DENVER --They left for their longest trip of the year with so many questions and, two weeks later, the Hawks still haven't provided all of the answers.
Are the Hawks the team that suffered blowout home losses to New Orleans and Philadelphia? Or the one that owns impressive victories at Miami and Portland? Was Atlanta's good start against the league's weakest schedule a warm-up for something better? Or will a tougher slate of opponents, starting with Chicago on Wednesday, expose the Hawks?
Atlanta offered conflicting answers on the seven-game journey that concluded with a 100-90 loss in Denver Monday night.
"You know, when you look at the thing as a whole, it's [just] OK," Hawks center Al Horford said.
Atlanta opened the trip with a solid victory at struggling Detroit but faded late at New York and was dominated by the Lakers. The Hawks were shorthanded against Phoenix after making a trade and couldn't finish, but then posted impressive victories at Golden State and Portland with new point guard Kirk Hinrich.
Hinrich didn't play at Denver due to a calf injury and forward Josh Smith missed the second half after suffering a sprained right knee. The Hawks, who had played at Portland late Sunday, still were within 89-85 in the final five minutes before faltering.
“Obviously we would have liked to have done better but I think it’s acceptable to finish off 3-4,” coach Larry Drew said. “It could have been a lot worse. Now we are still in a position where we can control our own destiny. We have a boatload of games at home and now we have to go home and handle our business.”
To do so, Drew said his team's approach to home games would have to be "totally different" after how they've struggled at Philips Arena lately. If not, the schedule threatens to derail Atlanta's bid for a top four finish in the Eastern Conference and the playoffs home court advantage that goes with it.
Atlanta's next six opponents had a combined winning percentage of 64 percent entering Tuesday. Among those foes, the Bulls (41-17) are third in the East, the Lakers (42-19) are the two-time defending NBA champions and the Thunder (36-22) and Knicks (30-27) were recently reinforced with trades.
Returning home may be no solace for the Hawks (36-24). The losses to Philadelphia (117-83) and New Orleans (100-59) were the two worst home losses in the league this season and Atlanta's 17-9 home record is worst among the East's top five teams.
Attendance at Philips Arena has been down. The Hawks rank 24th in average announced attendance (14,613) but they hope things will change with several marquee opponents among the 15 remaining home games.
"The good thing about the good teams is there is going to be a crowd there, no matter if they are favoring the visiting team or ours,” Smith said. “I think that gets us going more than anything.”
Fans will get their first look at the Hawks since the trade for Hinrich. The main motivation behind the Hawks swapping out Mike Bibby with Hinrich was to improve the defense.
There have already been positive signs with Hinrich and Jeff Teague playing most of the minutes at point guard.
"I think we've shown that we've gotten it together the last few games," Horford said. "But we have to come out with energy and intensity and be ready to go at home because we have got some real good teams coming."
About the Author
