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.
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
262 comments Add your comment
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
10:27 am
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde we did sign a center… Ivan is a better NBA center than Kendrick Perkins.
Melvin
February 7th, 2012
10:28 am
Buddy,
I must say. Your reason for playing Marvin and Kirk 40 mins is crazy. You are not going to over inflate their value by playing them more mins. Every team has scouts. They will base their opinion of a player on their performane on the court not by looking at box scores. Marvin and Kirk are not playing good basketball and their 16 mil in (combine) contracts is taking up too much of the Hawks salary cap for the production they’re getting on the court. Both are getting paid starters money but neither one is a main cog as a game finisher. At this point, I would rather have Jamal 5 mil in a Hawks uniform than either one of their contracts on the books. Just another example of many bad asset management by the ASG.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
10:31 am
Right Melvin but how do you get them off the books? By playing Vlad in the fourth quarter and sitting Marvin?
Slimjr
February 7th, 2012
10:33 am
Down 3 Bigs..the Suns have 3 (7) footers? WTF?
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
10:34 am
And I’m not trying to over inflate their value… I’m trying to create value where little presently exists. If LD would rather play a washed up Radmanovic in the 4th than starter Marvin, how much of a market does that create for Marvin? If you play Marvin even 30 mins a game and his 3 point percentage stays elite, that creates value. If you play him those minutes and his averages decline, it doesn’t expose anything those scouts you mentioned didn’t already know. The Hawks have nothing to lose by playing Marvin and Kirk more minutes up to the deadline and everything to gain. If they trade Kirk at the deadline guess what? Pargo is your backup point for the rest of the season and all of Blog Land can throw a parade down peachtree.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
10:38 am
I’d rather have Bynum than Gasol. Bynum and Blake for Josh & Hinrich.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
10:39 am
Look at it like the situation with the Hornets trying to get max value for Kaman. When they took him out of their lineup it killed his trade value… so they had to reactivate him. If they are hiding him it makes teams worry that the Hornets know about an injury that’s not disclosed. Only by letting him play can you hope to justify the absurd asking price. Same concept with Marv and Kirk. If you are sitting Marv in the 4th in favor of a certified scrub like Vlad, you’re killing any value you thought Marv had.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
10:40 am
Buddy we will see how good of a center Ivan is when he goes up against Dwight Howard.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
10:43 am
Clyde, does that mean that Twin is a great defensive center?
Mike
February 7th, 2012
10:51 am
First of all, I want to support the Hawks so much but sometimes its very hard to do when you get beat by a team that under .500. The worst thing about it, you cant just place the blame on one person. ASG and Sund need to realize that if they dont do something now, they will be wake up next week with a 6 game losing streak and all the respect that this team got will be gone.
Even if they have to shift the “Core”, something needs to be done besides even if they get through this, they might have to face teams like the Pacers, 6ers, and Heat in Playoffs this year. I think they need a trade and a good one too.
Rev in Tampa
February 7th, 2012
11:04 am
Buddy,
While the Hawks are sliding backwards you have really stepped up your game! Great posts while debating several at the same time. Also really appreciated your Hoopinon piece. I was surprised to see your name when I clicked on the link through ESPN’s Hawks page.
Melvin
February 7th, 2012
11:05 am
Buddy,
You dont play those guys at the end of the game b/c they’re other players and combinations that give you a better chance to win. Playing Marvin 40 mins would only expose him more. He will still have the same lack of stats b/c he’s not aggressive nor have the skills to be an effective offensive player. Kirk may round back into form with increase playing time but that would be done at the detriment of Teague development and we all know (maybe except for Astro) that Teague has already sat the bench too much in his previous two years. Both guys have been in the league for at least 7yrs or more so the scouts are well familiar with them. Hinrich maybe an exception, teams may want to see if he has recover from his injury. Either way, there’s enough footage on both players to make a sound scouting decision. Hawks need to continue to play the guys that give them the best chance to win b/c they are playing to make the playoffs unlike the Hornets.
prison mike
February 7th, 2012
11:07 am
Kirks main value was in perimeter D. Telfair had him on skates, pretty much all the backup pgs he’s faced has had his number.
With that said, he has much more pg skills than Teague which is sad.
prison mike
February 7th, 2012
11:11 am
“Look at it like the situation with the Hornets trying to get max value for Kaman.”
The Hornets wants the moon, stars, and quasars for him. David Stern is basically the GM for them, you do the math.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
11:14 am
Melvin, I don’t think Hinrich needs to play more than 12-15 minutes at this point. He is clearly not in basketball shape and should be in a platoon with Pargo until that changes. Once that happens, I’d still play him no more than 18 minutes across both guard positions as match-ups warrant. At the same time, some act like Teague should never come out of a game, like anything less than 48 minutes played is a show of non-confidence by LD.
Don’t confuse his inability to earn playing time previously with where he is today.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
11:14 am
“Buddy we will see how good of a center Ivan is when he goes up against Dwight Howard.”
Already said that on Hoopinion.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
11:16 am
Hinrich is where Willie Green was at the beginning of the year, before he got in basketball shape. I’m sure no one around here remembers writing posts ripping Green.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
11:25 am
Rev in Tampa, a Hawks Blog Legend… thanks for the kind words.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
11:44 am
Melvin good points but I don’t think Vlad gives you your best chance to win in the fourth quarter.
Buddy Grizzard
February 7th, 2012
11:48 am
Lol prison mike I did the math… If you want to subtract Kirk and marv you must first add minutes!
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
11:55 am
Astro Joe here is what it means
FIRE SUND
Blodus
February 7th, 2012
11:57 am
Jeff Teague…28min, 6 points, 1 ast, 1 reb…..really? this is our PG? maybe he does need to be benched and have Green or somebody else start over him. He’s way to inconsistent to help this team. This team does not have one consistent player, if they could just have some consistentcy out of 1 or 2 players, this team would be fine. And that is supposed to be Joe, and Josh/Al…That’s what the hawks need, a consistent scorer.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 7th, 2012
12:06 pm
We can post in the blog all we want but at the end of the day its all about results. Two playoff second round loses, a current 3 game losing streak at home, and no center.
FIRE SUND
prison mike
February 7th, 2012
12:06 pm
The lakers have went after Sessions and Calderon. They can have an 8.9 million exception, Kirk makes 8 million. It’s obvious he’s not high on their list. They also have two first round picks.
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
12:13 pm
Buddy,
I personally am not saying that Pargo is better than Kirk, but for this team, right now Pargo was playing better. Our second unit was set, and they were not giving up leads, and sometimes they were expanding the lead. I never have really been impressed with Hinrich’s game, but now he is a liability. He can barely get the ball up the floor when pressured, his defense is terribly overrated, he does not penetrate, and he is not knocking down wide open jumpers. I’m sure his shoulder surgery has something to do with some of those things, but not all of them. Pargo was doing a decent job backing up Teague, and Kirk is not. Plus Drew is acting like Hinrich is the second coming of Michael Jordan returning, and giving him way too many minutes.
Ivan Is not a center, and he is not a small forward either. He is another PF. He is being forced to play center, and is doing a decent job at it, but its only temporary. He is a legit 6′8. He is not quick enough to play SF on a regular basis. No NBA team in their right state of mind will trade for Marvin Williams, no matter how much he plays. As Melvin stated, NBA teams have scouts. A couple of good games from Marvin won’t change the scouting report on him. Kirk as bad as he is playing is a known commodity. His expiring contract is what teams will look at, and the fact that he is supposed to be a smart, heady, good defender (questionable) that can play some point and 2 guard. You don’t rip up the chemistry of you team, and take minutes from guys who were playing well for Kirk Hinrich.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:21 pm
AJ:
“I’d rather have Bynum than Gasol. Bynum and Blake for Josh & Hinrich.”
You are embarking in impossible trades now?
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
12:21 pm
Where are all the “We are so much better without that (insert a negative description) Jamal Crawford people? Just a week ago they were so many post about that. Jamal was not worth 10mil, but he surely was worth a 1 year 5 mil deal. I would love to have ssen the second unit with McGrady, and Jamal together, especially since McGrady seems to like being a facilitator. Marvin Williams playing with the starters, no big man, and the scoring ability of this team against good defenses was, has, and will continue to be a big problem for this team, until they address them properly.
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
12:23 pm
I know that Pargo was doing a decent job, when the ultimate Pargo hater “vava74″, actually said the guy was playing well. LOL
ntrigue
February 7th, 2012
12:28 pm
Even when we was winning LD still was doing the same bad substitiutions. He was just getting away with it then now his mistakes and illogical deciasions are catching up with him. He has a bad feel for the game thats just it little small things like taking a player out when they are perfoming well can be the ultimate decision on how the rest of the game flows. Kirk never needs to be checking a quick pg if you want him in the game have him checking the sg thats a better matchup its common sense! Its kinda of like how he would leave Bibby and Joe to guard the quickest pg’s on the planet when Jeff Teague was on his bench all along! Had we started Teague last yr I bet we would have won at least 10 more games at least! It like Coach Drew’s ideal of a gameplan is deciding before the game what time he is going to take out certain players no materr if they are hot or not!
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:34 pm
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
12:13 pm
Again, you are close to the truth.
Hinrich’s D is GOOD when he is in good shape, the issue is that there are certain opposing PG’s that are beyond his physical ability due to speed differential.
What LD is doing with out PG rotation is criminal and one of the major factors to these losses.
Not the only problem, but at the root.
We were leading last night with Teague playing his game and making Nash work and when he went out the point differential was -9 in a flinch.
Once you give up a lead with an undermanned ball club like ours it gets extra difficult.
doc
February 7th, 2012
12:34 pm
yeah slim other teams load up on them. okc, utah always seem to have a surplus whereas we have a slew of 6′3″ point/two guards and 6′7″/6′8″ tweeners. long arms are hard to shhot through close to the basket. also vlad and tmac going zip for seven didnt help our effort especially vlad who is terrible right now, firing at the basket.
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
12:35 pm
Buddy G, I gotta tell you that no matter how many minutes you give Marvin, you know what you’re going to get. You aren’t giving him 40+ minutes and saying we are going to win with him out there. He is near one dimensional. Any time he drives to the basket and finishes, it is an exception, not the rule. You aren’t going to show anyone they don’t already know. You give him 20 minutes, you deal with his limitations. You give him 40 minutes, you show more limitations than he has shown in the 20 min.
I have for so long asked for amnesty on Marvin. That would give you room to ’stay out of the luxury tax’ and get a couple of vets that would help more. Marvin has NIL value. Get it over with. He’s not worth a 2nd rounder. We get as much from T-Mac as we get from Marvin.
Tell me I’m wrong now.
As for Kirk, he has to get in shape first, and he has to produce something of value with the minutes he is getting. I would rather keep him, but you have to give up value to get value. And penalizing Teague isn’t the answer. Have we played these 2 together yet? I don’t recall seeing it.
Why is Teague the scapegoat for LD and Josh when things aren’t going right?
So go ahead, suggest to play Marvin and Kirk for 40 minutes, which neither would be able to handle currently. That doesn’t up their trade value.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
12:36 pm
$5M for a player shooting 38% from the field? No thanks.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:38 pm
completely off-topic but always a good read:
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/south-central-loses-football-institution-and-nobody-cares-013112
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:42 pm
Rod,
The blog monster ate another reply to your wrongful characterization of me as a “Pargo hater”.
I was critical of Pargo’s signing based on his career sub .400 clip from the field BUT he surprised me with his heady play and earnest D.
LD was criminal putting Hinrich on the floor so many minutes at Pargo’s expense when Pargo was doing a good job AND Hinrich was back scrimmaging for only a few days.
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
12:44 pm
Rod from CP, I know for a fact JC1 was worth more than we are paying Marvin, so if you look at it from a value standpoint, JC1 gives you more a chance to win than Marvin. Have you ever seen Marvin get a shot with the game on the line? Is there any smidgen of confidence from this coaching staff?
Sund blew it big time with extending Marvin and he can’t get out of it by ignoring JC1’s wish for some level of negotiation. Sund simply couldn’t afford JC1 because he was a doofus with Marvin, Bibby and Al IMO. Al should have gone out there and had a offer we had to match like he did Josh, but he had to lock up Al early because Al was such a deal if we did it early before the lockout. That was a bad decision to go along with so many others from Sund.
I rank Sund’s value as a GM on the same level as Marvin as a SF…..not in the top 30. You don’t get accolades by just sitting on your hands year after year.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:44 pm
BUT, Pargo can and should still be targeted for his poor shot selection.
He could average .430/.440 if he eliminated that 1 clearly bad shot that he takes for each 15 minutes of day light he gets.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:49 pm
KevinM / Rod,
Jamal will win games and lose as many.
He is talented but he should never ever ever ever play more than 20 minutes per game on a good team.
I ALWAYS said that I would keep Jamal because if I were the HC I would not over use him undermining what he can bring.
Jamal should be on the floor for SHORT SPURTS. I am sure that he would not mind being in and out of the game 5 or 6 times a night since he is not the type of guy who needs to get loose to play.
He comes out blazing or freezing and a good HC can manage his minutes based on that.
My rants against Jamal were because of the cocaine effect he has on HCs: they don’t know when to stop using him and LD, in particular, was using him at the PG were he could only HURT US.
Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
12:49 pm
vava, if you don’t propose at least one outrageous trade each month, you lose blogging privileges.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:50 pm
Which leads us to his salary:
Jamal was and still is worth on or around 5 million per AND THAT’s IT.
There is no way that he was worth 10 million: NO FREAKING WAY.
KevinM
February 7th, 2012
12:52 pm
“Astro Joe
February 7th, 2012
12:36 pm
$5M for a player shooting 38% from the field? No thanks”
Well, we’re getting 44% from someone making $7.5M for a less than part-time SF who gives us 44% from the field and never gets in foul trouble because of his passiveness. I think having JC1 at 5M comes out ahead of our SF, who is owed $15.8 after this year.
T-Mac > Marvin also….at 1.3M
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
12:55 pm
Given the shortened season, and the tough February schedule, this is not the time to go with just Zaza (who is a good backup) as your only center.
As Schultz said, physical fatigue has led to mental fatigue. But LD will continue to put the blame on the players. I hope he is asking Rick (behind closed doors) for some help.
vava74
February 7th, 2012
12:56 pm
AJ,
I will renew my trade proposal of a few weeks ago:
Marvin for Metta World Peace
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
12:57 pm
I’m with AJ. I think there are some chemistry issues, and I think it got worse when Kirk came back (and I’m not putting it on Kirk). I’m just saying…Teague has not looked the same, our bench has not looked the same, and our players seem disinterested at times.
But LD (and Rick) don’t know what to do to help turn things around.
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
12:59 pm
As for Jamal,, I wish we could have kept Jamal. But if the only way to keep him was going into luxury tax, then I would have let him walk. I think $5 mil is good value for him, but Hawks just dont have the budget space.
And LD doesn’t know how to use him. With Hinrich being hurt, LD would have probably played Jamal at backup PG (if he didnt start him at PG).
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
1:05 pm
vava74,
I was joking. Only jabbing you a little bit. Whether you like Jamal or not, the fact remains that this team lacks a proven scorer other than Joe. I thought Tracy would be able to do it, but he is more of a facilitator now. We will not compete in the playoffs without one, as we are presently constructed. A guy we should be looking at, which I know you will have a huge problem with is JR Smith. We need a big and another scorer badly. I will sit back an wait on you to tell me how bad of a player JR Smith is. LOL
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
1:08 pm
Which leads us to his salary:
“Jamal was and still is worth on or around 5 million per AND THAT’s IT.
There is no way that he was worth 10 million: NO FREAKING WAY.”
I will say this, if Joe Johnson is worth 18 to 20 something, then on this team, Jamal was worth 10. If Marvin is worth 8 and Horford 12, then Jamal was worth 10.
O'Brien
February 7th, 2012
1:10 pm
Around the League;
Clippers are for real. And although I feel bad for Chauncey, the Clippers will be ok. They have Mo Williams, and will be going hard after JR Smith when he comes over from China. Since JR played with K-Mart and Chauncey in Denver, and played with CP3 in N.O., I think there is a strong possibility he will sign with them. Plus they might start him at SG (where Chauncey was starting). Plus it is L.A.
The Bulls have played 17 road games already, and are 12-5. Meanwhile, Philly gets another home win against a team above .500.
Rod from College Park
February 7th, 2012
1:11 pm
“$5M for a player shooting 38% from the field? No thanks.”
5 mil for a guy who got us out of the first round in the playoffs= yes
8 million for a guy who is 6′10, can’t dribble more than 2 times in a row, disappears, stumbles, trips, falls, and cant convert a layup= no.
KBB
February 7th, 2012
1:12 pm
The spirit is broke. they rather lose games than spend the money because they dont have it. Why cant we trade Marvin and Kirk? They bring nothing to the table at this point.