Atlanta Hawks at Heat: Begging for bench boost
Miami–The Hawks survived to beat the hapless Kings but to do it needed big minutes from Al, Bibby, J.J and Smoove.
Now they face the Heat, who are without Bosh tonight but get back LeBron. The Hawks have been suspect defending in transition lately anyway and now I’m imagining D-Wade and LeBron galloping in the open court against their tired legs.
About 90 minutes before tip, L.D. said he wasn’t sure which starting lineup he would use. He was waiting on Erik Spoelstra to reveal his starters.
“There’s going to be a wait-out,” Drew joked.
Atlanta’s pregame board had Bibby matched on Arroyo, J.J. on Wade, Smoove on LeBron, Al on Juwan Howard and Twin on Ilgauskas.
Whichever way he goes, the Hawks will be looking for a bench boost. Jamal is a pretty good bet to give them something but the other guys are a mystery.
“I wasn’t anticipating playing my starters the amount of minutes I played [them] last night,” L.D. said. “I’m going to need production from my bench tonight. Coming in on a back-to-back, playing a team like Miami it’s going to take a total team effort.”
Still here
Damien Wilkins is glad to still be with the Hawks on another 10-day. He knows his time could be limited and admits it’s hard not to think about that because he so badly wants to stay with Uncle ‘Nique’s franchise.
“If this was a team where I wasn’t happy here, it wouldn’t be on my mind as much and not bother me,” he said. “It’s tough because this is where I want to be.”
Last time Atlanta was here Wilkins did a good job harassing LeBron. He plans to use the same strategy this time: Get physical and cut off his space. And he wants redemption.
“I felt so bad about letting Tyreke get that layup last night,” Wilkins said. “I couldn’t even sleep. I was pissed about that. Luckily, we got that win. But tonight is a totally different animal. I am up for the challenge. He is a great player. I love watching him play and IU love playing against him.”
Etc.
“Limit” was the theme for the Hawks’ pregame board. On defense the Hawks want to limit transition scores, offensive rebounds, 3-pointers foul shots and the crowd. On offense they want to limit turnovers, bad shots, missed screens and standing. . . .
The Heat has been slipping defensively, too. Spoelstra: “We have to get back to our identity and do it consistently. It has been a long time since we’ve held a team to under 90 points and under 40 percent [shooting]. We were doing that semi-regularly in the month of December.”
MC
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635 comments Add your comment
DUMguy
January 18th, 2011
9:04 pm
CAN THE HAWKS AND THE wnba team SWITCH OWNERS???????
THOSE GIRLS ARE SO MUCH SMARTER THAN THE DUMBASSES RUNNIN/ruinin THE HAWKS.
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:04 pm
Lebron you push Josh out of bounds… What are you crying about.
ATL FAN
January 18th, 2011
9:04 pm
oh no horford.. no replacement for him
James
January 18th, 2011
9:06 pm
I hope Horford is alright. He sure was limping quite a bit. We can’t afford to lose our MVP. I really hope he’s alright and returns to the game.
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:07 pm
Talk about a low scoring game.
Hawks vs Heat
January 18th, 2011
9:08 pm
Hawks 3 free throw attempts, Heat with 22. Either the Hawks aren’t getting fouled or the refs are in the home team’s corner
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:09 pm
ANOTHER missed wide open rhythm 3. Hawks are now 1/11 from behind the arc. If they lose this game, they can point to that as the reason.
fs
January 18th, 2011
9:09 pm
Najeh, I’m doing more echoing than commenting; but I sit here and say it too, make a move to the basket, shoot it, or pass it, what’s there to pat the ball and think about?
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:09 pm
If the darned refs called the again anyway close to even and Hawks has as many free throws, we would win this game easy.
The NBA and the NFL sucks. They are all a joke.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:09 pm
2/15, not 1/11.
lukas
January 18th, 2011
9:09 pm
James,
Don’t worry man, we don’t need him!! JJ can take all his shots and Zaza the boxer canplay some D. JJ for MVP (sigh)!!!
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:10 pm
put Damien in.
fs
January 18th, 2011
9:10 pm
Poor Bibby can’t even jumo two inches off the floor.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:11 pm
“Either the Hawks aren’t getting fouled or the refs are in the home team’s corner”
Or the Hawks are shooting jumpers while the Heat are taking it to the hoop.
Sometimes you need to do like Wade and LeBron do and drive with the primary intent of drawing contact as opposed to scoring. Joe and Jamal always drive with the intent to score, not to draw contact.
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:11 pm
It’s mind blogging why Josh refuse to drive the ball to the lane and dunk it…
Sautee
January 18th, 2011
9:11 pm
Either that or the Hawks are being WAY too passive.
lukas
January 18th, 2011
9:11 pm
Nique explained that Joe Johnson doesn’t get to the line as much as Dwyane Wade becuse Joe Johnson is “So quick.”
gusman354
January 18th, 2011
9:12 pm
final score HEAT 104 pigeons 66 hahahahahaha
J.J.M
January 18th, 2011
9:12 pm
josh is scared to get blocked
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:13 pm
Heat have had three or four open looks from 3 in this half, after getting maybe one in the first half.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:14 pm
“It’s mind blogging why Josh refuse to drive the ball to the lane and dunk it”
He doesn’t have the handles.
gusman354
January 18th, 2011
9:14 pm
com on guys say with me LEST GO HEAT
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:15 pm
lol @ Nique clearing his dog fight analogy up b4 peta got on his @ss
cp
January 18th, 2011
9:16 pm
lol@Nique…..”This game is a dog fight..I dont mean that literally”
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:16 pm
Heat are just running pick after pick trying to isolate LeBron or Wade on Zaza, and it’s working. Quit switching.
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:16 pm
what is there to gain by playing Mo over Damien?
hawks_4_life
January 18th, 2011
9:16 pm
Just tuned in, where is Al?
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:17 pm
I didn’t ask for you to analyze everything i say…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:17 pm
Or at the very least, Zaza needs to tackle them if they get isolated on him. Your fouls are worthless, Zaza. You are pretty much in the game to hit people. Put your fouls to good use.
Dept. of Unintended Irony
January 18th, 2011
9:17 pm
“com on guys say with me LEST GO HEAT”
enough said.
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:17 pm
Melvin.. i agree… if he just went hard left and went up nobody could jump w/ him.. its not like he has to do anything fancy.. he attacks the rim looking to pass.
northcyde
January 18th, 2011
9:18 pm
So JJ changed his last name to Iverson . . and Josh changed his name to Wallace ( cousin of Rasheed ).
OK . . so that explains things then . .
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:18 pm
Najeh,
The lane was wide open when he took that jumpshot…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:18 pm
Al out of the game. That sucks.
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:18 pm
well no excuses Heat.. Horford is gone.
{MAC-Town Georgia 478}
January 18th, 2011
9:19 pm
no problem…quality depth: Zaza, Etan Thomas
…………………………………………………………….
gusman354
January 18th, 2011
9:19 pm
even with out bosh out the pigeons can’t beat the heat wow
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:20 pm
Smoove is doing a great job on LeBron.
Sautee
January 18th, 2011
9:20 pm
LeBron: You mean I can’t lift my pivot foot? They let me last game.
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:21 pm
he must not like handling with his left cause he always crosses over right..
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:21 pm
Smoove has really turned the tide in the Hawks’ favor. His D on LeBron has created the last three scoring opportunities for the Hawks.
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:21 pm
O’Brien
January 18th, 2011
8:58 pm
Or my mother..
Somebody is imitating me…
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:22 pm
Sautee,
Lebron said that was a crab dribble…
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:22 pm
jj 0-6 FROM 3. Why does he keep taking them?
hawks_4_life
January 18th, 2011
9:22 pm
Lol air ball, but come on hawks, finish them and prove your legitimacy.
Jordan Smith
January 18th, 2011
9:23 pm
No update on Al yet?
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:23 pm
In the last meeting the Hawks were right there with the Heat until five minutes were left in the game, and the Heat went on a big run to close out the game. Hawks have to keep the defensive intensity going for the entire quarter.
Heat got too many open looks from 3 in that quarter, including the one House knocked down near the end.
Wabe
January 18th, 2011
9:24 pm
Yeah, Drew inserted Bibby and Wilkins back into the game with the remaining 6 seconds to watch JJ take a 3-pointer contested by two Heat players…
hawks_4_life
January 18th, 2011
9:24 pm
Bigger picture, I hope Al’s injury isnt extensive
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:24 pm
This is like a playoff game, man. Intense, slow, grinding, low scoring… despite Hawks best attempts to run….