Atlanta Hawks vs. Mavericks: Game thread
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
The Hawks will be without Al Horford for at least the first round of the playoffs. This we know. It’s looking more like they could be without Zaza Pachulia. That’s the All-Star center and his backup not in the lineup versus the Celtics.
Horford, rehabbing from a torn left pectoral muscle, said he isn’t ready from a physical standpoint.
Pachulia, who will miss his seventh straight game with a sprained left foot, was wearing a walking boot when he left Philips Arena following shoot-around this morning. That’s something that he hasn’t been wearing the times I’ve seen him since suffering the injury against the Magic. Coach Larry Drew continues to term Pachulia as day-to-day. He is scheduled to be re-examined this weekend. The Hawks open the playoffs on Sunday.
I wanted to get a better idea of how the Hawks offense with differ without the two big men.
Drew made it clear this morning that it won’t be the first time they have played short-handed in such a way.
“We’ve been without both guys before,” Drew said. “We’ll just have to go out and play solid basketball, number one, and number two we’ll have to be prepared to make some adjustments. Not having your starting center and your backup center throws a monkey wrench into things but you have to keep moving forward. We hope and wish that we could have had a full squad this season, and at this point in the season, with injury being part of the game. You can’t sit around and mope about it. You have to keep moving forward and that’s what we plan to do.”
From a technical standpoint, the Hawks have been without one of their man scoring options without Horford. That has put more pressure on Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Jeff Teague.
“One thing I have tried to exploit, at least since I’ve been here, is putting [Horford] in more pick-and-pop situations,” Drew said. “I think he is one of the better pick-and-pop big men in our league. I’ve really tried to put him in more situations like that.”
While Pachulia wasn’t a primary scoring option, he knew when and how to get his points. It is his defense and rebounded that will be missed.
Without the two centers, the balance of scoring shifts according to Willie Green. That is why the Hawks’ deep bench has been such an asset this season.
“When you have Al, when you have Zaza, when you have those guys implementing your offense you are going to have a few guys dominate more – you are going to have Al, Joe and Josh. It’s going to take some shots away from other guys.
“Without those guys, you have to have substitution guys step up. It also creates a bigger role for Josh, creates a bigger role for Teague, creates a bigger role for Joe. Those three guys we are really leaning on to carry us in the starting lineup. The substitution guys can come in, get points, get some steals, create some ruckus on both ends of the floor. It’s a balance situation when you have guys in and guys out. You try to pick up the slack where you can.”
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
375 comments Add your comment
doc
April 26th, 2012
10:55 pm
prett successful regular season, more victories against lost player time to njury and ganed home court for first round. cudos to the hawks and larry drew. good win tonight never letting go of the two digit lead.
josh has a stroke folks and he used it tonight.
fun to be there.
Rain Man
April 26th, 2012
11:00 pm
Home court win over Boston then Rose gets hurt in that series & we sneak up on a team that can’t take advantage of us at center. Hope New York or Indiana can sneak up on Miami and well – you have to believe in miracles and winning 40 w/o a center is pretty much a miracle.
Congrats Hawks for taking care of business tonight – see you Sunday!!!
TMACfan
April 26th, 2012
11:01 pm
GO HAWKS!
#BeatBoston
brigadierjerry
April 26th, 2012
11:01 pm
Now Hawks have to take care of business starting on Sunday where they have Home Court. I feel that they will beat Celtics in six games. Need to win the first two games at home to get off to a good start. I will be trying to go to Game 3 in Boston.
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:06 pm
Jamal Crawford appears to have finished the 2011-2012 NBA regular season as the NBA’s best free throw shooter [.0927 or 92.7%] – another piece [statistic] that Jamal Crawford can add to his NBA legacy.
Jamal Crawford’s current [NBA] legacy – 1) 2009-2010 Sixth Man of the Year [SMOY] Award recipient, 2) scored 50+ points for three different [separate] NBA franchises, 3) all-time four-point [4pt.] plays leader [36; 34 in the regular season and two (2) in the postseason], 4) scored 20+ [actually 23+] points in four consecutive playoff games as a reserve [off the bench] and 5) led the NBA in free throw [shooting] percentage [FT%] for the 2011-2012 [NBA] regular season [0.927 or 92.7%]
http://www.nba.com/statistics/index.html
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:08 pm
Correction: “Jamal Crawford appears to have finished the 2011-2012 NBA regular season as the NBA’s best free throw shooter [0.927* or 92.7%] – another piece [statistic] that Jamal Crawford can add to his NBA legacy.”
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 26th, 2012
11:09 pm
A Star is Born!
Josh has willed himself into a reliable jump shooter and probable Super Star. MJ didn’t have a jump shot when he arrived neither. Not comparing the two, but if the ASKG don’t re-sign this kid, I will NEVER watch another Hawks game, EVER!
Josh has become the heart and soul of this core and now, they have a bench to support them. Josh will put that thang on the C’s too, as they are not convinced he is now a “shooter” and a scorer.
Team MVP – Josh
Team MIP – MVT
Team Surprise – Ivan
Team Rock – Joe
Team Gonads – Zaza
Team Coach – Drew
Team Bench – Fantastic
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:22 pm
“…Team MIP – MVT…” – drmaryb.(*_*).
drmaryb.(*_*)., I see that you have “bought in” on the idea of Jeff Teague as the MIP [Most Improved Player] for the Hawks but what about Jeff Teague as [the] MIP for the [entire] NBA this regular season?
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 26th, 2012
11:24 pm
Dang!
Bobcats are just awful! Who should they pick at #1? If they don’t get the ping-pong balls, there should be a federal investigation.
soullrenaissance
April 26th, 2012
11:26 pm
Congrats to The Hawks on a GREAT regular season. It’s truly remarkable, the resilience this team has shown. With the loss of Horford – The Hawks continued to win against all odds and they have shown a maturity we have never seen from this bunch. Zaza stepped it up like never before, Ivan brought fire and desire every night. Josh Smith has grown up before our eyes. Teague has arrived and will only improve the more experience he gets. We have a legit bench now! I GIVE PROPS LARRY DREW – yes I said it, for the first time in a while; make that ever, LOL. He has held this team together and kept them focused. Sure, he has made some questionable decisions and tactical error but he is going to be here unless we just do a total Orlando 2010 flop. None of us want to relive that nightmare…Let’s finally get out of the 2nd round!
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 26th, 2012
11:26 pm
High-Sider
Stern and his boys probably wont give it to him.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 26th, 2012
11:30 pm
As a GM, there is no way you blow this team up. What for?
But, what do you do to make us better if, there is a refusal to pay ANY luxury tax?
You have to come off that number to re-sign Josh and, do you bring Kirk back next year at a better cap number?
With Al and Zaza – we good for the next 10 years. I would draft a versatile swing man – SF.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 26th, 2012
11:32 pm
Marvin was a complete joke tonight. This was typical Marvin. LOL @ northcyde for supporting this clown. You lose all credibility when you claim he is a top 20 SF.
SMH
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:34 pm
“18-6, Will beat the BobCats tonight!. Great coaching job Woody.. Give Miami heck!” – Slimjr
Slimjr, [a win-loss record of] 18-6 is a winning percentage of 0.750 [or 75%]. Woody would have been on pace to win [approximately] 62 games in a standard [normal] 82-game [NBA] regular season. [82 games x 0.750 winning percentage = 61.5 games won]
No matter how bad the Knicks perform in the playoffs this year, Woody has earned the [New York] Knicks’ heading coaching job/position for [the] next season, in my opinion.
brigadierjerry
April 26th, 2012
11:35 pm
Celtics Hawks 7pm Sunday
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 26th, 2012
11:36 pm
Big Lou, this is for you!
The Walking Dead: Hawks, 76ers
Expect fatal flaws to cut short postseason runs for Atlanta, Philadelphia
Updated: April 26, 2012, 1:28 PM ET
By Neil Paine | Basketball-Reference.com
3
Email
On Tuesday, Chris Broussard profiled four teams (the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers) that scouts considered potential spoilers — squads that could break the Finals stranglehold we always assumed belonged to the likes of the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls. Whether because of raw talent, toughness or a combination of both, the scouts felt that quartet would make more than a little noise before the season was over.
cwm
April 26th, 2012
11:37 pm
HAWKS GAME ON SUNDAY 7PM ON TNT
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:37 pm
New blog is up.
cwm
April 26th, 2012
11:38 pm
7 PM SUNDAY ON T N T GO HAWKS BEAT THE CELTICS
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 26th, 2012
11:39 pm
Anyone else notice all the players on the bench pointing and laughing [playfully] at Dampier every time Collins scored?
brigadierjerry
April 26th, 2012
11:40 pm
drmaryb,
are you serious about not watching a Hawks game if they dont resign Josh?I wouldnt hold my breath for the Hawks to resign him. Probably a better chance of them trading him. You know how the Hawks do
Ken Strickland
April 26th, 2012
11:46 pm
This was an excellent win, and this has been an excellent seasonfor the Hawks. If we’re going to be without Zaza against the Celtics, Drew had better get beyond that WOODY STUPIDITY he seems to have for Twin and recognize that Dampier is a far more productive center, especially when it comes to rebounding. Twin got 1 RB in over 16mins while Dampier got 4 RBs in less than 6mins.
High-sider
April 26th, 2012
11:56 pm
I said the new blog was up/open – duh.
jerome
April 27th, 2012
12:06 am
Tmac 8 boards 4 assists 0 turnovers in 12 minutes. Now if he finds his shot watchout
yodaddybrother
April 28th, 2012
11:41 am
Hawks should play the respect card