PORTLAND, Ore.-- Could it really be that the Hawks instantly forged a new defensive identity by making a trade?
It's too early to tell what sending away point guard Mike Bibby and replacing him with Kirk Hinrich will mean for Atlanta in the long term. But the Hawks have been a noticeably sounder defensive unit in the two games since the trade, including Sunday's 90-83 victory at Portland.
"I think the trade has something to do with it," Hawks center Al Horford said. "I like what I've seen from our guys. We are starting to become more consistent on the defensive end."
The Hawks improved to 3-3 on their season-long road trip that concludes Monday at Denver.
The Hawks have been a jump-shooting team that's shaky on defense and vulnerable on the boards. In a victory at Golden State on Friday 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 beat Golden State 95-79 on Friday and it's the way they buried 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.
"That's how we want to play," said Hawks guard Jamal Crawford, who scored a game-high 23 points. "We want to get the ball up and down the. That's where we're able to use our athleticism and the floor opens up for all of our shooters and our big guys to get easy baskets."
The Hawks had six steals and 11 fast break points in the period. As the Hawks ran to easy scores, Portland struggled to get clean looks at the basket and scored just 13 points while missing 13 of 16 field-goal attempts in the period.
"Since I've been here we've talked about defending and bringing the energy," Hinrich said. "When we do that we can be a tough team because of the talent we have and athletes and the shooters."
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, 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."
Johnson scored 20 points and reserve center Zaza Pachulia had a game-high 12 rebounds in 21 minutes. Hinrich had eight points and four turnovers in 28 minutes.
"I am just trying to get familiar with the guys and the sets offensively," Hinrich said. "Defensively I felt pretty comfortable tonight. Offensively, it is still coming. Hopefully it won't take too much because this is an important stretch for us."
The Hawks had good results attacking Portland's front court duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby. They each went to the bench with three fouls in the first half, forcing the Blazers to use a small lineup that couldn't match Atlanta's aggressiveness.
Atlanta's assertiveness paid of with 14 free throws and a 28-16 rebounding edge in the first half. The Hawks led 48-36 at halftime despite shooting 15 of 35 from the field.
Reserve center Zaza Pachulia was benched for Atlanta's victory at Golden State on Friday but he was key in this game. With Horford on the bench with two fouls in the first half, Pachulia had seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot while aggressively defending the paint in 11 minutes.
Pachulia's seven rebounds in eight first-quarter minutes helped stake Atlanta to an 19-18 lead despite its 8 of 23 shooting. The Blazers made 9 of 17 field-goal attempts in the period but gave up seven second-chance points.
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