Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 98, Nets 87

• The Hawks are in the playoffs.
• “It’s special,” Al said. “It’s something I don’t take or granted. A lot of guys play in this league and don’t get this chance. I’m very excited about it. Now it’s about us building on this and keep getting better.”
• The Hawks immediately set out to do all the things well offensively that they usually struggle with. “Guys just came out with a different attitude tonight,” Josh said.
• It was all on display during that 19-0 run that allowed the Hawks to take control until they suddenly weren’t in the fourth.
• J.J. earned an and-1 by challenging Humphries at the rim (the Hawks aren’t good at drawing fouls). . . .
• Hinrich bird-dogged the inbound pass, stole it and made a jump shot (the Hawks are nearly last in opponent turnover percentage). . . .
• Josh passed up a jump shot and scored on a spinning baseline hook from 11 feet (you know). . . .
• Joe got doubled and immediately dumped it off to Al for a short jump hook (quick decision by J.J.) . . .
• J.J. curled off a screen and shot an in-rhythm jump shot (ditto). . . .
• Josh scored on a drive (again, you know) . . .
• Marvin put back his own miss (the Hawks are not a good offensive rebounding team). . . .
• And, finally Smoove dunked on a transition pass from Al after Atlanta easily broke New Jersey’s pressure (the Hawks usually play at a plodding pace).
• That made it 19-2. When the Nets got it back to 19-7 Hinrich caught New Jersey flat-footed in transition and pushedfor a layup, Smoove got a steal and dunk and Hinrich scored on a nice crossover move to make it 25-7.
• The Hawks made all these plays at the same time they harassed New Jersey’s anemic offense with good ball pressure, sharp rotations, aggressive play in the passing lanes and solid defensive rebounding from all positions.
• “We really played our game that first half,” L.D. said. “We were pushing the ball, we were moving the ball. Guys were making plays, Joe was making plays out of the post. We were swigning the ball well. It just seemed like everything was going right. I thought we played as well of a first half as we could offensively and defensively we did a really good job.”
• And now–say it with me, blog people–the Hawks have to prove they can do all of that against better competition than the Nets. Not to mention the lapses by the bench guys that prompted L.D. to send the starters back in with the lead down to 16.
• “I think our mindset was great for three quarters or so,” Hinrich said. “We just have to feel when we are starting to go the other way and get a little bit of slippage and come together and not allow that to happen.”
• Perhaps L.D. was too cautious in bringing back the starters but he wasn’t taking anything for granted. “I only wanted to play Al two more minutes and let the reserves play the rest of the game,” L.D. said. “When it got to 16 I thought I had to get our guys back in there and try to regroup a little bit and get the game back under control. I certainly didn’t want to play the starters in the fourth quarter.”
• None of this is meant to downgrade a desperately needed W for the Hawks. This is especially true since they started off playing so well. They hadn’t looked that good lately no matter the opponent.
• “I don’t care how you get it as long as you get it,” Drew said. “We made it a little interesting down the stretch there but that New Jersey team has no quit in them. They are still playing hard.”
• Smoove vowed to focus on playing closer to the basket and mostly kept his word early. Four of his 12 shot attempts from beyond 11 feet came in the second half, including a meaningless 3-point attempt in the final minute. His aggressiveness led to eight free-throw attempts.
• For the second consecutive game Hinrich looked relaxed and confident with the ball. Lost in all the talk about Atlanta’s slumping offense is that Hinrich is capable of creating shots and making them, too. “I have a better feel for how I have to play to help us,” he said.
• Hinrich was aggressive defensively, too. He had Farmar so unsettled early that Avery Johnson quickly went to Uzoh.
• Joe got his right thumb bent back during a scramble for a loose ball: “I didn’t know if it was still attached when it happened. It hurt that much.”
• He said the pain subsided for a bit and he returned to the bench with ice on the thumb. But then the pain returned and he was done for the night. L.D. initially said Joe would make the trip to Cleveland but he ended up staying behind.
• Joe will get at least three days off to rest the thumb: “Maybe if it was my left hand it would be a lot different. But we have got to look at the bigger picture. We have got to be healthy as possible going into the playoffs.”
• Jamal was an efficient scorer and playmaker early with five assists, zero turnovers, 10 points and 5 of 9 shooting in the first half. His 3-pointer made it 85-66. Then he was 0 for 3 with a turnover as the Nets trimmed that lead to 88-78.
• “He came off the bench very aggressive and that’s how I want to see him play,” Drew said. “He was in the attack mode, he was making really good plays getting the ball to his teammates. He lost that aggression particularly when he show the airball. I told him I don’t care if he shoots five airballs I want him being in that attack mode the whole time he’s on the floor.”
• The Hawks needed everyone to pitch in rebounding against New Jersey’s rugged front line. They collected 31 of New Jersey’s 41 misses (not included team rebounds). Zaza (seven rebounds in 18 minutes) and Hinrich (seven rebounds) were pluses.
• The Nets hung in despite missing Deron Williams (wrist) and subpar production from Brook Lopez (six points, zero rebounds in 31 minutes while playing with a sore arm).
• “You knew they would come out and try to knock us out early but if you watch how we play we come back and battle,” Avery said. “To get this game as close again after the way the first half went shows the heart of this team. There are no moral victories but we played well after the weak start.”
• As bad as things have been for the Hawks lately at least they aren’t like the Nets anymore. “It makes it that much sweeter when you have experienced being on a losing team and not having a shot to make [the playoffs],” Josh said.

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat