Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks: Game thread
- UPDATE: Larry Drew says Al Horford, out since Jan. 17 surgery to repair a torn left pectoral, got some shots up yesterday. “That’s very encouraging to hear,” Drew said. “I don’t know how far he was able to raise his arm.”
- But Drew said he’s still assuming Horford won’t return this season: “From Day 1 when he had the surgery I was told he would be out for the regular season and there’s a remote possibility we can get him back for the playoffs. My mindset has been to count him out for the year. I don’t want to get my hopes up and the team’s hopes up that he can come back and then he doesn’t and then a mentally there’s a letdown.”
- Vladimir Radmanoivic (back) is out.
- Marvin Williams (hip) said he would test his injury before the game but Larry Drew ruled him out and said he’s not sure when Williams will return.
- Ivan Johnson returned to San Antonio to deal with his girlfriend’s pregnancy. He’s not expected to return by game time.
- Willie Green (hamstring) is expected to play after he dressed for Monday’s game vs. the Celtics but didn’t play.
- For the Cavs, Anderson Varejao (wrist) is out and Daniel Gibson (ankle) is questionable.
- I’m still getting lots of inquiries on Twitter about the Hawks signing one of the free agents who’ve been released. Atlanta’s roster is full, so they would have to waive a player (and eat the salary) or buy out a player (no candidates for that) to open up a spot for the new guy. Either move would add to the team’s payroll and luxury-tax bill. In other words, it’s not happening.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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549 comments Add your comment
yodaddybrother
March 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Hawks pulled that one out their a$$ but a win is a win….needed it
Runner-
March 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Mr. Joe put da team on his back tonight!!!
Big Lou
March 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Joe Johnson saves LD again. It’s all just a dream…
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
51 minutes for Josh, 47 for Zaza.
High-sider
March 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
I reversed ‘Nique’s jinx….yay!!!!!!!
See my post @10:01pm….LOL!!!!!
yodaddybrother
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
I’d pay Joe Johnson another year on the contract
Big Ray
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Zaza stopped any second attempts.
Got to give him credit for that.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Finally. 1 point WIN!
Road wins are golden ….. I’ll take it. LOL!
Good Nite yawl.
Melvin
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Joe got away with a chicken wing on that last shot….LOL, I love it…
Luke Cage
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Get off Joe, dude stepped up in the end, saw Kobe go 3-22 vs 10th seed in west, its how ya finish
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Joe 7/7 on his last 7 shots.
Blast
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Told y’all Hawks were gonna win this ballgame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yea of little fate!
Slimjr
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
That shot went in and out for Cleveland! What a tough break!!!
Runner-
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
nice game by Smoove this 30 point 17 reb game is starting to become a norm for him, if only he would stop taking those dumb*ss threes and stop coaxing players for blocks instead of playing solid defense he would be a stud
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
5/7, not 7/7. That after starting 2/12.
Walt Frazier
March 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
We got the win. Let’s forget about all this other shiss, I win is a win; at least I did flip my remote.
DawgNole
March 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
High-sider: “DawgNole,
See my post @10:01pm. I tried to reverse the jinx.”
_____________________
It worked!
DSGB
March 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
Zaza still sucks
Big Ray
March 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
Damn…Josh’s line is so much better than the insane shot attempts/makes.
He was 10 of freakin’ 29…
But 32 points, 17 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 12 of 14 from the charity stripe.
You gotta give mad cred….
tckr83
March 21st, 2012
10:16 pm
I can’t for the life of me figure out why Kirk Hinrich is playing this many minutes…
Big Lou
March 21st, 2012
10:16 pm
drmaryb
They played at home.
Also, sweet dreams!
Sautee
March 21st, 2012
10:16 pm
“How about big Joe playing like a big time star after struggling? Awesome stuff…..”
I’ll give him props for being clutch, BUT he failed to block Gee out and almost blew the game.
Just sayin’.
bigdave
March 21st, 2012
10:17 pm
Joe came up big.. all off quick decisive moves. when he pounded.. we gotta a turnover..
Big Ray
March 21st, 2012
10:17 pm
Well that was exciting. I’m out.
Slimjr
March 21st, 2012
10:17 pm
“But 32 points, 17 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 12 of 14 from the charity stripe.”
Hey Josh put that up against the Celtics, your an Allstar!
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:17 pm
I would gladly trade Kirk for Damien Wilkins straight up right now.
Big Ray
March 21st, 2012
10:18 pm
I can’t for the life of me figure out why Kirk Hinrich is playing this many minutes…
Two words. Larry Drew.
High-sider
March 21st, 2012
10:19 pm
Hawks made 21-24 free throws [87.5%].
Cavs made 24-33 free throws [72.7%].
Hawks beat Cavs by one point, 103-102. What’s wrong with this picture?!?!?!? This scenario is usually the other way around when the Hawks are involved.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 21st, 2012
10:19 pm
Caveat!
“51 minutes for Josh, 47 for Zaza.” -najeh-
______
And, they didn’t foul out … Played under control and stayed composed. Zaza also bled in this game. Blood, sweat no tears, najeh.
Melvin
March 21st, 2012
10:19 pm
Josh 51mins, ZaZa 47, Joe 44, these guys will not make the post season if they keep this up.
Dept. Of Unintended Irony
March 21st, 2012
10:19 pm
“Told y’all Hawks were gonna win this ballgame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Oh yea of little fate!”
So we were doomed to win? Seems faithless to me.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:20 pm
Jerome to Joe: “You’re amazing.” Might as well get on your knees next time when you interview him, dude.
Slimjr
March 21st, 2012
10:20 pm
Thanks Joe!
TMACfan
March 21st, 2012
10:20 pm
JJ is so clutch, love that guy when his smooth jumpers are falling.
And the people who threw him under the bus in the beggining of the game, don’t hop back on the bandwagon.
Melvin
March 21st, 2012
10:21 pm
Najeh,
Kirk didnt have a good game but I still prefer him in the lineup over Marvin….
DawgNole
March 21st, 2012
10:21 pm
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
Finally. 1 point WIN!
Road wins are golden ….. I’ll take it. LOL!
___________________
ROAD wins?!
n-trigue
March 21st, 2012
10:21 pm
Kirk almost cost us a lost I wouldve rather seen Stack take his mins….hurry back ivan!
Rufus1
March 21st, 2012
10:24 pm
Wilting on the Vine….
This teams is running out of gas…. We need to get healthy soooooon. We were out rebound 43 to 27.
Zaza 2nd miss on a very important layup.
I MISS AL…..A LOT!
Eric
March 21st, 2012
10:24 pm
Crazy game, I can’t believe the Hawks pulled it out. That 3 by Joe to put the game away was unbelievable. What a shot. I kind of feel bad for Irving, he did everything he could and was easily the best player in this game, but it didn’t matter.
This would have been a big letdown for the Hawks if they would have lost this game, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that big of a win, just an exciting game down the stretch. This is a game the Hawks should have won looking at the standings, but there sure was a lot of drama involved to get the win. Craziest game of the year, I’d say.
DawgNole
March 21st, 2012
10:25 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
March 21st, 2012
10:20 pm
Jerome to Joe: “You’re amazing.” Might as well get on your knees next time when you interview him, dude.
_____________________
Jerome’s another one of our “pro” announcers. Nauseating.
Eric
March 21st, 2012
10:26 pm
Correction:
I meant that 3 by Joe to send the game into overtime was unbelievable, it wasn’t a 3 to put the game away.
Big Lou
March 21st, 2012
10:27 pm
Zaza makes the stereotypes of us light brights come true. Dude seriously sucks. He did beat up on a lame team, though. Lol
HawkEye
March 21st, 2012
10:28 pm
Has anyone noticed that Josh is shooting much better from the free throw line recently?
DawgNole
March 21st, 2012
10:29 pm
Big Lou: “Zaza makes the stereotypes of us light brights come true.”
_____________________
“. . . us light brights . . . .” LOL!
Slimjr
March 21st, 2012
10:30 pm
drmaryb, yea they played like it was a road game.. This is a tired team..
Eric
March 21st, 2012
10:31 pm
Hard to believe we won the game while getting out-rebounded by 16 and Joe and Josh combining to shoot 14-45 (they’ll probably shoot a lot better next time), but the Cavaliers’ turnovers helped to balance that out. The Hawks ended up getting 15 more field goal attempts than the Cavs in this game, and I think think that was the biggest difference.
Big Lou
March 21st, 2012
10:31 pm
LD: “I guess the basketball Gods are on our side.”
Yep. You need God to save your pathetic coaching.
Bow down to Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.
Hawkfan
March 21st, 2012
10:31 pm
Big win of a game we didn’t deserve to win big line for Josh on a poor shooting night. He takes “bad” shots because the rest of our players are scared to shoot. Number 1 we don’t have but 2 guys who seem to want to shoot and KH and JT keep passing to Josh late in clock. He also missed a lot of good shots tonite. Thanks to Joe we pulled it out Go Hawks
HawkEye
March 21st, 2012
10:32 pm
Kirk almost ruined that game. Good thing he fouled out or we may be looking at a 2nd consecutive L.
Rusty
March 21st, 2012
10:32 pm
I can’t stand LD ,what the hell will it take to get him out of here. He would not even be a good high school coach.