I love Al Horford– great leader and team player. But the Hawks are 9-2 since his injury. Obviously a lot of other factors play into this– strength of schedule (only one of the 9 wins has been against a team with a winning record), other players stepping up (Joe Johnson in particular). But the record is the record.
The Hawks will head to New Orleans to take on the Hornets tonight at 7 p.m. EST. The Hawks (14-6) are coming off an overtime win against the Pistons and are just a half game out of first behind the Heat. The Hornets (4-15) are in last place in the Southwest Division and have the worst record in the Western Conference. However, they are coming off an impressive win against Orlando in which they held the struggling Magic to only 67 points.
Injury Update: Jeff Teague, who left Friday’s game with a sprained ankle, practiced with the team yesterday but will still be a game-time decision. If he doesn’t start, Coach Larry Drew says Kirk Hinrich will likely take his place.
What to watch for: What will Joe Johnson do? Thus far, the Hawks guard has stepped up his game since the injury to Al Horford and the Hawks have been riding on his success. But the Hornets have a stingy defense and have held the Hawks to less than 90 points the last three times the teams have met.
As the Republican primaries continue to rage on in Florida, preliminary results for NBA All-Star voting has raised a few eyebrows. Hawks forward, Josh Smith in particular seems to be getting the short end of the stick.
Despite the fact that Smoove was the only forward who ranked among the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks after an earlier ballot update, he didn’t crack the top ten list of forwards in the most recent All-Star ballot update.
In fact, the only Hawks players who did make the list were Joe Johnson (10th among guards) and Al Horford (6th among centers).
Voting ends on January 31st, and All-Star weekend will take place the weekend of February 24-26 in Orlando.
Sports Illustrated writer Zach Lowe had some rather enlightening thoughts to share on the Hawks in his column, The Point Forward, yesterday:
“The Hawks are the Hawks — boring, predictable, effective, somehow making do with Vladimir Radmanovic, Ivan Johnson and (especially) a spry Zaza Pachulia playing Al Horford’s minutes. No one knows what to make of this team, though it will be intriguing if Marvin Williams keeps playing like he is, Jeff Teague finds his game consistently and Horford returns. But a contender? Eh.”
Honestly, not a bad assessment, imho. Taking a step back at this quarter-mark in the season, the Hawks are doing slightly better than expected (13-5, first place in the Southeast Division), although their schedule hasn’t been the most challenging thus far.
The impressive part is that they’ve done so despite major injuries to Al Horford and Kirk Hinrich, not to mention smaller nagging injuries to Marvin Williams and Tracy McGrady. But different players have stepped up at different times, the most recent of which was Joe Johnson’s 28-point performance in last night’s 97-92 victory over the Bucks.
The Hawks face a tough test as they begin a five-game road trip tonight in Milwaukee. Over the course of the next eight days, Atlanta faces the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets and Raptors.
Currently, the Hawks are tied with the Magic for first place in the Southeast Division and have managed to win despite serious injuries to Kirk Hinrich and Al Horford. But the majority of those wins have come at home– Atlanta is 8-1 at Philips Arena but only 4-4 on the road.
For Atlanta, it will be the first time the team faces the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons and Hornets this season. In their last game against the Raptors, the Hawks won 93-84. Although the Bucks are only 6-9 on the season, they are coming off a 91-82 win over the Heat. Tonight’s game will be at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich may be available for the team’s upcoming 5-game road trip starting tomorrow night in Milwaukee. Hinrich had surgery on his left shoulder in November. Initial reports had an estimated recovery time of three to four months.
While it is uncertain whether Hinrich will get in a game during the road trip, he’ll travel with the team and hopes to play:
“I hope I’ll be playing sometime on this trip,” he said.
Hinrich’s comeback would bring a much needed spark to the team, particularly in light of Al Horford’s potentially season-ending injury.
The Hawks will play the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets and Raptors over the next nine days.
The Hawks have a three-game winning streak since starting forward/center Al Horford went down with a shoulder injury last Wednesday against the Pacers. Atlanta beat the Toronto Raptors 93-84 this afternoon at Philips Arena with big performances from Joe Johnson and Josh Smith. Smith led the team with 28 points and 15 rebounds. The 15 rebounds were a season high for Smith.
For the Raptors, Leandro Barbosa led the team in scoring with 22 points off the bench. Toronto was without center Andrea Bargnani, out with a strained left calf.
Since Horford’s injury, Atlanta’s other starters have stepped up and picked up the pace. Horford may miss the remainder of the regular season, and Hawks management has remained tight-lipped about a long-term solution. But in the meantime, it looks like Drew’s current lineup is doing alright for now.
Next Up: The Hawks take on the Blazers at 8 p.m. Wednesday night. The game will be on– wait for it– ESPN! *gasp*
When Al Horford came out of Wednesday night’s game against the Pacers with a shoulder strain, no one expected it to turn into this. The Hawks All-Star power forward has a torn pectoral muscle and could miss as much as four months– aka, the entire regular season.
According to Hawks GM Rick Sund:
“We are very disappointed for Al and our team and we wish him the best as he moves forward in the rehabilitation process. He has contributed greatly to our success since his arrival in Atlanta.”
So what does this mean for the Hawks moving forward? Either they may want to revitalize their efforts to acquire Dwight Howard, or say good-bye to what would be their 5th straight playoff appearance.
We’re one-sixth of the way through this shortened NBA season and the Hawks are right about where pre-season predictions had them pegged– with a winning record (7-4), third place in the division, and living comfortably in the lap of mediocrity.
Despite a valiant fourth quarter effort, the Hawks couldn’t come back against the Pacers Wednesday night and lost 96-84. Atlanta outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth but it was too little too late this time, and the Hawks snapped their three-game winning streak.
For the Pacers, the story of the night was Danny Granger‘s comeback– the Indiana forward led both teams with 24 points after being sidelined with food poisoning during the last game. Granger had been struggling from the field but seemed to have found his rhythm tonight. Apparently it wasn’t causing him too much concern:
“I never shoot good at the beginning of the season,” Granger said. “Nothing different. I knew it would come around at one point. Everybody else was worried about it more than I was.”
The Hawks were playing shorthanded, with injuries to Vladimir Radmanovic, Marvin Williams, andTracy McGrady. To make matters worse, Al Horford went down during the first quarter after straining his left shoulder and did not return for the remainder of the game. His future status is still unknown.
Next Up: The Hawks return home to take on the Bobcats Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.
The Hawks defeated the Bulls 109-94 last night, giving the team a 6-3 record on the season. The win brought a particular sense of satisfaction after the team lost to Chicago on Tuesday after letting a 17-point lead slip away.
Despite being mired in trade rumors, Josh Smith has performed well and led the team last night with 25 points and six blocks. Three other Hawks starters were in the double digits as well– Al Horford (14), Jeff Teague (12), Joe Johnson (17).
“We did a good team job on him defensively in crowding him, trapping him and showing him different looks,” Smith said of Bulls star Derrick Rose. ”We played sound defense on him.”
Rose was limited to just eight points on the night and did not play at all in the fourth quarter.
The victory is the team’s second in a row after Atlanta beat the Bobcats in overtime Friday night and brought Chicago’s six-game winning streak to an end.
Next Up: The Hawks will face the New Jersey Nets tomorrow night at the Prudential Center.
