker when he has the ball and seek scoring chances without it.
"He's had a very hard time," Hawks center Al Horford said. "I think Jamal is the kind of player who goes out and creates plays and makes the game easy for everyone. He can score the ball but it's been an adjustment for him.
"He's such a good guy that he's tried to fit into what we are doing but I think he is most effective going out and playing his game."
When the Hawks traded for Crawford before last season, then-Hawks coach Mike Woodson carved out a narrow role for Crawford: Come off the bench and, above all else, score.
The Hawks ran pick-and-rolls and isolation plays for Crawford to that end. Crawford's defense was unsteady as ever but he was so good in his specialist role that he was a net plus for the Hawks.
"I was an attacker, period," Crawford said. "You are putting teams on their heels the minute you come in the game."
Crawford averaged 18 points in just 31 minutes per game in 2009-10. He scored 20 points or more in 32 of his 79 games, and the Hawks won 23 of them. In the playoffs, Crawford's first, he scored 24 points in Game 6 and 22 points in Game 7 as Atlanta rallied to beat Milwaukee in the first round.
"When he is aggressive and knocking down shots like that, he is tough to defend and it makes us a better team," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "He just has to stay on the attack."
The challenge for Crawford this season has been finding a way for his style to work in Drew's egalitarian system. It stresses passing and motion over players making moves on their own.
There have been fewer scoring bursts for Crawford this season. He's scored 20 or more points just 17 times, though the correlation with winning has been similar: the Hawks are 13-4 in those games.
Crawford said there are times when he thinks too much instead of playing on instincts.
"Some games I am a facilitator and sometimes I am an attacker," Crawford said. "It's a different role."
There still are the occasional flashes of the scoring runs that earned Crawford his nickname. He scored 12 consecutive points to keep the Hawks afloat and finished with 20 during Atlanta's 88-83 victory over Boston on Saturday night.
The uneven season could mean financial penalty for Crawford, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him $10.1 million this season. He asked the Hawks for a contract extension last summer but was rebuffed and also had his trade request denied.
Crawford said he's not worried that his declining production will affect his value if he becomes a free agent this summer.
"I think I should be commended for not trying to [force things]," he said. "A lot of people on their contract year take a whole bunch of shots. I've actually gone the other way."
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