Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 100, Knicks 90

• Willie Green provided what’s been missing lately: Some real scoring punch off the bench. With the Knicks swarming Josh Smith and Joe Johnson someone else had to convert chances. Marvin Williams did it in the first half and Green (15 points, 6/7 FG in fourth quarter) did it late.
• “Me and Joe have been doing so much, fatigue sets in a little bit,” Josh said. “Whenever you can get the energy off the bench, especially the offensive power like Willie did tonight, it’s definitely needed for this ball club. For us to have the momentum and confidence flowing into the postseason we need our bench to keep consistent like all year long.”
• Green stretches the floor and his pace and purpose complement Josh and (especially) Joe’s more deliberate styles. Maybe that’s not so great Green is not making shots but it’s just what the Hawks need when he’s hot. “I was trying to stay aggressive,” he said. By me staying aggressive, they started to go down. Then another one goes down and another one goes down and the next thing you know you have got it going.”
• Green sat with the back and hamstring injuries for so long you might have forgotten he’s having a career year. He can be a real asset for the Hawks in the postseason, especially if he’s on the floor to benefit from the double teams against Josh and Joe. “I’m learning more and more,” he said. “Teams are going to try to double team those guys. We have just got to be ready to knock down a shot or get to the basket, get to the free-throw line or whatever it takes.”
• Drew: “We’ve certainly been looking for [bench production]. Willie played well before he got hurt, though. He was in a good rhythm, particularly shooting the basketball, and tonight he caught fire. You know teams are going to double team Joe and now they are starting to come on Josh. It’s important that we have good spacing and that we make the right plays out of the double team.”
• Through three quarters Carmelo Anthony had 31 points on 19 shots. In the fourth quarter he had five points on five shots. The Hawks can live with a night when he gets 14 of his 36 points from the line (with a couple suspect calls) and is quiet at the finish while Iman Shumpert (25 points on 14 shots) was the only other Knick helping out.
• Drew: “Melo’s a great player. He’s been playing well for them, Once he gets into a groove, a rhythm they are tough to defend. They are going to give him enough touches. You have got to make him work. He’s going to make shots. I told the guys don’t get discouraged. My concern was putting the ball on the deck and getting to the basket and drawing fouls.”
• Melo did that a few times against Josh and Marvin. When they played the drive, he pulled up for Js. These things happen. “Trying to keep a body on him, stay physical,” Josh said. “He’s definitely an offensive player that likes to create the contact. I was trying to be there throughout game and wear him down. I think me and Marvin did a solid job.”
• Josh defended Melo solo for the most part. Melo had trouble with Josh, too, and so in the fourth quarter Mike Woodson decided to come with early doubles against Josh, who didn’t handle them well. “They were real aggressive on the catch,” Josh said. “They came down before I could even whip my head around and try to find the other guy. They were real persistent with it and I kind of got careless with the basketball. But Willie came in that fourth quarter and made some big shots and made some big plays to get us over the hump.”
• Drew: “You could see their focus was to take it out of Josh’s hands. We’ve been posting him more as of late and we will continue. The thing I’ve emphasized with him is to make the easy play out of the two-time. If they don’t two-time then you back him in and go to your move. If they do come on the two-time just make the right play. A couple times he tried to skip the ball across the court and a guy stole it. He came to the huddle, he knew exactly what I was going to say to him. That’s a good sign for us with him in the post. He’s a guy at times he looks a little clumsy. The thing is he is so long and athletic, a bounce or two away from the basket and you almost have to come [double] him.”
• Josh is 2 for 24 on 3-pointers over his past eight games.
• Joe (28 points on 20 shots) was too much for Landry Fields to handle and was better than Josh against the double teams (he certainly has more experience with them). He continues to shoot well from the 3-point and free-throw lines. It was also ironic (?) that Woody got burned by some familiar Iso-Joe fadeaways.
• Zaza Pachulia missed a couple open jumpers and didn’t get to the line but had four of Atlanta’s nine offensive rebounds and helped prevent Tyson Chandler from using his athleticism around the basket.
• Jeff Teague had a brain freeze late in the third quarter. Chandler was switched on him but he settled for a 3-pointer. He ended up with the ball again but just stood at the top of the key for 14 seconds before passing to Josh posted up 18 feet away from the basket. Josh tried a skip pass and turned it over, and Teague had a touch foul on Shumpert on the break.
• Drew summoned Kirk Hinrich for Teague after that sequence. To Teague’s credit, he was solid in the fourth quarter and had a key steal and blocked shot. “He knows when he comes out and I put him back in it’s never a situation where I’m losing faith in him or confidence in him,” Drew said.
• Very nice line for Marvin: 13 points on seven shots, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks, one assist and no turnovers. And, as Josh noted, he took some reps against Melo and competed hard. The bench thing is working our for Marvin.
• It wasn’t long ago that it looked like Hinrich was rounding into shape. But he’s looked slow on defensive lately and he’s got to be a factor offensively if he’s going to be on the court with Josh and Joe.
• This didn’t seem to be a Jason Collins kind of game but Collins made a 1:30 cameo. It did seem to be an Ivan Johnson kind of game but he had little impact in nine minutes.
• In the end, the Hawks shredded Woody’s D and smothered Iso-Melo. “I think we all wanted to win this one for coach,” Chandler said. “I think we played hard enough but they made shots and we didn’t. We also turned the ball over [18 times]. I didn’t play particularly well, either. They kept us off the glass tonight.”
• Drew, as you might expect, downplayed the Woody angle. Josh did, too: “We just wanted to get a win. It’s nothing personal.”
• “It was great to see him again,” Joe said. “I’m glad he’s gotten another opportunity to be a head coach and sure he will do everything in his power to finish up strong and give himself a chance to be the coach next year. I think he’s been doing a good job so far. They’ve got some people out but they are working hard.”
• Tracy McGrady came out for pregame warmups and then mysteriously headed back to the locker room just before tip. The Hawks said he was ill but he looked fine before the game. He wasn’t in the locker room by the time media were let in.
• With 12 games to go, the Hawks are a half game behind Indiana for fifth place in the East. “There are some people on our heels trying to catch up and we are trying to do the same to others,” Josh said.

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat