NEW YORK — Twice in eight days the Hawks found themselves on a national TV stage. Each appearance was dreadful.
On ESPN telecasts, the Hawks lost to the Heat (107-87) on Feb. 12 and fell behind by 21 points before losing to the Bulls (90-79) on Monday. Before each game coach Larry Drew said if his team was not motivated for such a contest there is something wrong.
Well, something is wrong.
The Hawks (19-13) have lost seven of their past 10 games, slipped to third in the Southeast Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. In the past 10 games, the Hawks have trailed by 30 points twice and by 20 points four other times.
“I can’t put my finger on that one,” Drew said of the team’s lack of energy and effort in recent games. “I wish I could. We are a team that at times we come out and play with a sense of urgency and at times we don’t. ... As I’ve stated before, you can’t play like that. You’ve got to come out ready to deliver the first blow, and you have to keep punching until the very end.”
Momentum works two ways. The Hawks’ opponent Wednesday is moving in quite the opposite direction. Sparked by national sensation Jeremy Lin, the Knicks have won eight of 10 games, taken their head coach off the hot seat and caused a city and an arena to pulse with excitement.
The Hawks will be without All-Star Joe Johnson for the next two games. The guard flew back to Atlanta on Tuesday to have an MRI on his ailing left knee. Johnson left Monday’s loss to the Bulls in the third quarter with tendinitis in his patellar tendon. Johnson has been ruled out of Thursday’s home game against the Magic before the All-Star break. His status for the exhibition is uncertain.
Following Monday’s loss, Johnson offered his insight into the Hawks’ troubles.
“When I look at our team, we are a very talented team, but I [don’t know] whether guys know their roles or not,” Johnson said. “We know the right thing to do. A lot of times we don’t come out and do it. I just think we should all have one agenda, one goal and that is winning the basketball game. Not who scores what, who does what. I think we are too self-conscious about [who is] scoring and the little things that really don’t matter.
“For us to win the game, we have to put all of that to the side and help one another on both ends of the floor. If we don’t do that, we are going to continue to struggle to win games.”
Johnson also said the team’s “noticeable” struggles have come from inconsistent ball movement.
“I think we just have to start getting the ball into the right people’s hands who make plays, who score the basketball and make others better,” Johnson said. “That’s it.”
The Hawks have faced Tracy McGrady’s public dissatisfaction over his playing time in the midst of a 1-3 road trip. Marvin Williams missed one game because of a death in the family, but will return Wednesday for the finale of the five-game road trip.
Following Thursday’s game, the Hawks will be off for five days for the All-Star break — a respite that couldn’t come at a better time, according to Jerry Stackhouse.
“You are going to have those stretches during the course of the season when it seems like you are struggling a little bit, you don’t know when you are ever going to win again,” the 17-year veteran said. “You have them a couple times. We are going through one right now. ... Guys are probably a little banged up, a little tired. With all that, the trust wanes a little bit. We’ll get it back.”
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