Atlanta Hawks at Heat: Game thread
Miami–All Hawks except Kirk Hinrich (shoulder) are good to go. Donald Sloan is inactive.
- Hinrich is to see his doctor tomorrow but Larry Drew still isn’t sure when he will return. “Hopefully we will get him back soon,” Drew said.
- Mike Miller (hernia), Eddy Curry (hip) and Mickell Gladness (foot) are out for the Heat.
- Josh Smith has some swelling in his right knee. He had an ice pack on it at shootaround. Reminded of the spectacular dunk he had during Atlanta’s 93-89 victory here last season, Smith said: “I have to try to re-live it.”
- Marvin Williams said he suffered nose bleeds while sleeping in two of the past three nights. “I thought my nose was running, so I wipe and there is blood everywhere,” he said. “It used to happen me to when I was a kid but it’s been a long time.”
- Drew on Williams: “He’s playing much better basketball than last year. He’s looking for his shot more. I’ve given him more freedom to be a little bit more creative with his shot. When he’s on the floor making shots he’s a big weapon for us. Chances are teams are going to double team us a lot with Joe [Johnson] so it’s important we spread [with] the shooting.”
- Drew on splitting minutes between Williams and Tracy McGrady, who finished the game at Houston: “I’ve been just kind of going with feel. It seems like T-Mac is starting to get his legs under him a little bit. I thought he played really well in the Houston game. At the same time I have to be mindful of the minutes he gets. I don’t want to wear him down.”
- Drew said the Hawks should draw confidence from winning at Miami last season but cautioned: “We are looking at a different [Heat] team. From the games I’ve seen they look like they are a team on a mission. You can’t get into a run-and-shoot game with this team. They run with force. They run in waves.”
- Al Horford on winning here last season: “It’s a new season. If we can take anything from it, we have done it here before. But obviously we have to validate it this season.”
- This is the fifth game in seven days for the Hawks. “Physically, I think we are OK,” Drew said. A little mental fatigue may start to settle in a little bit. Something we talked about before we started is it’s something you have got to push through. All teams are going through it. We cannot and will not use that as an excuse. We will play the hand that has been dealt to us. It can take a toll on you if you allow it to. It’s imperative that they take care of themselves.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
969 comments Add your comment
Wabe
January 2nd, 2012
8:25 pm
Signature Jeff Teague
BoneKollector
January 2nd, 2012
8:25 pm
Josh eff u
Go Teague
Big Ray
January 2nd, 2012
8:25 pm
Teague – beautiful on both ends.
Disgusted
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Josh is an above average but inconsistent player.
Trade him????? Gotta keep an open mind. Would you trade him for Demarcus Cousins and move AL to the power F??????
Its a thought.
Hmmmm
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
TURNOVER BY JUMPSHOOTING JOSH.
cp
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Teague
Wabe
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Jeff Teague = MVP for the Hawks.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
A Teague steal leads to a dunk. A good outlet pass from Josh leads to a layup. Hawks need those easy points as often as they can get them.
yodaddybrother
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
somebody run out on Norris Cole please…hand down man down
Lacsho
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
I could’ve sworn, I saw Josh arguing during both timeouts in the first quarter. It’s time to start radiation treatment on that cancer. He’s killing the team.
Melvin
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
That Cole guy can shoot it.. Put Mario back in the game.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
M-V-Teague
Wabe
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Man this Noris Cole kid’s killin us.
Runner-
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Is it just me or does it seem like other teams hit their open shots 90% of the time? If the Hawks could just hit their open shots, things would be much easier
Big Ray
January 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Loving Teague’s aggressiveness.
Wabe
January 2nd, 2012
8:27 pm
Someone tell Josh not to try and do too much man…
Black Power
January 2nd, 2012
8:27 pm
LD, sir, you are a certified idiot for benching Teague last year.
Big Ray
January 2nd, 2012
8:27 pm
There you go Josh! Make an impact on the defensive end.
Then he tries to make a play on the offensive end and telegraphs the pass. sigh …
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:27 pm
Al just threw the best pass of the night so far.
Lacsho
January 2nd, 2012
8:27 pm
Teague is looking pretty good.
Melvin
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Nice give and go with Joe and Al
Harry Hawk
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Rathbun gets too excited. It’s the first half.
Astro Joe
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Bosh is so overrated it is stupid.
Spyro
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Josh gave the ball to Teague coming up the court!
BoneKollector
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Marvin!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Iso-Marvin?
Black Power
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Tied at 42.
Runner-
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
MARVIN!!! WTF!
Rusty
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
Is ld ever capable of making the moves ? Is jj over the hill?
bigdave
January 2nd, 2012
8:28 pm
YEEEEAH!!!
Runner-
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
a travel call on James?? wow
Hmmmm
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
TEAGUE GOT HEART.
LET IT BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!
Melvin
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
Nice double team on the Queen by Teague and AL….
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
Gotta get stops to go on runs, and Teague and Josh have been the catalysts on D.
Ignition
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
Teague MVP !!!!!
doc
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
omg a call against the queen, call 911 quickly to resuscitate me.
Runner-
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
as soon as Smoove gets uninvolved in our offense, we start getting hot
RethinkPossible
January 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
ISO-Marvin….lol
Hawks2012
January 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
GREAT intensity there. I jumped out of my seat.
doc
January 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
harry hawk and we dont?
Astro Joe
January 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
At this rate, we can trade Josh and keep Teague and there may not be too many complaints (and we can remain in the bottom third in home attendance).
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
LMAO @ doc
Blast
January 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
Now Hawks are competing, and not playing scared. Miami isn’t very good on the half court against the zone or good defence. If it wasn’t for that rookie….
Crowd is out of it.
bigdave
January 2nd, 2012
8:31 pm
nice..
Big Ray
January 2nd, 2012
8:31 pm
A lob to Al. Nice!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 2nd, 2012
8:31 pm
Nice pass Josh! Nice play design too.
Ron
January 2nd, 2012
8:31 pm
Horford look like the only starting big man that seems to want to go in the paint anymore. What in the world is up with Josh these days? He took a lot of lazy jumpers last season, but at least he used to mix up his game and drive inside or attempt to post up. It seems like almost all of his attempts now are jump shots.
Also, for those of you who talk about Al and Josh not being able to create their own shots, they are going to have to right now. Al isn’t getting easy looks like he has in the past. The Hawks aren’t running much pick-and-pop anymore, and when Al is open his teammates are often failing to find him as well. Josh’s teammates are only hitting him when he’s open on the wring for jumpshots since that is where Josh has been camping out.
Right now, the main way Josh is soring is either from the line or when a jump shot goes in. In Al’s case, his main source of scoring is when he’s been given the ball in the post. Personally, I think Al is fine creating his shot and scoring in 1 vs. 1 situations down low, however, once teams start helping or doubling, he’s basically forced to pass. We don’t have any great playmaking on the floor, so for Josh and Al to be most effective, they definitely need to work on creating and scoring for themselves. Either that, or we need some significant improvement from our playmaking guards.
Harry Hawk
January 2nd, 2012
8:31 pm
The Heat have been awfully passive tonight.
Black Power
January 2nd, 2012
8:32 pm
I wonder how many more jumpers Josh will take; Hawks briefly took a 2point lead!
RethinkPossible
January 2nd, 2012
8:32 pm
Look at Marvin work for that position!