Atlanta Hawks at Celtics Game 3: Game thread
Boston–Josh Smith (knee) is out and Marvin Williams starts at power forward. Ray Allen (ankle) will play for the first time since April 10. Rajon Rondo is back from suspension.
- Josh said he’s aiming to play in Game 4 Sunday: “I just have to rest and see how it feels. I want to get good enough to play but you never know. I don’t want to risk a domino effect and it being something more than what it is.”
- Josh tested the knee at shootaround this morning: “It felt pretty good until I started doing a lot of exploding up the basket. That’s where the pain really starts to generate when I become explosive with it. But as far as running and cutting and everything else it feels OK.”
- Yesterday Josh said he suffered the injury when Kevin Garnett banged into it while jostling for rebounding position. But he said the patellar tendonitis in his knee is a contributing factor. “I guess it caught up to me,” he said.
- The Hawks are now down their top three bigs. “Certainly it’s an uphill battle and a challenge for our team but I have all the confidence in the world these guys will step up to the challenge,” Larry Drew said.
- Josh: “We have to jell together, move the ball from side to side, and not get stagnant because this is a great defensive team. And we have to be able to match their physicality.”
- Joe Johnson: “We have just got to try to outwill them. We’ve got to find a way. We can’t dwell on or worry about what we don’t have. We have got to go for what we know. Is it going to be tough? Yeah, but it’s possible.”
- Drew said Joe still will check Paul Pierce. “Obviously with the matchup and Marvin starting at the four spot will have to do things a little differently as opposed to when Josh is in the lineup,” Drew said.
- Doc Rivers on Brandon Bass defending Marvin: “That’s hard. We worked on that all day. We thought Josh would play but we worked on the small lineup because when you look at them most of the year their best lineup has been their best lineup when they go small.”
- Joe saw heavy defensive pressure with Josh on the court. It only figures to get worse with Josh on the bench and a lack of offensive punch from among the remaining Hawks. “I’ve got to go quick or give the ball up quick and trust my teammates to make plays,” Joe said. “That’s pretty much the two things I’ve come up with. We’ll see when we get to the fourth quarter.”
- Rivers on Allen, who last played April 10: “There are no restrictions. He hasn’t played and gone up and down since he’s been injured. We’ve done some halfcourt but this is the first time he will do fullcourt since he’s been injured.”
- Suddenly Rivers is the coach warning his players not take a wounded opponent lightly: “The guys have to go out and play and at the end of the day hope they understand these are playoff games and you can’t give any away.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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
1,096 comments Add your comment
yodaddybrother
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
TEague has to step up offensively
Melvin
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Teague should have look for his own shot on that possession
High-sider
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Bad offense on both teams behalf
Rod from College Park
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Joe gets blocked by Avery Bradley. SMH
Hawkfan
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Back to hoping Marvin shows up. And that Angelina Jolie shows up at my front door naked
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Only silver lining is that it’s not his knee. Maybe he can walk it off and come back in the 2nd half.
Blast
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Joe sucks! When will he learn the iso play will never work against good teams?
terrell
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
Down 2 at the half on the road. I’ll take it.
BIG DOG
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
THE CURSE OF THE ATL
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Sautee
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
I smell a 3rd quarter collapse. Wish I didn’t, but…
terrell
May 4th, 2012
8:47 pm
If we only had a coach.
Luke Cage
May 4th, 2012
8:48 pm
Teague & Joe have to play the entire 2nd half, rest tomorrow, this is the season right now!!
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
8:48 pm
Look what Mac did in that half.
Good job playing freaking Marvin over him, LD
terrell
May 4th, 2012
8:48 pm
#2 pick’s time to step up. Yeah right. smh
Blast
May 4th, 2012
8:49 pm
Maybe Drew sucks even more for allowing it.
kevkat
May 4th, 2012
8:49 pm
JJ seems to play even worse when given more responsibility..it’s what separates him from Pierce, Wade, Kobie..etc.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
8:49 pm
“I smell a 3rd quarter collapse. Wish I didn’t, but…”
To be honest I’m surprised they are only down 2. I expected them to be down by a lot more than this at halftime. Of course, T-Mac is probably the biggest reason for that…
yodaddybrother
May 4th, 2012
8:49 pm
#FREEVLADRAD #FREESTACKHOUSE
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
8:49 pm
Good half. Need to be ready for Pierce to go off.
WILLIE AND PARGO: DO SOMETHING!
BIG DOG
May 4th, 2012
8:50 pm
MARVIN 3 POINTS
HINRICH O POINT
SMH
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
8:51 pm
I would say time to play Stackhouse but he’s too busy pulling for Miami.
Rod from College Park
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
“No more Marvin, play Vlad”
Agreed
BIG DOG
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
Hinrich and Marvin is starting, with Marvin saying don’t be mad, I BE DAM
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
High-sider
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
After the first half, Marvin Williams’ stat line – 3pts, 7rebs, 1ast in 13:48 of playing; not bad for him…he [Marvin Williams] should/could have scored more points, however, scoring looks to be a premium for both teams in this series thus far.
terrell
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
Teague WAS stepping up offensively. Nice passes and taking it to the rack. Dumbazz thought he was tired, so he pulled him. smmfgdh
Blast
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
And y’all know Celtics will crank up the defensive pressure in the second half. Hawks blew a lot of chances in the first. They would likely wilt again in the second. This Bostone team is beatable, Hawks just have to want it even more.
Now with Tracy maybe out, I hope not, Joe has to play even more smarter and faster.
And Teague need to take control, stop differing.
TMACfan
May 4th, 2012
8:52 pm
This isn’t fair….
bigdave
May 4th, 2012
8:54 pm
TrueHoop Henry Abbott
76ers are an 8-seed trading punches with the 1-seed. Dr. J is here. And yet … empty seats here and there in every section.
you dont say… not in the ever so popular sports town of Philly?
kevkat
May 4th, 2012
8:55 pm
Jon Barry is stroking the Celtics I see…
jamal crawford fan
May 4th, 2012
8:56 pm
tmac is ok. Will be back in the 2nd half. great news
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
8:57 pm
T-Mac and Jerry Stackhouse are trending worldwide on Twitter right now.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
8:57 pm
Can someone PLEASE make an open 3??????
Is it legal?
johnny
May 4th, 2012
8:57 pm
i can’t believe it… not another one…not t-mac
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
8:58 pm
“you dont say… not in the ever so popular sports town of Philly?”
Where’s Rob Parker to write a stupid article about their fans?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
8:58 pm
kevkat
May 4th, 2012
8:55 pm
Jon Barry is stroking the Celtics I see…
LinkReport this comment
****
not really. He said our core has gone as ar as it can. As annoying of a prick he is, he is right
terrell
May 4th, 2012
8:58 pm
lol. ALL of Marvins rebounds bounced right to him.
Blast
May 4th, 2012
8:58 pm
Tracy coming back! Great news! Najeh called it.
Watching the replay, it looks like Rondo undercut Tracy on that jumpshot, it looks like a deliberate ploy to take out the guy hurting you.
Celtics have always been known for playing dirty. But that is dirty, man.
yodaddybrother
May 4th, 2012
8:59 pm
I’ll give this team one more year. No trades…(unless it’s Marvin Williams for any damn thing). Bring T-Mac and Ivan back for one more year…resign some more vet mins …throw in a rookie like Jeffrey Taylor or Quincy Miller (Mock Drafts have them in the 20-25 range) and see what we can do with a healthy squad.
Sautee
May 4th, 2012
9:00 pm
“I expected them to be down by a lot more than this at halftime. Of course, T-Mac is probably the biggest reason for that…”
No probably about it.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
9:01 pm
T-Mac is shooting jumpers according to MC’s Twitter.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
9:02 pm
No more Willie/Pargo combo. Need Teague entire 2nd half. U had 3 days off. He and Joe need to get it going.
MARVIN: MAKE OPEN SHOTS
KevinM
May 4th, 2012
9:02 pm
Our guys have to quit passing to Marvin in the 1/2 court. It ends up a wasted possession. The ammunition is growing for Marvin to wave that towel with Stack and let T-Mac play a wing.
Game 69 and LD has decided to play T-Mac more than 10 minutes……wow!
Najeh Davenpoop
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
Well, one washed-up Atlanta athlete with knee problems helped an Atlanta team pull out a come from behind win earlier this week. Maybe T-Mac can do the same.
Shamrock
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
Celts blow it open in the third.
yodaddybrother
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
I’d give Stackhouse a go. He can run around out there and he’s always a threat to score. One game he gave us like 6 straight points. In a game like this that’s HUGE.
BIG DOG
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
Somebody said Marvin 7 REBOUNDS, the worst starting SF in the NBA.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
I’ll give this team one more year. No trades…(unless it’s Marvin Williams for any damn thing). Bring T-Mac and Ivan back for one more year…resign some more vet mins …throw in a rookie like Jeffrey Taylor or Quincy Miller (Mock Drafts have them in the 20-25 range) and see what we can do with a healthy squad.
LinkReport this comment
*****
no. We have done this for 5 years. Championship or bust.
Rod, defense is good. Need one of these guys to step up like Jamal would
Marvin Willie Pargo
Got to assume T-Mac won’t play 16 min in 2nd
KevinM
May 4th, 2012
9:04 pm
I wouldn’t guard Marvin until he proves he can do something to hurt the C’s.
Embarrassing when we need him the most.
Not enough FTs as we keep fouling Pierce.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 4th, 2012
9:04 pm
yodaddybrother
May 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
I’d give Stackhouse a go. He can run around out there and he’s always a threat to score. One game he gave us like 6 straight points. In a game like this that’s HUGE.
LinkReport this comment
***
can’t shoot
High-sider
May 4th, 2012
9:04 pm
@Section 212
Celtics lead Hawks, 40-38, at halftime.
Now, do you [Section 212] miss Jamal Crawford?