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
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:48 pm
Boston’s trying to give it to us. TAKE IT, Hawks! TAKE IT, you nimrods!!
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:48 pm
Nice Teague, thats hops
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:49 pm
LOL@Bob going off!
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:49 pm
its bad when your point guard only has 2 assist.
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:49 pm
At least they got the call right–a rarity in and of itself.
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
Shut up, Nique!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
Joe with the big 3, but T-MAC with the drive and dish. Best passer on the team.
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
Game, Set & Match!!!
yodaddybrother
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
Jeff Teague
Admirable SnAckBar
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
bulls ear catnip.
wooooo
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
Teague showing that inner dog
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
See how Joe can make clutch shots when you set him up?
Ball game, Hawks.
KevinA
April 24th, 2012
9:50 pm
That was the game……..Go Hawks
kingd92
April 24th, 2012
9:51 pm
TMAC = PLAYMAKER
simple as that…
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:51 pm
LD finally realizes that TMAC still draws a double team…
FINALLY HE SEES IT!
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:51 pm
Lol @ the Tmac cut-out.
Dude got a big head.
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:51 pm
drmaryb.[*_*].
April 24th, 2012
9:47 pm
“Man get off his Nutz, “now the blog is legit” LOL!!” -Luke Cage-
_____
Wassup? Jealous?Don’t worry, I’ll save some for you. You can have the left one, I got the right one on lock down!
___________________
You’re in rare form tonight, DocMary.
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:51 pm
That’s why TMAC should be on the floor in crunch time… He has the skills to make a play for himself and others.
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:52 pm
Tmac with that hustle!
You go old man!
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:52 pm
Hopefully LD learns from this game and keeps T-Mac in there for crunch time come playoffs. The guy knows how to create space and get our scorers open, and he might have just helped seal this game. Wishful thinking.
And here’s hoping Joe can keep up this long range accuracy for the next few weeks
yodaddybrother
April 24th, 2012
9:52 pm
TMAc diving??? it must be playoff time
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:52 pm
Wow WTF Joe
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 24th, 2012
9:52 pm
lmao wow joe
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:49 pm
LOL@Bob going off!
_____________________
Bob’s always going off on perceived injustices.
yodaddybrother
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
that’s why you let the PG bring the ball up….smh…Hawks…doing Hawks things
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
Holy sh-t that was an insane shot
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
SHOT OF THE YEAR!!!
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
lucky ass shot
yodaddybrother
April 24th, 2012
9:53 pm
Joe Johnson….worth all the money
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
Remember Nique declaring it over 10 times already. Where’s Doris?!
JJ may have bailed him out with that answered prayer–except that he didn’t call bank.
The Monger
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
Larry Drew has NOBODY to blame but HIMSELF for watching the Clippers hack into the lead with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, while Joe, Josh, and Teague were ALL on the bench….FOR NO REASON!!! I have just watched Joe nail the seemingly game winning 3 pointer, so my post may seem irrelevent, but its not. If Larry Drew continues to play his 2nd unit for 20 minutes every game, even when they are surrendering basket after basket, they will lose in the playoffs. LA wasnt afraid to play Chris Paul and Blake Griffin for 40+ minutes, yet Joe Johnson only plays 30 minutes and Josh only plays 31 in a game and the game is close for no reason….Joe and Josh couldnt play 40 minutes tonight or what???
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
Teague needs to be on the bench. He took that shot way to quick and did not run any time of the clock before bricking. That may have cost us the game. Teague is a bone head.
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
“He threw up a prayer, and it hit the bottom of the collection plate!”
Bob is a pro. And so is Joe. Real recognize real
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
Top ten play!
Number one!
Slimjr
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
Luck be a lady tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:55 pm
Gotta be on Smitty’s 10 Ten Below The Rim
Melvin
April 24th, 2012
9:55 pm
Joe we will take that lucky 3 pt shot but your end of game awarness/management was poor this game.
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:55 pm
Lucky Joe bailed us out. Gt rid of teague right after the game. Teague and Al for Bosh. Wade and James.
drmaryb.[*_*].
April 24th, 2012
9:55 pm
HCA!
I imagine Hawks win this game on offensive rebounds! Griffin can’t rebound from the perimeter. It’s how you play the game! Our shot selection was also excellent!
Joe for THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Game Ova!
Luke Cage
April 24th, 2012
9:56 pm
Sorry Clip Joint, but still no Division Titles in your history!!
TMACfan
April 24th, 2012
9:56 pm
SUPER CLUTCH JOE JOHNSON
Slimjr
April 24th, 2012
9:56 pm
Marvin better give it up next time to King ISO!
See Knick game.. What a game!
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
9:57 pm
Lon Stotts
April 24th, 2012
9:54 pm
“He threw up a prayer, and it hit the bottom of the collection plate!”
Bob is a pro. And so is Joe. Real recognize real
____________________
The only thing Bob’s a pro at is lickin’ boots.
Punanny Jones
April 24th, 2012
9:57 pm
The Fat Lady is Singing!
Big Lou
April 24th, 2012
9:58 pm
Here come the trolls to point out the obvious lucky shot.
KevinA
April 24th, 2012
9:58 pm
The Clips will need medical MaryJane in seconds
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2012
9:59 pm
Really nice to see Teague hit 4 free throws in crunch time. I hope his crunch time balls are starting to drop.
Big win right here. Go Heat.
Blast
April 24th, 2012
9:59 pm
Great game, great win!
Slimjr
April 24th, 2012
9:59 pm
The Lady aint Fat..Shes Elle Ducan! hehehe
DawgNole
April 24th, 2012
10:00 pm
Boston’s back in it. Dang! Cmon Heat.