Nothing has been easy for the Hawks lately, so of course a potentially breezy victory to clinch a postseason berth included an injury to All-Star guard Joe Johnson and a shaky fourth quarter.
The Hawks eventually overcame it all to defeat the New Jersey Nets 98-87 on Saturday night at Philips Arena and earn their fourth consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"It's a big accomplishment," Hawks forward Josh Smith said. "There's a lot of guys who play a whole career and don't make it. I think if we get our act together, we can do something special this year."
The Hawks (41-31) won't face an opponent nearly as bad as the Nets (23-49) in the playoffs, but they are in no position to take victories for granted. For one thing New Jersey had won two of the first three games against the Hawks.
Plus the Hawks had lost four of five games and 14 of their past 21 while showing signs of sagging confidence and fraying chemistry.
"There was no need for us to really panic, but we wanted to come out here and play well tonight," center Al Horford said after scoring a team-high 23 points with 12 rebounds. "I think this is the start of something good for us as far as playing the right way."
The Hawks (41-32) will play at Cleveland on Sunday without Johnson. He suffered a sprained right thumb in the third quarter.
By then the Hawks led 61-35, and their advantage would swell to as many as 30. But New Jersey's fourth-quarter rally forced Drew to send his starters back in with the lead down to 86-70.
The Nets got within 88-78 with 5:02 to play. Horford scored six consecutive points to regain control for the Hawks, who never let the lead dip below 11 from there.
"These kind of things do happen in this game," coach Larry Drew said. "But I was glad to see our guys maintain their composure."
The Hawks had a big cushion to work with after overwhelming the Nets early with smart and efficient play.
After New Jersey opened the scoring, the Hawks reeled off a 19-0 run. The Hawks got high-percentage shots in the half court, scored in transition and hounded the Nets on defense.
The Hawks responded to New Jersey's 7-0 run with Kirk Hinrich's fast-break layup, Smith's steal and dunk and another Hinrich basket to make the score 25-7. The Hawks led 57-31 at halftime.
"I thought we played as perfect a first half as we could," Drew said.
Smith scored 22 points, and sixth-man Jamal Crawford had 18, his most since scoring 20 against Portland on March 12.
Injury report
Johnson said his thumb bent back as he and New Jersey forward Anthony Morrow fought for a loose ball. "It's just sore," Johnson said. "I can't really do much with it as far as catching the ball." ... Smith said his right knee is still sore after he suffered a sprain Feb. 28 at Denver. He tweaked the same knee earlier in the season. "It's probably not going to be 100 percent at this point," he said. "I will just get it treated as much as I can and rest as much as I can." ... Horford (ankle) also is playing with a nagging injury.
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