Atlanta Hawks: Rockets 112, Hawks 106

Scola and Rockets pushed Hawks around. (AP Photo)

• A tough matchup and a tougher team undid the Hawks. The former wasn’t a surprise unless you thought Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry would have trouble getting past Atlanta’s guards. But it was a bit jarring to see a lack of support on Atlanta’s backline.
• “We thought we could outscore this team,” L.D. said. “Defensively, I thought we were soft.”
• Luis Scola, Jordan Hill and Chuck Hayes combined to make 24 of 37 shots.
• “We just didn’t play with any kind of physicality and we didn’t take anything away,” Drew said. “We allowed them to back us into the paint and score easily. We forgot kind of who we are. We have not been a team starting games thinking we can outscore people. Our mindset has always been that it starts with our defense.”
• Not sure about that, but the Hawks couldn’t even manage to put together their usual stretch of energetic defense to build a cushion and pull away. They led by nine points early because the Rockets were sloppy with the ball. Once they took care of it, the Hawks never really stopped them.
• The Rockets made jump shots but they got quality looks. “They do have some scorers,” Al said, “but I think the biggest thing was we were not fully committed on the defensive end like we’ve been playing lately. That was a little discouraging but we have to regroup and get ready for Monday.”
• Though the Hawks shot 49 percent from the field, the shot selection wasn’t very good after halftime. Josh was 2 for 8 and Jamal was 0 for 4.
• “It was just a matter of our offense was our worst defense,” Mo said. “Our shot selection kind of led to their easy transition points and that was a recipe for disaster.”
• Hill has been a disappointment since the Knicks drafted him No. 8 overall in the 2009 Draft. Tonight he posted a season high in points (16) and also had eight rebounds.
• “That’s what we need out of him,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “He rebounded tonight, he made shots around the basket. It just makes all the world of difference when we get that production.”
• Smoove finally got on track offensively, only to give ground to Scola on defense. Scola slipped into open space or took Josh inside while scoring 18 points on 9 of 12 shooting in the first half to keep Houston close.
• Then Lowry and Brooks finished the Hawks off in the second half with penetration, crisp ball movement and clutch shotmaking.
• “With Brooks’ speed and Lowry’s speed, it is going to be hard to keep those guys in front of you,” L.D. said. “But we have faced guards like that before and we have done a good job collectively in corralling those kind of guys and contesting shots. Tonight we didn’t do a good job collectively.”
• Teague got his chance against Brooks and wasn’t up to the task. L.D. showed restraint by not yanking him when he jacked up a 3 early in the shot clock.
• Jamal seemed to grow frustrated as the game went on and he wasn’t getting his shots. He was 3 for 11 (two of those attempts were heaves at the buzzer) with three turnovers and an assist.
• Smoove and Al combined for 22 rebounds. Joe had four. Everyone else totaled six. By contrast, Houston’s 45 rebounds were spread among 10 players. Hayes and Hill had eight and four other Rockets had at least four boards.
• Atlanta’s rebounding 45-32 rebounding deficit might have been worse if Rockets rookie banger Patrick Patterson hadn’t left the game with chest pain after playing four minutes. Patterson, whom a Rockets spokesman said was experiencing flu-like symptoms before the game, was taken to Piedmont Hospital for tests.
• This wasn’t a professional effort for the Hawks. J.J. had warned that it wouldn’t be an easy game but Atlanta seemed pretty nonchalant at times.
• “More so than anything just the energy and effort that it takes to put into a game like this against a hard-fighting Rockets team, we didn’t have that,” Joe said. “Even when we got the lead in the second half, we relaxed and they got back in it.”
• “Tonight we didn’t take them with enough seriousness,” L.D. said.
• “I wish we could win every game but it’s not going to happen,” Bibby said. “They kept fighting. Their shots went down, and ours weren’t. It happens like that sometimes. You aren’t going to win every game.”
• “We’re going to have nights like that, where teams are going to be able to shoot the ball extremely well like that,” Smoove said. “You just have to live with those games.”

MC