In a winter that has seen the Falcons fizzle into mediocrity, the Braves further cleanse themselves of name recognition, Georgia fire its football coach and Georgia Tech fail to play in a bowl for the first time in 19 years, Atlanta’s sports eyes turned to the Hawks on Saturday night.
They were like human Visine.
The team that gave the city an unexpected ride to 60 wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals last season, before finally dropping engine parts, has had some schizophrenic tendencies this season. But Saturday night, against one of the NBA’s hotter teams, the Hawks represented Atlanta sports’ alternate universe.
The same team that lost consecutive games to the New York Knicks, which no doubt also came as a surprise to the New York Knicks, dumped Chicago 120-105 at Philips Arena. The Hawks never trailed. They led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, saw the Bulls chisel the lead to two in the third, then pulled away again. It was a stunning display of excellence, punctuated by transition fast breaks and dunks, by a team that has been struggling to regain its groove from a year ago.
“We want to play like this more often,” coach Mike Budenholzer said, who actually had nothing to complain about. (It happens.)
When Al Horford plays like he did against Chicago, the Hawks’ don’t have a ceiling. His stat line: 15-for-21 shooting, 33 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and zero — zero — turnovers.
The amusing irony about Horford’s night: Before the game, Budenholzer referenced Chicago’s significant size advantage, even without the injured Joakim Noah.
“Speed and movement,” Budenholzer said when asked how his team needed to counter that.
The Hawks destroyed Philadelphia the other night with speed and movement. But just a good stare-down destroys the Sixers. This was slightly more impressive. The Bulls had won six consecutive and sat in second in the Eastern Conference standings.
Their best players were their relative “big men”: Horford, Paul Millsap (18 points, eight rebounds, six blocks) and Mike Scott off the bench with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The Hawks’ lack of size is widely considered their weakness, their playoff Kryptonite. This was evidence to the contrary.
“Speed kills,” guard Jeff Teague said. “We got them up and down and made them play at our pace.”
“We always are talking about how unique Al and Paul are, the different things they do,” Budenholzer said. “Those skills sometimes can counter what’s perceived as not a strength, or (the belief) that we’re undersized. Some nights it goes against us. But tonight the skills, the athleticism and the versatility were obviously very good for us.”
Horford led them.
He led them before the game in the locker room. (Teague: “We were disappointed the way we played against New York, and Al voiced that.”)
He led them on the court.
He led them on the bench during timeouts. (Budenholzer: “He was verbal, vocal, and everybody followed his lead.”)
Was one game in January in an 82-game season really that important? Horford thinks so.
“A measuring stick,” he said. “It felt like it was a big game.”
The Hawks had lost their biggest tests this season, losing to Cleveland and twice getting smoked by San Antonio. Their high point so far: a split with Oklahoma City.
Horford didn’t want to assume too much after this game.
“We’ve had some stops and starts,” he said. “We kind of get it going, then lose it. We just need to focus on the next game. I feel like sometimes when we have success we look too far ahead and then we get in trouble and we lose a couple in a row. The most important thing for us now is to start building those good habits again.”
They’re 23-15 after 38 games, near the midway point of the season. They were 30-8 at this point a year ago and seven wins into a 17-0 January.
But the Hawks’ primary objective isn’t to match their 60-22 record of a year ago. (Mathematics suggest they won’t: They would need to go 37-7 the rest of the season). The goal is merely to be playing better going into the playoffs than they were a year ago.
“This needs to be our blueprint,” Teague said.
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