Atlanta Hawks vs. Clippers: Game thread
Josh Smith didn’t want to talk much about tonight’s matchup with Blake Griffin.
He didn’t want to dwell on the Highlight Factory vs. Lob City.
“I’m not worried about the matchup,” Smith said following Tuesday morning’s shoot-around in preparation for the Clippers. “My main concern is winning the basketball game.”
Both teams have plenty to play for. The Hawks’ magic number to clinch home-court advantage is two. They can clinch tonight with a victory and a Celtics loss to the Heat. The Hawks must finish with a better record than the Celtics (by virtue of Boston holding the tie-breaker and winning the Atlantic Division). So they must either win both remaining games or win one and have the Celtics lose one to host the Eastern Conference matchup.
“We do have an opportunity to get home-court advantage,” Marvin Williams said. “It will be huge for us and I think everybody understands that.”
The Clippers are a half-game behind the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead and the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Hawks’ offense has been effective the past several games. They have shot over 50 percent in their last two games against the Knicks (54.4) and Celtics (51.4) and were very near the mark in wins over the Pistons (49.4) and Raptors (48.8).
However, it’s the defensive effort that is of concern for Hawks coach Larry Drew.
“I like the fact that offensively the numbers have been good,” Drew said Tuesday morning. “My concern will always be with defense. I don’t think I could ever be satisfied defensively. There are times when we’ve show major improvements in areas and times where we fall back into a lapse of defending. Going down the stretch, it’s about trying to get as fine-tuned as we can going into the playoffs and when you go into the playoffs make sure you dot every I and cross every T, particularly from a defensive standpoint. That’s going to be your staple in any playoff series, how well you can defend. We are going to have to go into these last two ball games, playing against two teams who are playoff bound, it’s a great opportunity to finish this thing on a positive note against two good teams. I’m always stressing and emphasizing defense. I’m a big defense guy. I want our defense to be ahead of our offense. As of lately, we’ve done a good job offensively but we have to get that consistency defensively.”
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467 comments Add your comment
Blast
April 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
least Joe making the three. Thats why he should take more shots off the screen.
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
id rather see pargo in over teague at this point
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Blast
April 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
Jeff and Ivan have had some amazing blocks this game!
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
Teague makes one play and goes wild.
How about the other shot Chris got on you?
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
Nice Teague, way to keep showing the Gloom & Doom blog
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
Teague has his defensive deficiencies, but he’s never lacking for fiery moments. Love that competitiveness, but he needs to be careful about who he’s jawing at (see: Allen, Ray).
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
Trade Al Horford for Dwayne Wade and Lebron James…. throw in Chris Bosh. for Jeff Teague !
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
April 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
Do the Hawks help each other out on defense?
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
Lol
Josh 5-13.
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 24th, 2012
9:14 pm
lol@Big Lou
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:15 pm
Why does Ryan Cameron always give a shoutout to The Dream? I know he’s big in the music biz but he’s not some big time celebrity. Tyler Perry 4 new Hawks owner!!!!
Rob
April 24th, 2012
9:15 pm
Teague needs to be more consistent on his jumpers, hopefully with time it will come
Blast
April 24th, 2012
9:16 pm
LD is smart after all. Ivan to start and on Blake.
Jeff for three!
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:16 pm
Griffin busts his own azz and Nique exclaims, “Great defense by Ivan Johnson!”
Sure did miss his “expert analysis” listening to Doris these past two games.
bigdave
April 24th, 2012
9:17 pm
Jeffs on ball d has improved greatly..
Rob
April 24th, 2012
9:17 pm
Marvin bout to make some shots
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:17 pm
7 straight points for Teague… Nice…
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
Jeff Teague’s Block will not be on ESPN but Blake Griffin’s dunk will be.
Just watch.
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
Teague score the Hawks last 7pts and the LD takes him out immediately…. SMH
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
lmaoooo that lady almost dropped her baby
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
Ideally you don’t want Josh taking jumpers, but give him credit for this — he has gotten much, much better at making them this year.
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:19 pm
Damn Marv lol
Blast
April 24th, 2012
9:19 pm
Josh Smith!
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:19 pm
Agreed@Najeh
O'brien
April 24th, 2012
9:20 pm
Najeh,
Clips game plan against Josh is the same game plan we have for Blake Griffin. Let him take the jumper, and live with the results.
But you’re right. Josh’s jumper has improved the last couple months. It will be interesting to see the Celtics game plan for him
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:20 pm
That’s where Marvy hurts us–can’t finish.
And now–still in 3Q–Nique has declared that the Clippers have “fallen apart.” Guess we may as well go home.
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:20 pm
Now if we can just get SMOOVE to stop leading the fast break.
yodaddybrother
April 24th, 2012
9:21 pm
WAY TO END THE QUARTER SQUAD! Now we can go ahead and send these boys back to LA
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:21 pm
This is what Kenyon Martin gets for not picking the Hawks.
Rob
April 24th, 2012
9:21 pm
@Najeh.Yeah he is more consistent at the jumpers, he takes them more in the rhythm of the game now.
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:21 pm
Give Ivan credit for that block, stat man! Nice to see us actually close out a quarter with a flurry instead of being on the receiving end. Keep these guys in there LD!
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:22 pm
Nice run to end the 3rd qtr by the Hawks….
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:22 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
Ideally you don’t want Josh taking jumpers, but give him credit for this — he has gotten much, much better at making them this year.
_____________________
That may be because he’s not lauching them from beyond the 3-pt line as much.
Jeff
April 24th, 2012
9:23 pm
Has Marvin ever made a fast break layup?
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:23 pm
Josh Smith needs 5 assists to get the triple.double
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:23 pm
Finally a decent 3Q. Hope they don’t forget how they did it in 4Q.
drmaryb.[*_*].
April 24th, 2012
9:25 pm
Seeing RED!
Look at them fools sitting in that RED Restaurant! Those cheap looking white chairs look wooden. How can the ASKG afford that restaurant? Buyer Beware: Those steaks are injected with “pink slime” Go to BONES in BUCKHEAD or, eat at home people. How can the ASKG afford that?
Selling 2nd ROund Picks?
No Scoreboards for the Fans?
8 Veteran Minimum Contracts?
bigdave
April 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
Vinny took a lot of heatyear, but ill give him credit for wanting to get more fire power at the deadline.. ideally Jamal.. where cp3 felt they needed to t tighten things up on the defensive end. I have to agree with the HC here.. I’m just not sure how this team will score consistently in the post season…
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
Clippers going zone to start the 4th. Hawks moved the ball well and got a good shot last possession. Let’s see how they handle it here.
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
Good gracious, Ivan–that was horsecrap.
TMac bailed him out.
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
I remember this blog wanting Kenyon, he’s done nothing for the clips despite getting major minutes
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:27 pm
DeAndre Jordan is a really really bad contract. Kinda surprised ASG didn’t go after him LOL
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:27 pm
Shut the f!ck up Nique!
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:28 pm
Jordan looked like Griffin on that one. That’s what CP can do for you. Thanks again, Knight.
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:28 pm
Jordan gets a 40mil contract to just dunk and block a couple of shots a game, but he’s Blake’s BFF.
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
Marvin need to stop settling for the jumpshot and attack the rim
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:27 pm
Shut the f!ck up Nique!
______________________
Cmon, Big Lou, who do you luv–Nique or Doris?
drmaryb.[*_*].
April 24th, 2012
9:31 pm
O’Brien is in DA House!
Yeah! Always cerebral comments from this guy, always with a positive spin. Now the blog is even more legit!
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:31 pm
T-Mac hitting those jumpers gives me a serious case of deja vu.
Willie Green…. SPRITED!