Jeff Teague couldn’t remember the last time the Hawks lost as many as five games in a row.
A reminder that the Hawks essentially shut it down for the playoffs three years ago jogged his memory.
“Oh, yeah, and then we beat Orlando,” Teague said.
Facing Indiana Tuesday night, the Hawks (25-26) return from the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak, the longest in the league, and the circumstances are much different from their last slide that lasted as long.
The Hawks lost six in a row to close the 2010-11 regular season after players eased back with their playoff position secured. They went on to post an upset victory against the Magic in the postseason, a precursor to Dwight Howard’s eventual departure from Orlando.
That seems a long time ago now. Teague is the only active Hawks player who was part of that team with center Al Horford (pectoral) out for the season. They are trying to forge a new identity under general manager Danny Ferry and first-year coach Mike Budenholzer.
The Hawks had hit on a winning formula to overcome their lack of size: play hard, play fast and make shots. They did it well enough to rank among the group of nondescript Eastern Conference teams behind Indiana and Miami in the top half of the standings.
But a defeat at Toronto Thursday dropped Atlanta’s record below .500 for the first time since 9-10. After that loss guard Kyle Korver said the Hawks lacked the required “juice” over the last few games and don’t have the talent to overcome the lull.
That’s why Korver said the focus for the Hawks after the break should be regaining their mental edge.
“We don’t have to play perfect basketball,” he said. “We’ve got to come back and play hard and play smart with the system we are putting in. If we do that, we’ve shown we can be a really good team.”
NBA teams often use a lack of “energy” as a catch-all explanation for not playing well, but there could be something to it for the Hawks lately.
There have been long scoring droughts with plenty of misses on open shots; for the first time this season the Hawks have failed to score at least 90 points three games in a row. Rebounding is not a strength for the Hawks but they’ve been especially vulnerable to offensive rebounds.
“We’ve got to play with more pace and defensively, we’ve got to be more aggressive like we were at the beginning of the year,” Teague said. “Maybe guys’ bodies are a little tired and their legs are a little heavy.”
Budenholzer planned to work through the offensive struggles when the Hawks returned to practice Monday. Before players left for the break, he told them to rest up and get away from basketball.
“When we have good energy and we are able to sustain it for 48 minutes that’s when we are at our best,” Budenholzer said. “Right now we are struggling to sustain it.”
In addition to rest, the Hawks’ improved health may help them regain their stride.
There’s a chance center Pero Antic will return in a week or so after missing the past 10 games with a stress fracture in his right ankle. DeMarre Carroll is expected to play against Indiana after sitting out the Raptors game with a hamstring injury.
The Hawks still will be a limited team when those two return but there’s evidence they can be a better team when they play their style.
“Even without (the injured players), we’ve shown we can beat anybody if we just work our system and play aggressive, confident basketball,” Korver said.
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