Denver--It seems too simple to say the Hawks have forged a defensive identity simply by sending away Mike Bibby in a trade and replacing him at point guard with Kirk Hinrich.
Or is it?
"I think the trade has something to do with it," Hawks center Al Horford said after Atlanta's grinding 90-83 victory at Portland late Sunday night. "I like what I've seen from our guys. We are starting to become more consistent on the defensive end."
The Hawks have been a jump-shooting team that's shaky on defense and weak at rebounding. In a victory at Golden State on Friday night and again at Portland they defended and rebounded with vigor, went hard to the basket and turned the hard work into easy scoring chances.
That's how the Hawks dominated Golden State in a 95-79 victory on Friday night, and it's the method they used to bury Portland with a 14-1 run in the third quarter. Seven points during the burst came by way of steals leading to baskets in the open court.
"Since I've been here we've talked about defending and bringing the energy," said Hinrich, who joined the Hawks on Thursday. "When we do that we can be a tough team because of the talent we have and athletes and the shooters. If we can lock down on the defensive end, it will make the game a lot easier for us."
The Hawks led 68-49 after three quarters and fans started clearing out of the Rose Garden with the lead at 77-58 and seven minutes left. But Portland, which scored six points in 19 seconds to force overtime and beat Denver on Friday night, nearly pulled off another comeback.
Amid a flurry of Atlanta turnovers, the Blazers trimmed the deficit to 85-78 with 1:29 to go and 89-83 with 14.2 seconds left. Atlanta closed out the victory by making five free throws in the final 40 seconds.
"We still have work to do when it comes to closing out games," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "But a win is a win and we'll take it."
Atlanta improved to 3-3 on its season-long road trip that concluded at Denver late Monday night.
Crawford could return
Hawks general manager Rick Sund also said after not trading Jamal Crawford's expiring contract at last week's deadline the team would attempt to re-sign him in the summer.
“I’ve said from Day One I’m a big fan of Jamal," Sund said. "Once we figure out what the new [collective bargaining agreement] rules are we will do everything in our power to re-sign him.”
The current CBA expires on July 1.
Crawford is in the final year of a contract that pays him $10.1 million this season. He would become an unrestricted free agent this summer if Atlanta doesn't sign him to an extension.
Etc.
Sund said the team is unlikely to sign any of the veterans who had their contracts bought out and were waived before the March 1 deadline for playoff eligibility. Doing so would push the team’s payroll over or near the luxury-tax line even when accounting for the prorating of minimum salaries. ... Hinrich (right calf) was a late scratch on Monday night.
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