Atlanta Hawks at Celtics Game 4: Game thread
Boston–Josh Smith is testing his left knee pregame but said he will play tonight after no setbacks during this morning’s shootaround. He plans to wear a brace during the game. “When the adrenalin kicks in I probably won’t feel it,” he said. “I’ve just got to go out there and not even think about it. Play hard, play the way I’m capable of playing and not worry about re-injuring it.”
- Josh said if the Hawks were up 2-1 instead of down “I would probably be more cautious with the decision. But this is a must-win game for us tonight.”
- Larry Drew on Smith’s movement at shootaround: “Once he loosened up he looked pretty good.”
- Tracy McGrady (ankle) said he’s fine: “I feel great. I’m not worried about it.”
- Al Horford (pectoral) warmed up before the game and decided he feels good enough to be put on the active list. The Hawks say he’s a game-time decision.
- Drew said he would monitor Josh and T-Mac’s minutes: “I will certainly try to keep an eye on their minutes and we will use them accordingly depending on what the matchups are. If we get into a situation where we have to play one or two gys extra minutes, then so be it. We are in the fourth game of the playoffs and we want to put our best foot forward and play as well as we can and put ourselves in position to win.”
- Drew on playing without Josh: “Without him, we lose a big part of what we’ve been. He’s a guy that, now, down in the low block he commands double teams. He plays out of double teams really well, he’s an extremely good passer, he gives us stability defensively. We just miss his leadership out on the court.”
- Jeff Teague has been the most efficient shooter for the Hawks in this series, (non-Erick Dampier category) but he’s fourth in usage percentage. Teague’s 16.5 points per 36 minutes are second to Josh Smith (17.1).
- Drew wants Teague to be more aggressive offensively late in games even if his number isn’t called. Teague’s chances in the halfcourt still will have to come by playing off of Joe and Josh. Drew said Teague is the No. 2 option in those situations when Josh is not on the court; with Josh in the lineup tonight, Teague presumably slides back down to third in the pecking order.
- “When we get into that stretch run, particularly not having Josh, obviously we are gong to go through Joe a lot and I know they are going to keep a couple guys around him at all time with double teams and making sure he can’t get away,” Drew said. “But when Joe does give that basketball up, and that ball is swung out to Jeff, we need him to be in aggressive mode. You can’t be passive at that point because the shot clock is winding down and he is probably the only one on the floor that has that break-the-defense-down type speed. We just need him to be aggressive and be smart with his decisions.”
- Drew on Teague playing off Joe and Josh: “He’s growing. You can definitely see where he’s starting to understand how to play off those guys and how to get those guys involved. He’s not going to be perfect at it because he’s a scoring point guard. But he has gotten so much better in that area. The one thing is I want him to continue to be himself and stay aggressive and staying in that attack mode and just allow his natural instincts to come out.”
- Avery Bradley (shoulder) is a go for the Celtics.
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870 comments Add your comment
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 6th, 2012
7:58 pm
All we had to do was win game 2
Celts ain’t scared of Phillips
lewis
May 6th, 2012
7:58 pm
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
7:53 pm
it’s the playoffs and you have a lineupe of pargo, green, tmac, josh and twin? my god man. really?
yodaddybrother
May 6th, 2012
7:58 pm
Atlanta franchise is a joke….don’t know why I believe in these guys night in and night out.
Such a disappointment
ntrigue
May 6th, 2012
7:59 pm
Al should not have came in before Ivan guessn will not see any action today!
lewis
May 6th, 2012
7:59 pm
At least mike woodson only played decent players and kept his rotation at 7 in the playoffs. drew can’t even do that
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 6th, 2012
7:59 pm
Pargo doesn’t play D.
Ld said more mins for Kirk
Najeh Davenpoop
May 6th, 2012
8:00 pm
Al has basically taken Ivan’s spot in the rotation. LD is a CLOWN
yodaddybrother
May 6th, 2012
8:00 pm
Has anyone seen Joe Johnson???
welikebaseball2
May 6th, 2012
8:00 pm
How can you not blame Joe, the multi-million dollar man, for not giving us anything? Even Avery Bradley has matched his point production. Coaching is part to blame, but 5 points on 3 field goal attempts from your “superstar” is inexcusable…no matter who’s coaching you.
Bump
May 6th, 2012
8:00 pm
welikebaseball2
To you idiots dumping on Al…he’s the least of our problems tonight.
=====================================================
welikebaseball2 AKA Al’s new bride
jcwfalcon
May 6th, 2012
8:00 pm
I would like to give away my tickets to Tuesdays game. Can send to someones email. I would rather walk through broken glass than spend the night at Philips watching this team.
Tank
May 6th, 2012
8:01 pm
Guess we can start looking forward to Falcons foorball, and at least the Braves have been playin well
Melvin
May 6th, 2012
8:01 pm
Hawks need to get this league down to 15 before halftime.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 6th, 2012
8:01 pm
He did the exact same sh-t with Kirk and it took nearly two months to get the bench rotation right again. We don’t have two months to win this series. LET AL REST AND GET 100% YOU F-CKING MORON
drmaryb.(*_*).
May 6th, 2012
8:01 pm
Turn up the D!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kingd92
May 6th, 2012
8:02 pm
If LD is really trying to play Al is should be Collins that is removed from the rotation, not Ivan
MattP
May 6th, 2012
8:02 pm
Seriously? He puts Horford in again and no Ivan. Drew is moving Ivan to the back of the bench just like he did with Pargo when Hinrich returned.
Strange Murphy
May 6th, 2012
8:02 pm
Hawks don’t even care. What a bunch of sad losers.
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
8:02 pm
cut it down to 10 and we have a shot
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
8:03 pm
let’s go!
Najeh Davenpoop
May 6th, 2012
8:03 pm
They have done a terrible job getting around screens on Ray Allen all game, and it’s only a matter of time before he makes them pay.
Mike
May 6th, 2012
8:03 pm
The Wrecking ball is getting warm up!
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
8:04 pm
nevermind
lewis
May 6th, 2012
8:04 pm
I honestly can’t believe i’ve had to watch 2 of the worst head coaches in NBA history for the past 4 years
welikebaseball2
May 6th, 2012
8:04 pm
To you guys flapping your gums about how Al took Ivan’s minutes. Please, please, please tell me this: in what capacity has Ivan been effective this whole series? I’ll answer that. None. So, what are we missing with him out? I mean, really. Garnett was manhandling him.
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
8:05 pm
pick up that defensive intensity!
old man with bone spurs is outplaying big money joe
welikebaseball2
May 6th, 2012
8:05 pm
The Larry Drew Offense: As many 3-point attempts for Teague & Smith as they can muster. Ugh.
Rev in Tampa
May 6th, 2012
8:06 pm
Hawks attacked C’s in the first the games. It helped them on offense and defense. They are playing the C’s game tonight.
Michael G.
May 6th, 2012
8:06 pm
For a game the players admitted was a must win, these guys are showing no heart whatsoever! I can’t say I’m not surprised, but it still is disappointing. Oh well, Chopped: All Stars comes on soon.
Rev in Tampa
May 6th, 2012
8:06 pm
Get horford out NOW
Old Man Peabody
May 6th, 2012
8:06 pm
Rondo will get 25 assists if Doc lets him play the whole game
Najeh Davenpoop
May 6th, 2012
8:07 pm
“To you guys flapping your gums about how Al took Ivan’s minutes. Please, please, please tell me this: in what capacity has Ivan been effective this whole series? I’ll answer that. None. So, what are we missing with him out? I mean, really. Garnett was manhandling him.”
Even if what you say is true — which it is not (Ivan has done a good job on the boards) — Al clearly hasn’t been better than Ivan. So when you have two players giving you more or less the same thing, why play the injured guy over the healthy guy?
Dumb move by LD.
terrell
May 6th, 2012
8:07 pm
Is Joe wearing ankle weights?
Blast
May 6th, 2012
8:07 pm
Joe chasing Ray Allen around all night won’t help Joe’s offence.
Rev in Tampa
May 6th, 2012
8:07 pm
How is it that RayAllen can be that wide open in the corner?
northcyde
May 6th, 2012
8:08 pm
SMH @ this.
Wide open shooters everywhere.
The wrong people shooting the ball on offense.
A ton of turnovers . . 11 already.
Boston running the ball right down our throats after every turnover and every missed shot.
This team is going to have to give the defensive effort of their lives come the 2nd half, just to get back in this game.
Just a disgraceful defensive performance.
Hawkfan
May 6th, 2012
8:08 pm
Not playing Ivan is just disgusting. This guy is so stupid. Al is actually holding his own but nobody should expect him to come in and riight away be better than Ivan who was Rookie of the Month. He should play before Marvin or Twin. In fact where is Damp who showed to be a much better player than Twin. Firing LD is too humane
Loserville USA
May 6th, 2012
8:08 pm
Three words you will NEVER EVER see in a sentence…
Hawks…..furious…..comeback.
Shoot the horse.
terrell
May 6th, 2012
8:09 pm
Stfu KG.
Old Man Peabody
May 6th, 2012
8:09 pm
Can’t wait to hear Kenny and Chuck
Rev in Tampa
May 6th, 2012
8:09 pm
Nice possession to end the half. YUCK
Melvin
May 6th, 2012
8:09 pm
Not looking good for the Hawks…
High-sider
May 6th, 2012
8:09 pm
Just imagine; the Hawks could’ve faced a very young, inexperienced Sixers team or an injury-plagued Bulls team in the second round of this year’s playoffs but Rick Sund decided not to re-sign the Hawks’ best “pure” scorer and “Boston Strangler” [Jamal Crawford]. smh
Fire Rick Sund, immediately! [in my Dollar Bill (Bernie Mac) voice from the movie, "The Players Club"]
Bump
May 6th, 2012
8:10 pm
welikebaseball2 AKA Mrs.Al Horford,we really don’t wanna hear it right now ok?
John T
May 6th, 2012
8:10 pm
“Stfu KG.”
^_^
Michael G.
May 6th, 2012
8:10 pm
Can’t even get up a shot before the half ends?!? Embarrassing
honest_abe
May 6th, 2012
8:10 pm
to joes defense people get away with pushing and shoving him all day. i don’t see any other “star” not get that call.
Blast
May 6th, 2012
8:11 pm
What a brutal half of basketball, from Hawks perspective, that is.
Can they play any worse in the second? Can Boston play any better? I’m actually shocked anytime Boston missed a jumper.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 6th, 2012
8:11 pm
“Just imagine; the Hawks could’ve faced a very young, inexperienced Sixers team or an injury-plagued Bulls team in the second round of this year’s playoffs but Rick Sund decided not to re-sign the Hawks’ best “pure” scorer and “Boston Strangler” [Jamal Crawford]. smh”
Jamal wouldn’t have helped tonight. The Hawks are losing because their team defensive effort was pathetic. Jamal would have only made that worse.
Bump
May 6th, 2012
8:11 pm
northcyde
May 6th, 2012
8:08 pm
SMH @ this.
Wide open shooters everywhere.
==================================================
Like Marvin?