Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 106, Mavericks 89
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena. Here is my updated game story, with quotes, from tonight’s regular-season finale win over the Mavericks. The schedule for the playoff series with the Celtics is at the bottom.
The Hawks acted fast.
With home-court advantage in the playoffs within their grasp, they wasted little time in grabbing the postseason edge. Thanks to a fast and furious first quarter the Hawks will open their Eastern Conference playoff series against the Celtics at Philips Arena Sunday. Game time is 7 p.m.
The Hawks led by as many as 23 points in the first quarter and disposed of the defending NBA champion Mavericks 106-89 on Thursday night in the regular-season finale.
There was no need to scoreboard-watch the Celtics-Bucks game. The Hawks knew if they took care of their own business, it wouldn’t matter what was happened in Boston.
“We showed a lot of determination tonight,” Joe Johnson said. “I could see that hunger before the tip coming into the locker room. We knew we had to play desperate to get a win and get off to a good start. As the starters, we put it on ourselves to set the tone early and we did that.”
That they did.
The Hawks (40-26, 23-10 home) enter the playoffs having won five of their final six regular-season games. They snapped a three-game losing streak to the Mavericks.
The Mavericks (36-30) enter the Western Conference playoffs as the seventh seed and will begin a first-round playoff series against the Thunder on Saturday.
There were no inspirational speeches despite the importance of the game.
“Just look each other in the eye, kind of gave a nod and we all knew it was time to get it tonight,” Willie Green said. “We’ve got to lock this up right now.”
Smith did much of the early damage for the Hawks. He finished with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds, one rebound shy of his 29th double-double this season. The Hawks had five other double-digit scorers: Jeff Teague (17), Joe Johnson (15), Kirk Hinrich (12), Willie Green (11) and Ivan Johnson (10).
“We came out like a team on a mission tonight,” Smith said. “The ball was going in tonight, bottom line. Everybody had a good shooting percentage. We were making the right play, cutting, passing, running our sets. It’s easy when you are sharing the basketball.”
The Hawks came flying out of the gate and built the 23-point first-quarter lead, 36-13. The used a 13-0 run early in the quarter and didn’t let up. They ended the first 12 minutes with a 38-21 lead as they shot 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the field. Seven different players made the scoring column, led by Smith with 12 points.
The Mavericks, by stark contrast, struggled from the field. They shot just 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from the field.
“I was a little concerned that we would come out and play with that energy, but clearly those first six minutes we came ready to play tonight,” coach Larry Drew said.
The Hawks led by 16 points, 60-44, at the end of the first half. By then, they had nine different scorers, led by Smith with 16 points and Johnson with 11.
The Mavericks got within 11 points, early in the third quarter, but the Hawks never let their wide margin get below double-digits.
The Hawks can now rest — at home — before opening their fifth consecutive postseason. This will be their time to rest, a luxury the Celtics took last week.
The Celtics won two of the three meetings with the Hawks this season. They won the first two meetings by a combined five points. The Hawks won last week’s final game, while the Celtics played without five of their top seven scorers.
“We did end the season with a good bang but all that is wiped out,” Smith said. “It’s a clean slate. We are playing against an experienced team in Boston that knows how to get wins, especially down the stretch. We just have to focus on what we can do to minus the margin of error against this team.”
With four minutes remaining, the Philips Arena crowd began the “We Want Boston” chant. Drew said he did hear it, but several of the players were well aware.
“This Boston team is a veteran team,” Drew said. “They are used to playing on the road. They are comfortable playing on the road. They have all the confidence in the world on the road. … Now that we have home-court advantage, it’s up to us to hold on to it. It won’t be easy. We worked our behinds off to get it and we have to keep it.”
Boston will be in town Sunday.
Series schedule
Game 1: Sunday, Boston at Atlanta, 7 p.m. TNT
Game 2: Tuesday, Boston at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. NBA TV
Game 3: Friday, Atlanta at Boston, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
Game 4: May 6, Atlanta at Boston, 7:00 p.m. TNT
Game 5 *: May 8, Boston at Atlanta, TBD
Game 6 *: May 10, Atlanta at Boston, TBD
Game 7 *: May 12, Boston at Atlanta, TBD
* – If necessary
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
79 comments Add your comment
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
7:23 am
High-Sider
Then 16 it is.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 27th, 2012
7:27 am
One of our captains said that hopefully we will be hungrier in Playoffs than in past years.
Great words to hear from your All-Star…..
*Sigh*
Rev in Tampa
April 27th, 2012
7:34 am
“Former Miss USA and Playboy model Shanna Moakler says one of her dogs is missing and another is under veterinary care after the animals were attacked by a hawk at her Calabasas home.”
Sounds like the team celebrated the end of the season a little too hard:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/04/26/hawk-snatches-shanna-moaklers-dog-from-her-calabasas-home/
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
7:40 am
DawgyNole
“A few months later, as I was beginning to get back to normal, I fractured the same navicular bone and ultimately (in April 2010) had it surgically repaired with the insertion of two screws.”
__________
One more thing, impactful running did cause the spurs, but, the surgery itself caused the subsequent fracture to the navicular bone. By shaving the spurs away, in and of itself, is a surgical fracture. Because the applied stresses (causes) were still there, just walking alone would cause the second fracture which, you had again, surgically repaired with screws.
Surgery was never the answer to the naviculars. Now the right begins to compensate for the left and, the domino effect is a right navicular issue, due to the weight being shifted to the right foot.
Make any sense? Bio-mechanics tells the whole story here. (she winks)
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
7:44 am
DawgNole if you drink soda of any kind cease immediately…Diet soda is even worse!
vava74
April 27th, 2012
7:48 am
Hawks did a good job this year.
Several factors contributed for this “50 win” season:
1. Injuries played a positive factor in Josh’s blossoming since it forced LD’s hand. Josh carried us both on both sides of the court.
2. JJ had a pretty good and consistent year. His lower body weight coming in this season gave him a bit more punch and his shot, one year removed from surgery is back to a good level. He is best suited to play SF now and his best games came there.
3. Zaza was a beast with his presence far superseding his more than reasonable numbers. His rugged style was complementary to Josh’s length at the rim.
4. Teague, as a starter, gave us a defensive consistency in the perimeter we sorely lacked and the drive and dish which keeps defenses guessing. Our offense is still jump shot heavy, but you cannot discount Teague going off with quick spurts of offense stealing and breaking away and driving.
5. Big Ivan gave our second unit the same type of physicality which Zaza brought a bit on and off when he played there with the plus of that physicality being complemented with a very stable and polished offensive game (he is the best Hawk using the glass).
Big Ivan has one of the best and fasted sets of hands on D in the whole league. I am reasonably confident that he leads the league in “poked balls per minute”.
6. Green and Pargo also have complementary characteristics making our bench a dynamic unit which gave us a few wins when the starters were sluggish. Both bring enough defense to make their presence felt on both ends of the floor, with Green being much weaker than Pargo on this department (nonetheless, Green does rotate well).
Pargo always plays like a guy with a big pair and that has been very important. Obviously, he sometimes also shoots us out of games.
7. Marvin provided decent contributions here and there and is clearly best suited as a scoring PF coming off the bench and a situational wing defender (had some good performances on D).
8. T-Mac gave us here and there the play making that boosted the bench’s confidence. If is able to constribute consistently in the playoffs for 17-23 minutes, we could become very dangerous.
9. Hinrich brought his hard nosed attitude to the starting line up, although not much else. Nonetheless, he allowed JJ to move to SF and Marvin for the bench and as Grandad points out, the best 5 – men line ups include him.
Hence, he seems to end up working like the training wheels on a bicycle, keeping us from falling off.
No credit for LD on my book beyond being able to keep a good group discipline.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
7:53 am
Agree with drmaryb, Josh has improved his game every season he’s been here. I hope this dude does not walk next year..He’s gonna ask for a boat load Gearon Jr..
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
7:53 am
Under Advisement!
“DawgNole if you drink soda of any kind cease immediately…Diet soda is even worse!” -SlimJr-
__________
Excellent advice from Dr. SlimJr. Super smart man on here. Everyone listen to him. I haven’t had a Coke is 30 years. My Mother never brought that into the house as a child, I didn’t even know what a Coke was? We didn’t watch TV as a kid either. We read books for entertainment. Never had a potato chip either.
Thanks Mom, (RIP) basically, kids eat as they are taught from infancy into adulthood.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
7:55 am
Job Description!
“No credit for LD on my book beyond being able to keep a good group discipline.”
________
What else is a NBA coach hired to do? Play basketball?
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:00 am
The Right Stuff!
“Agree with drmaryb, Josh has improved his game every season he’s been here. I hope this dude does not walk next year..He’s gonna ask for a boat load Gearon Jr..” -Dr. SlimJr-
_________
Well Dr. SlimJr, didn’t Mr. Gearon, Jr say he would go into the luxury tax for the right player? We shall see … we all, shall soon see.
Put your money where your mouth is and – Sign JSmoove!
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:02 am
Good Day cohorts!.
Off to work, gotta’ go save the body joints from – early, onset arthritis and improve nerve flow to the muscles, cells and tissues.
vava74
April 27th, 2012
8:05 am
drmaryb,
A real coach would have done more than the care taking job which LD did.
If it weren’t for the injuries, LD would NEVER had made the changes that made us more competitive.
Also, LD nearly derailed Teague’s season with early game yankings to force Hinrich into the rotation which cost us at least 3 to 5 losses.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:08 am
Vava
But, yet, here we are with the fourth best record in the East and, HCA in round 1. What else do you need to hop off Drew’s nuts? What ending would satisfy you?
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:12 am
* … regular season ending would satisfy you?
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:25 am
IF!
“If it weren’t for the injuries, LD would NEVER had made the changes that made us more competitive.”
_________
If, my aunt were a man, she would be my uncle.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
8:26 am
Peace!
Justahawkfan
April 27th, 2012
8:38 am
When one wake up in the morning and notice that they are breathing, their mate is there beside them, they have a job to go to and most importantly their team has home court for the first round of the NBA playoff one would think that he/she would find it pleasing. One would think!!! Instead some have to knit pick to find negativity. JeJe why you trying to blow our high?
Kerry
April 27th, 2012
8:48 am
Very proud of the hawks, they played like champs last night, Now lets go get boston! GO HAWKS!!!!!!!
kwooden
April 27th, 2012
9:03 am
Congratulations to the HAWKS!!
Great season considering all the injuries!
My first shoutout goes to Sund for taking a chance and cutting his 2nd round picks for a camp invitee in Ivan and a journeyman in Pargo. If Tracy can produce in this series against the Celtics then it will be another feather in Sund’s cap!
2nd shoutout goes to Smoove, for showing that he is an All-Star and can carry a team every night. For the entire second half of the season Josh has been the best player on the team. Opponents have had to consistantly double-team him in the post, but he still produced.
3rd goes to Jeff for making any naysayers keep quiet about him not being a starter in this league. I loved the attitude against NY and the Clippers. If Jeff can keep improving his game, we could have a top 10 PG on our team soon.
4th goes to Ivan, Pargo and Green! Those guys make our team what it is! At times those guys can play with anybody in the league and have basically won games for us.
I don’t even need to shoutout Zaza because he’s been a starter before and he came right in and did his thing. Hopefully he can come back healthy Sunday because we really need him this series.
My real xfactor this series is Tracy McGrady. Hopefully Tracy has saved his body and is ready to dominate! The Celtics have no one on their team that can match-up with Tracy, plus Tracy can attack 2nd unit guys. If Tracy can play 20 mins of productive basketball and all the starters have decent games, I think we have a real chance of winning this series.
GO HAWKS!!
Big Lou
April 27th, 2012
9:23 am
drmaryb
No offense, but the regular season doesn’t mean sh!t. LD needs to preform in the playoffs against one of the best coaches in the league, Doc Rivers. I think we’ll see how ‘good’ LD is during a seven game series against them. If the Hawks lose to the old azz Celtics(even with the injuries), they failed this season.
High-sider
April 27th, 2012
9:27 am
New blog is up/open.
Edgewood Adam
April 27th, 2012
9:48 am
Anybody else notice Teague turn and glare at the Mav’s bench after hitting that corner 3?? I am loving the new snippy Jeff Teague.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
10:12 am
It Matters!
Big Lou,
Just ask the Charlotte Bobcats if the regular season doesn’t mean sh!t? Like you, they will be at home watching the play offs too.
terrell
April 27th, 2012
3:52 pm
Build around Teague/Joe/Josh/Zaza. Sorry Al. I love you and all, but we need more of a Zaza type of center, than an Al type of center. The new Al that is.
We’re a sf away from doing BIG things. Al and Marvin could get us that sf. Go Hawks.
DawgNole
April 27th, 2012
4:47 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
April 27th, 2012
12:24 am
Props to the Hawks on a great regular season. Would have been 50 wins in a full season, mostly without one of their three best players. The real season starts Sunday, though, and if they faceplant, all the good they did over the last few months will be forgotten. That’s just the way it is.
________________________________
Took the words out of my mouth (see below):
DawgNole
April 26th, 2012
10:22 pm
Sadly, their reg-season accomplishments will be long forgotten if they make yet another early exit from the postseason.
Vino
April 27th, 2012
4:53 pm
congrats hawks im ready for some playoffs and i second that music!!!!!!
great job Drew and Sund Fire the Fans if they dont see the bigger picture how many other teams got to 40 wins?????
DawgNole
April 27th, 2012
5:19 pm
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
7:00 am
DawgyNole . . .
In your case, improper running techniques are concomitant to the spurs and, mis-alignments in the kinetic chain (hip joints and all associated joints between the hip and foot) are causitive, to the spurs.
Solution – DON’T DO THAT. Just stop running and, the spurs would have re-absorbed themselves over time and, without surgery. Now that the spurs have been surgically removed, move on from there and, stop running as you had been.
I do still, recommend the pool running, bare feet as a perfect alternative to continue your passion and further heal all your lower extremity joints, ligaments and muscles. I promise you, you will love it. No need to swim, just run baby run.
________________________
Again, your advice and recommendations are sound. Just extremely difficult for someone who ran for 26 years to “just stop running.” But I did exactly that 4 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss it and think about how much I enjoyed it. Some of the injuries since that time came from walking, while the latter (osteophytes on top of right talo-navicular joint) came following 4 weeks of walking/light jogging last summer. Don’t know that I’ll ever be able to run again; just hoping at this point to be able to resume walking–and I’m not there yet.
Thanks for your perspective.
Ken Strickland
April 27th, 2012
11:58 pm
SLIMJR-If Woody had been the KnicksHC for the entire season, Lin wouldn’t have gotten off the bench. He would have gotten the Teague treatment, and there wouldn’t have been any Lin-sanity.
Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 106, Mavericks 89 | ZT News Today
April 30th, 2012
1:30 am
[...] Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 106, Mavericks 89 [...]