The Hawks got the energy — and the result — they needed.
A day after a meeting between coach Larry Drew and three team leaders, the Hawks snapped a three-game losing with an impressive effort. Josh Smith, Al Horford and Jeff Teague, the addressees, combined for 77 points in a 124-101 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Hawks (43-36) moved into a tie with the idle Bulls for fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. With three games remaining in the regular season their playoff opponent remains in doubt. The victory snapped the Hawks’ four-game losing streak in Philadelphia, evened the season series 2-2 and avenged last week’s ugly home loss to the Sixers, in which the Hawks allowed 40 first-quarter points.
“That is where this whole game began,” Drew said. “… The way we played against this team the last time we played them I thought was just a total embarrassment from an energy standpoint. The point I made to all of those guys are they are the guys we fuel off of. They can’t come out lethargic. They can’t come out just going through the motions. They have to come out on top of their games, particularly with their energy. That is where everything begins.”
Smith led the Hawks with 28 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. He finished 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Teague also had a double-double, with 13 points and 11 assists. Horford finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, one shy of a third double-double.
Drew wrote two words on the white board in the team locker room before the game. Energy. Purpose.
“Forget about our coverages,” Drew said. “Forget about our matchups. Forget all that. If we bring those two things, we’ll put ourselves in good position.”
Drew was able to bring a hard hat into the postgame locker room as a sign of the “blue-collar mentality” he has preached to his team.
Rookies John Jenkins (21 points) and Mike Scott (15 points) each had a second consecutive strong performance. Kyle Korver extended his streak to 71 games with a 3-pointer, the fourth longest in NBA history, with a fourth-quarter basket.
“Coach preached to us before the game to bring in a lot of energy,” Jenkins said. “Especially us bench guys. We have no excuse but to come in and play as hard as we can. That is what we tried to do tonight, me and Mike especially because we are trying to earn a lot of minutes right now.”
The Sixers (31-46) lost their third consecutive after defeating the Hawks. Thaddeus Young, formerly of Georgia Tech, led the Sixers with 28 points. The Hawks again frustrated All-Star Jrue Holiday, who scored 12 points. In four games this season against the Hawks he has scored only 43 points combined.
The Hawks gave the home crowd something to cheer about after they spent much time in the second half booing the Sixers. After trailing by as many as 22 points, the Sixers broke the 100-point mark, and each fan was awarded a free Big Mac. Sometimes, it’s the little things.
The Hawks opened the third quarter with an 18-4 run to build a 22-point advantage. The Hawks turned up the intensity on offense and defense in the decisive run. Smith scored 10 points in the period.
“I think we all had an understanding of how we needed to play and what we needed to do,” Horford said. “It’s important for us to get into a rhythm. I felt like we brought the energy tonight.”
About the Author
