Hawks Squawks: Mavericks 111, Hawks 103 (OT)

– What is it lately about the Hawks and these surreal endings? First Phoenix, then Golden State and now J. Kidd goes gangsta on Woody.

– Woody took the hit for the loss. No, that’s not a bad pun by me, that’s what he actually said (and he wasn’t smiling). ““He made a heck of a play. Jason Kidd is an All-Star, a Hall of Fame guard and he’s had a hell of a career. He did what he had to do. I’ve got to take the hit on that. I shouldn’t have been on the floor.”

– After Kidd ran into Woody, he woofed at the coach and Woody responded in kind as Hawks players, officials and Mavericks coaches intervened. It all happened right in front of me and I still can’t believe it.

– “It was a big deal,” J.J. said. “He just blatantly ran into our coach. I’ve never seen that.”

– As play continued Hawks fans near the court jeered Kidd, who shrugged his shoulders and told them: “Hey, it’s a smart play.” And I guess it was but, dang, that’s kind of messed up.

– “I saw him run towards him. I didn’t know what was going on,” Josh said.

– “This is one for the ages,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. “I don’t think there’s ever been a smarter player in this league than Jason Kidd.”

— Hawks players said Kidd’s play and the made free throw on the technical shifted momentum. “It kind of changed the game, but that’s not what lost the game for us,” Johnson said. “They went zone and we couldn’t get no continuity on offense.”

– I’m glad he said that because, from the players’ perspective putting this one on Woody’s tech is kind of weak. It looks bad because the Mavs needed that point for overtime but another Hawks meltdown was well underway before that play.

– Things fell apart when Dallas scored seven straight points without the Hawks even getting off a shot: Brendan Haywood scored on a putback and was fouled, Kidd rebounded the missed free throw and passed to Jason Terry for a 3, and Kidd stole the ball from Horford leading to a Jose Barea layup.

– After Jamal’s layup gave the Hawks a 90-79 lead, they missed five of their last eight shots in regulation and 10 of 12 attempts in overtime. The Mavs switched to a zone and the Hawks reacted as if they’d never seen one before.

– “I think we settled too much in the zone instead of attacking,” Smoove said. “It really wasn’t an aggressive zone. They were just letting us shoot jump shots.”

– And why wouldn’t they? With the notable exception of the Jazz game, show some resistance against the Hawks late in games and they will stop moving the ball to get better shots.

– “They were smart enough to save the zone until they needed it at the end,” Jamal said. “But I”m sure if we came in here tomorrow we’d make (those shots).”

– Josh was among those who stopped attacking. He’d been the catalyst when the Hawks made runs in the second and third quarters but then stopped going to the basket when things got tight.

– “We just played one-on-one against the zone,” J.J. said, and he was one of the worst offenders. This was bad Iso-Joe: missed leaner on the baseline, a pass to Smoove for a miss, and two missed runners in the lane.

– Once again, the Hawks compounded their stagnant offense with lackluster D and rebounding. The Mavs made 14 of 23 shots in the fourth quarter and 5 of 7 in overtime. Yeah, the Mavs got hot, but the Hawks also allowed 10 fasbreak points in the fourth.

– “Defensively we couldn’t make stops when we needed them,” J.J. said. That seems to happen a lot when they take bad shots, doesn’t it?

– But the Kidd-Woody collision will be the big story. “It was a big play, for sure,” Jamal said. “I’m sure that’s what 20,000 people will remember the most. It definitely shifted momentum.”

– “Coaches are always on the floor but nobody tries to run into them,” J.J. said. “I might have to do try and do that.”

– I’m out, Hawks fans.

MC