How good is this current Hawks’ streak?
So good that Cavaliers star LeBron James took a seat to watch the final 12 minutes of Wednesday’s 127-98 loss to the visiting Hawks on Wednesday. The Hawks have won 11 of their past 12 games. The lone loss in the run came at the buzzer at the Magic on the second of back-to-back games.
The Hawks made a statement with the win over the Cavaliers, avenging a 127-94 loss on the same court last month.
“The last time there it was pretty embarrassing on our end,” guard Kent Bazemore said. “We came in with a chip on our shoulder.”
Cavaliers coach David Blatt called the loss to the Hawks embarrassing and apologized to fans. James was asked after the game if he was embarrassed by the defeat.
“Nah, I’m embarrassed losing the Finals,” said James, who did not play the final quarter with the Hawks leading by 20 points.
The comment made its way back to one Hawk — but not many others.
Elton Brand said he received a message from a friend about what James said the next day. So, at a community event, Brand asked some of his teammates if they had heard it. Not one of the seven players he approached knew what he was talking about. Brand said that spoke to the team’s commitment to stay focused on the task at hand and not be concerned with the lack of national attention the 18-7 Hawks have received.
“That was a big win for us considering being down by 30-plus the first time,” Brand said following practice Friday. “It was big for our confidence, but we are not becoming complacent. Yeah, we won a big game by a lot of points, but we haven’t done anything yet. That is our focus today at practice. … We want to continue to win. We are not just happy with where we are.
“The guys in this locker room, we play for the city, our fans, each other, the coaches.”
Since the Hawks started the season 5-5, which included that embarrassing loss to the Cavaliers, they are 13-2. Entering Friday’s NBA schedule, the Hawks were third in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games behind first-place Raptors. The Wizards are just a half-game better.
The Hawks play at the Rockets on Saturday, the third in a stretch of five tough games on the schedule. It started with wins over the Bulls and Cavaliers. Following the Rockets, the Mavericks and Clippers await.
Of the Hawks’ recent nine-game winning streak, halted by that loss to the Magic on Saturday, the final eight wins were over teams with below-.500 records. The Hawks know this. They know that it’s one reason the team has gotten little attention for their success.
“You look at the record of the teams we played (before this current stretch), they weren’t too great,” Brand said. “To beat Chicago at home and then turn around and beat Cleveland handily, we definitely feel good about that. At the same time, we don’t feel like we’ve accomplished anything yet. We still have some tough games ahead and a tough road ahead to be where we want to be.”
Etc.: Starting point guard Jeff Teague is listed as doubtful against the Rockets with a left hamstring strain that cost him Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers. … Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer left practice early Friday to watch rookie Adreian Payne play an NBA Development League game for Austin. … NBA TV has picked up the Hawks game against the Cavaliers on Dec. 30.
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