Atlanta Hawks: Suns 99, Hawks 90
Here is the updated game story of the Hawks’ loss to the Suns Monday, their third straight home defeat.
Apparently, there is no place like the road for the Hawks these days.
After a recently-completed 4-1 road trip, the Hawks dropped their third straight home game Monday night, this one a 99-90 defeat at the hands of the Suns.
The Hawks (16-7, 8-4 home) have now lost to the Grizzlies (by 19), 76ers (11) and Suns (nine). Their four-game homestand ends Wednesday against the Pacers. A road game at the Magic (Friday) and a home game against the Heat (Sunday) are next for the Hawks, who are 4-9 against teams that entered play Monday at .500 or better.
The Hawks entered the game concerned about Suns point guard Steve Nash – and for good reason. Nash scored a game-high 24 points with 11 assists, better than his league-leading 9.9 per game.
“He is still one of the better point guards in the league,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “He’s very crafty. He gets the ball to the open man. He’s still making shots.”
As much as they tried they couldn’t handle the NBA’s two-time MVP, who turns 38 Tuesday.
Much of the burden of stopping Nash fell to Hawks point guard Jeff Teague. Implored by Drew to be more aggressive, Teague had a dunk and a one-on-one move past Nash in the first quarter as the Hawks took a three-point lead at 16-13. That would be the highlight.
The Suns built a 16-point lead, 43-27, with a 30-11 run between the first and second quarters. Former Hawk Josh Childress punctuated the run with a dunk on a pass from Sebastian Telfair.
The run came as the Hawks struggled mightily from the field in the second quarter. Their second field goal didn’t come until 7:09 remaining. In all, the Hawks shot 8-for-20 in the quarter and finished the first half shooting 39.5 percent (17-for-43).
Most of the Suns’ points came in the paint. They had 16 points inside in the second quarter after only six in the opening stanza.
The Hawks used a run of their own to cut the lead to four points, 52-48, on a 3-pointer from Joe Johnson. However, they trailed by seven at the intermission when Nash hit a 3-pointer of his own at the buzzer. Nash had 17 first-half points.
“Like I’ve been saying, the continuity of our offense and our inability to stop dribble penetration has been a thorn in our side,” Josh Smith said. “If we correct those two things, nothing can stop us. You saw on those road games we had high assist totals. These last two or three games, it’s been low and the offense has been real stagnant.”
Teague picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter.
The Hawks pulled with two points, 60-58, as Joe Johnson and Smith each scored five points to open the third quarter. They would get no closer.
The Suns ended the third quarter with a 24-6 run, with Nash scoring six points, and their lead was 20, 84-64.
“We didn’t respond well to the runs, particularly in that second quarter,” Drew said. “I just don’t see how we respond as if the game is over. I was hoping we were past that point. It’s a point that we are going to have to get better at. This is the NBA. Teams make runs all the time. … It just seems to knock the wind out of our sails when a team makes a run when there is a lot of basketball left to play.”
The Suns (10-14) won their fourth straight against the Hawks. The teams meet again in Phoenix in nine days. Channing Frye added 19 points for the Suns and Jared Dudley and Michael Redd each finished with 10 points.
The Hawks fell 2.5 games behind the Heat in the Southeast Division. They were led by Smith with 18 points and Johnson with 17 points. The Hawks are 5-8 when Johnson fails to score 20 points. Willie Green added 14 points off the bench.
“We’ve kind of slacked off defensively,” Drew said before the game of the Hawks’ current three-game skid. “The start of the season, the one talk we had with the players was the fact that we had to establish an identity defensively. We’ve kind of gotten away from that a little bit.
“We can’t get in a mindset of coming out and trying to outscore people every night. We have to let our defense generate our offense. We’ve gotten away from it.”
The Hawks made a spirited fourth-quarter run, prompting the Suns to re-insert their starters with an 11-point lead with 3:53 remaining. The Hawks got as close as the final nine-point margin.
Hawks television color analyst, NBA Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins was ill and missed the game ill. He was replaced on the broadcast by another former Hawk, studio analyst Mike Glenn.
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262 comments Add your comment
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
6:32 am
Ken S. it’s not even a question of that. Yes there are people on this blog like Superior Blog Troll who hate Horford so much that they will make any absurd argument to denigrate his worth. My suggestion would be to limit your interactions on this blog to those who engage in constructive discourse.
I acknowledge that Al has faded badly in the last two playoffs, but I don’t see to belittle his contributions to the team. Before he went down to injury I noted that he was taking the ball inside, and although his post moves continued to be very stiff and forced, he was TRYING to develop a post game.
At this point there’s little use in debating Horford’s relative merits. Obviously we miss All-NBA. As much as I sing Zaza’s praises, I’d much rather have Horford in the game. What we should be debating is if Apprentice of Panic Larry Drew is setting this team up to succeed or fail with his substitution patterns. I contend it’s the latter and he’s going to wreck a promising season. It will get worse long before it gets better.
NCBravesFan
February 7th, 2012
6:34 am
Hinrich’s value as a trade chip rests primarily in his expiring contract, so giving him more minutes makes no sense at all … Unless Sund plans to stand pat and not do anything.
darrell starks
February 7th, 2012
7:05 am
I have told coach to check date on Marvin coolaid package it has expire.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jimmy Crack
February 7th, 2012
7:07 am
We try every year as Atlanta fans, don’t we folks? We try and try and try and try…
Disappointment is on the horizon like the sun going down. Every sport. Every year.
But we try.
darrell starks
February 7th, 2012
7:07 am
Hinrich is horrible, he play like a new born baby just look confused.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 7th, 2012
7:18 am
Hawks look like a baby out there, Lopez and Gortat are giants with Zaza at 6′11 at best, Hawks have no size at all.
Im continue to say this you need a big body in the paint to defend the paint and with Collins now gone the Hawks are useless on defense, this team need to sign a big in the worst way.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 7th, 2012
7:27 am
SUND WHERE IS KYRYLO FESENKO ?
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
High-Tech Lynching
February 7th, 2012
7:34 am
@Buddy Grizzard,
“I have coached 13-15 year olds in a church league and played backup center for my intramural team in the Army. That is the extent of my basketball experience.” – Buddy Grizzard
Now, I know why you are so infatuated with Zaza Pachulia and keep referring to him [Pachulia] as the best backup center in the [NBA] league. It’s because you see yourself as Zaza Pachulia II. Man, I hope you’re not trying to live [your life] through Zaza Pachulia because, if you are, you could’ve picked a whole lot of other former and current backup centers to admire such as Marcin Gortat, Greg Kite, Rick Robey, Mychal Thompson, Roy Tarpley, Bill Wennington, Will Perdue and John Salley.
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:35 am
NCBravesFan
February 7th, 2012
6:34 am
“Hinrich’s value as a trade chip rests primarily in his expiring contract, so giving him more minutes makes no sense at all … Unless Sund plans to stand pat and not do anything.”
Bingo Fuel! Gearon’s puppet is blowing smoke up your nose…………………
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:37 am
Made a run with a PARGO SIGHTING???????????????????????? Huh?
Wheres PARGO? PARGO? PARGO? PARGO?
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:38 am
These Homes games look like Road games??
The National media will never respect this team, heck the lousy owners don’t respect this team..
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:40 am
The Paces win big! At least 20-30 pts……YAWN!
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:42 am
Where is the Beef?
Yea All NBA is not a savior..The Hawks had huge blowouts with him partaking in most of them anyway last season! REMEMBER????????????????. Blah Blah Blah……
terrell
February 7th, 2012
7:47 am
We’re still right where we wanna be according to Uncle Larry.
terrell
February 7th, 2012
7:52 am
Larry Drew gives minutes to players based on salary, NOT PERFORMANCE.
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:57 am
Yes, you betcha Larry’s been told to coach that way or else…………….^^^^^
He’s not a ignorant man to get where he is…He has to be taking orders from Sund…A 32 year mediocre GM on a good day….
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
7:58 am
Hawks= write off…..
Dawg
February 7th, 2012
7:59 am
The Hawks suck.
Our only hope for a big man is to get Benson, “our project” off the scrap heap. That is exactly what we need is a skinny, short center that is a project.
All, All, All, championship teams are built with a PG and a Center. Yet we WASTE all of our picks on tween forwards. Pathetic. We sell picks for money never used, we trade for exceptions, we trade for a guard using 2 #1 draft picks, that guard is not a good a Pargo.
terrell
February 7th, 2012
8:01 am
I suppose we’re going to put Ivan and greasy hands Pachulia on Dwight friday night. Cant wait to see that.
darrell starks
February 7th, 2012
8:06 am
terrell that’s the best thing said on this blog all year, Larry give minutes to player based on salary not performance, THAT EXPLAIN MARVIN 7YEARS OF STARTING, ONLY IN ATLANTA SMH.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike is Back
February 7th, 2012
8:10 am
What’s up MC, I know I been MIA…not to make excuses for the recent lackluster performance by the Hawks…but the minute we loss AL…the Hawks needed to acquire a Big…heck, before Al went down, the Hawks needed to acquire a Big. Sund and ASG have to do something…it’s not like they don’t have some options…this is a grueling schedule…when fatigue set in…OLD HABITS resurface.
No since in me piling on…It’s long grueling season…the Hawks have to continue to believe in each other…forget the nay sayers…go back to playing that scramble defense, and sharing the ball on offense.
TIME TO GET BACK ON TRACK HAWKS…LET’S GO…LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
8:18 am
Najeh,
Although Childress and Marvin both have a terrible contract, I think we should have re-signed Childress when we had the chance. Just another miscalculation by our GM (imo).
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
8:23 am
“Like I’ve been saying, the continuity of our offense and our inability to stop dribble penetration has been a thorn in our side,” Josh Smith said. “If we correct those two things, nothing can stop us..
Is it a team responsibility to stop dribble penetration? Is it the PG not doing enough to keep his man out the lane? What’s the underlying issue?
As for the offense, LD is in his second year, and we are still having issues with the “continuity of our offense”.
terrell
February 7th, 2012
8:29 am
Could’ve had Aldemon. SMMFH.
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
8:32 am
BK should have never drafted JChill as lottery pick in the first place! He should have taken Andre or Deng!
JChill has a permanently broke jumpshot like another Josh? Sound familiar? Hmmmmmm…..
He’s a sub for reason………
terrell
February 7th, 2012
8:33 am
But I dont know if Phil or Auerabach could win with this group. Our players are just a bad fit for each other. Joe/Marvin/JoshAl. Wtf? 4 fowards in the same freakin lineup?? Not gonna get it done. We know it. And they know it.
Jump Shooter X
February 7th, 2012
8:35 am
Hawks can’t beat good teams. Now they can’t beat bad teams. Trade for Dwight Howard or call it a season… Where did big mouth Tracy McGrady go ?
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
8:35 am
““Like I’ve been saying, the continuity of our offense”
Josh, your inability to score in the post or on perimeter consistently is destroying continuity…
Reality check…………..
terrell
February 7th, 2012
8:40 am
A pg who’s head has been messed up by his former coach, his new coach, and one of his CAPTAINS. A sf playing 2 guard. A role player AT BEST who looks like a pf starting at the 3. A tweener playing pg, sf, pf, and center. lol. And another tweener playing center/pf, who hates to play center btw, and isnt that good at pf. There’s your Atlanta Hawks people.
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
8:47 am
“A pg who’s head has been messed up by his former coach, his new coach, and one of his CAPTAINS. A sf playing 2 guard. A role player AT BEST who looks like a pf starting at the 3. A tweener playing pg, sf, pf, and center. lol. And another tweener playing center/pf, who hates to play center btw, and isnt that good at pf. There’s your Atlanta Hawks people”
Gearon BLOWIN SMOKE UP YOUR_______________________…Fill in the blank….
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
9:00 am
The reason why Benson was not retained: little practice time. Drew kept guys who he didn’t have to be babysat. I don’t see them bringing him back after ‘cutting’ him. We didn’t send him down to our partial NBDL affiliate (name escapes me at the moment), we just let him go and admitted a draft mistake. Mi was okay with it at that time. Now, he would get a portion of Collins’ minutes only to have Drew yank him after one mistake. He wasn’t going to improve sitting beside Collins and Zaza. Just ask Randolph Morris.
On Kirk, he will get better, and I agree, those with bigger salaries play in the regular rotation whether they contribute or not.
During this losing streak, why doesn’t FSS put up a poll for the fans to vote on who should start. I guarantee you Marvin’s stock would be down, T-Mac’s stock would be up, and Ivan would be the winner, putting Zaza on his arse where he belongs. Not that Zaza didnt compete with Gortat and Lopez, but he’s not enough to help Joe, Jeff and Josh. We need a brute no matter how little he makes.
If we can see this, why can’t Drew? There Is no way the entire coaching staff doesn’t see the flaws we currently have.
My new 5 vs Indy because they’ve earned it: Joe/Josh/Jeff/T-Mac/Ivan
If Ivan has trouble with Hibbert, bring in Zaza.
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
9:01 am
Mi should be I…
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
9:02 am
2 wins this week and the Hawks get back, some of their mojo….possible?
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
9:08 am
no, 0-5 then meet up with Miami who will get payback..Just a brutal stretch of meltdowns…Just Sad….
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
9:25 am
“Hinrich’s value as a trade chip rests primarily in his expiring contract, so giving him more minutes makes no sense at all”
Do you have any idea how desperate the Lakers are for a point guard? Do you watch basketball?
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
9:28 am
Gearon and Sund are in hiding until the losing streak is over.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
9:38 am
“Hinrich is horrible”
Darrell… he’s bad but he’s not Pargo bad
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
9:39 am
Sounds like the captain with the high basketball IQ continues to be concerned about the PG play. And if anyone thinks that concern rests at the feet of the guy getting around 18 minutes of playing time, you’re fooling yourself. These games aren’t being lost in 15-18 minutes.
Now with that said, I think we’re looking at chemistry issues more than we are personnel or on-court performance. Bad body ,anguage last night. They forced the ball to Josh early as if to appease him and didn’t run their normal offense. Teague is lapsing into the way he looked when playing next to Jamal… like his job is to “cross the halfcourt line and pass the ball” (to paraphrase a previous quote). He isn’t going to be worth his weight trying to be a pass-first PG like one of his captains seems to prefer. Joe looked miffed early in the game because the ball moved down to one player.
The backdoor dunk by Childress was on Teague. You could clearly see Josh direct Teague to guard Chill, but he turned his head to the dribbler and lost eye contact. After the dunk, Smith immediately glared at Teague.
The lockerroom (IMO) ain’t right. We’ve seen this before and we’ll see it again. When these guys get their panties in a wad, it shows up in the form of poor energy and execution on the floor. The dysfunction has returned.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
9:40 am
High-Tech Lynching I’m the second coming of the original great white hope… Jon Koncak!
Najeh Davenpoop
February 7th, 2012
9:51 am
“YOU HAVE TO LET HIM PLAY HIMSELF INTO GAME SHAPE AND GET HIS JUMPER BACK BEFORE HE HAS ANY TRADE VALUE.”
Not if you trade him for someone on another team who isn’t getting much playing time but who would help the Hawks, like Nazr Mohammed. Kirk’s trade value isn’t any lower than Nazr’s right now.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 7th, 2012
9:54 am
BG, your 2:54 post was on point, but like Grandad said, ultimately the lion’s share of the blame lies with Sund for not acquiring more/better big man depth.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 7th, 2012
9:57 am
“These games aren’t being lost in 15-18 minutes.”
Yesterday’s game was lost in about 6 minutes, specifically the 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter when the Hawks went with a small lineup instead of playing Ivan Johnson.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
9:58 am
“We just let him go and admitted a draft mistake… Why doesn’t FSS put up a poll for the fans to vote on who should start. I guarantee you Marvin’s stock would be down…” KevinM
Kevin… and this is how fans shoot themselves in the foot. Do you want to see Marvin and Kirk gone? Then you want them both playing 30+ mpg right now. The trading deadline is right around the corner. You’ve got to let Kirk get into shape, get his shooting percentage up and his turnovers down if you want to get anything in trade for him. Otherwise he’s going to eat into Teague’s minutes for the rest of this season until the Hawks lose in the first round, LD gets fired, Josh forces a trade and Kirk signs somewhere else because they can’t affort to pay him. All these Kirk hates should be shouting on this board PLAY HIM 40 MINUTES LARRY!
Same thing for Marvin. You want to see him in another uniform? I think the emergence of Ivan makes him expendable AND we need to get his salary off the books so we can AFFORD to keep Ivan… Ivan won’t be making vet’s minimum next year… he will be making mid level money AT WORST. So do you want Ivan to still be on the team next year? Then you should be screaming 40 MPG FOR MARV DO IT LD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As far as Benson a draft mistake… middle of the second round? Is it possible to make a mistake in the middle of the second round? And we can bring him back as soon as Sund cuts Pargo and Stack.
LT
February 7th, 2012
10:03 am
“Larry Drew gives minutes to players based on salary, NOT PERFORMANCE”
Najeh Davenpoop
February 7th, 2012
10:03 am
Here’s the gameflow of the game. The Hawks starters started the 2nd half by cutting it to 4 (actually they cut it to as little as 2), and then Zaza picks up his 4th foul and exits. Instead of Ivan replacing him, LD brings in Vlad and goes small. For the next five minutes, the Hawks are -9.
Finally LD comes to his senses and brings in Ivan for Vlad, and Ivan stems the tide for a couple of minutes. Then he replaces Teague and Marvin with Kirk and Willie Green, the Hawks are outscored by 7 over the last minute and a half of the 3rd quarter, and the game is basically over.
Nobody other than Zaza and Ivan should be playing center for this team AT ALL, until either Twin gets healthy or Sund signs/trades for a big man.
High-Tech Lynching
February 7th, 2012
10:08 am
Buddy Grizzard,
I hear ya, Jon Kontract. LOL
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
10:16 am
Jon Kontract= avg. 1pt 1 rb per game for his career….How much did he steal? Bout 40 million! Only in Georgia!! LMAO!
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
10:21 am
“The blame lies with Sund… Kirk’s trade value isn’t any lower than Nazr’s right now…”
Najeh, I’m not concerned with assessing blame… I’m concerned with finding solutions… wow… Nazr? Let’s aim a little higher than that. I think Keith Benson can bring as much as Nazr.
Seriously though you’re the poster I read the most on these blogs… I think you should be writing more than blog entries… help me find solutions here. How about Josh and Kirk for Pau? We know Josh is gone right? We all know that? Hello? Blog Land? You do know that 12 months from now, Josh Smith will not be a Hawk right?
So if he goes to the Lakers for Pau, we have a center under contract for two more years after this season, and we have All-NBA and JJ locked up long term. Lock up Ivan to play small forward, hopefully extend Zaza if his market value stays low enough and there you go… Hawks stay playoff contenders for a couple more years before it’s amnesty time for JJ and full rebuilding mode.
How about Josh to the Nets in the offseason in a sign-and-trade for Brook Lopez? Last year he was one of the lowest paid players among the top 30 scorers in the league. Yes he’s Al Horford two inches taller but… he’s Al Horford… TWO INCHES TALLER. Our defense will take a hit but we get scoring back and we get SOMETHING for Josh…
Help me out Najeh… dare to dream big…
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
10:23 am
Have we signed a center yet? What’s the hold up Sund?
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
10:25 am
We needed a center coming into the season but we signed Stackhouse, Mcgrady, Willie Green, Pargo, Sloan, Vlad, and Ivan.
SMGDH