Atlanta Hawks Game Thread: Rockets vs. Hawks
Vivlamore reporting following the Hawks’ morning shootaround. Here is an early start on your game thread.
The Hawks will be challenged defensively on the perimeter right off the bat. For here comes the Rockets and newly acquired guard James Harden for tonight’s season opener.
Harden lit up the Pistons for a game-high 37 points, on 14 of 25 shooting, in the Rockets’ 105-96 season-opening victory Wednesday at Detroit. He also had 12 assists making him the first-ever NBA player to score 37 or more points and have double-digit assists in his team debut. The 6-foot-5 Harden could present problems for 6-3 Devin Harris and 6-5 DeShawn Stevenson, two who figure to draw much of the defensive assignment.
“I did,” Harris said with a slight smile when asked if he watched the Rockets-Pistons game. “He’s a good player. He’s a max (contract) player for a reason. He’s tough. We’ll throw a lot of different guys at him. The main thing is to try to keep him off the free-throw line and keep him out of the paint.”
Harden was acquired by the Rockets from the Thunder earlier this week. He also signed a contract worth a reported five years and $80 million. Stevenson said Harden will be brimming with confidence after signing such a deal.
Hawks coach Larry Drew said the challenge will be stopping the Rockets’ predominately pick-and-roll offense with Jeremy Lin and Harden.
“The best we can,” Drew said when I asked how he will defend Harden. “He is really good. We have to do a good job collectively. As I told the guys today, he won’t be just one man’s responsibility. We have to make sure that we zero in and just be solid. We’ve worked on a lot of different things over the preseason, particularly playing against guys like him. We have to stick with our concepts and stick with our principles.
“It will give us a good chance, as a measuring stick, to see where we stand, particularly defensively. You won’t play against as many guys as good and as aggressive as James Harden. It will be a good test for us.”
The Hawks will be without back-up center Johan Petro, who is out with a sore back. Drew said Petro is “getting better and better” but held him out for precautionary reasons.
That leaves the task of stopping the Rockets’ 7-foot center Omer Asik to Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
“With Asik, he’s a load,” Drew said. “He takes up a lot of space in the middle. We are just going to have to do a good job on him. When he was in Chicago, he did really well for them and he seems to have found on home with (the Rockets). We may not be able to match size right off the bat, but we have to be able to match physicality. We really focus on what we need to do and if we do that, we should be OK.”
Drew, once again, declined to announce his starting lineup saying it was a “game-time decision.”
Check back before the game for updates.
- Chris Vivlamore
LATEST NEWS
* Smith on verge of statistical milestone
* Smith, Horford are interim captains
* Five things we learned from the preseason
* Teague, Pachulia return to full-contact practice, ready for opener
* Failure not an option for Tolliver
* Hawks ownership ‘extremely’ fortunate to keep stake in team
Follow me on Twitter at ajchawks
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
702 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
9:49 pm
Play call for Teague??????????
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
9:49 pm
Now he wants to shoot.
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
There was no need to play Josh at SF tonight…. LD is a dummy
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
LOL….so how bad will we get beat on Sunday….
Devndev
November 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
Stupid play by hawks of the timeout – Woodys ghost is still around
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
No one will be working harder this season than James Harden. He’s doing more already with his big contract than somebody I know of who moved to Brooklyn….
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
Nice game anyway fellas, a better coach pulls out this game
Jay Dubu
November 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
How can Asik have 9 offensive rebounds and no points? He’s 7′ and right @ the hoop!
Big Crimson 75
November 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
Don Nelson cures this Team.
Bring in Nellie!!
Bring in the fish ties!!
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
Big Ray, PJ3 will score 20 against us Sunday.
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm
Stupid play by hawks of the timeout – Woodys ghost is still around
No, but his submarining former top assistant is…
nobody
November 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm
What happened to Harris? Is LD really this big of a moron?
J.J.M.
November 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm
Hawks wish they had a player like harden
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
LOL@ AJ …
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
Well, when Joe joined the Hawks, the GM and head coach asked him to play PG.
uga-brave
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
hawks have the only power forward in the NBA that takes 22 shots and does not get to the line.
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
Big Ray,
There’s a reason why those guys can’t guard Harden but I understand your point. However, we will continue to monitored him thru out the season.
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
What happened to Harris? Is LD really this big of a moron?
LOL…are you really asking that question…
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
The Beard also got alot of touch calls too
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
LD just let Josh bark at the ref. Luckily we didn’t get a tech.
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
Too bad The Beard nutted up in the Finals though lol
tank
November 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
Hawks players already tuning out Larry, he is pathetic
nobody
November 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
Harris had 9 points in 6 minutes if Im not mistaken. Then he vanished. Like ARE WE BLOODY SERIOUS? Im glad Im not a coach or a player. I want to punch LD in the face. And I used to see him at my job once a week. I guess Im glad I dont work there now either. -_-
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
Well, the good news is that everyone on the team hates losing and they will unite and be angry in happy unison tonight. That counts for something, right? Right? Hello?
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
The Houston back court with 60 points, 16 rebounds, and 9 assist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
FEAR THE BEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
uga-brave
November 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
you would think at some point in one of these last seven off seasons Josh might try to develop his right hand.
Old Man Peabody
November 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
LD is being outcoached by a college guy. SMH
stizz
November 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
This team has the talent to cover up their deficiencies, but they do not have the coaching to execute, very similar to the Braves.
RaJaH
November 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
Somebody get security to escort LD out the building after the final buzzer!
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
Please after tonight no more Tolliver or Korver, just let them dress in nice expensive suits on the bench.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
If this is how Harden is going to play against the Hawks, imagine what LeBron and Wade are going to do. 2-guards and SFs are going to be a problem.
Ken Strickland
November 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
I see why Drew cut a rebounder like DJames. If he won’t play Ivan Johnson when we’re getting our butts pounded on the boards, he sure as hell wouldn’t have played James.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
9:57 pm
FEAR THE BEARD!!!!!!
WALT FRAZIER 2.0? HMMMMM
RaJaH
November 2nd, 2012
9:57 pm
Somebody call security to escort LD out the building after the final buzzer!
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
Melvin ,
Don’t get me wrong…dude is a straight up baller…but things will get tough against teams that can counter what he does, or can guard him/slow him down. Detroit and Atlanta presented him with no problems whatsoever…the worse he’s dealt with has been Stevenson.
And as the season wears on, opposing teams with any sort of defensive-minded coach will game plan for him.
That said, I fully expect him to average around 25 ppg as the Rockets’ #1 guy. He doesn’t have a lot of help. Personally, if I’m McHale, I’m worried about wearing him down. He’s already working like the devil on Sunday morning.
They wear him slap out and he could incur injury or otherwise slow down dramatically…then folks will be saying “I told you so”…however inaccurate it will be.
uga-brave
November 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
See Josh shoot. See Lou Shoot. Your 2012-13 hawks.
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
Put me on record for saying that #2 is going to have a nice season for Utah.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
SO JAMES DROPS 45!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
My goodness, Harden put 45 against us….
KevinM
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
Here we go AJ -
Harden – 12-14 FT
Josh – 0-0
Bane
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
What happened to those people on here who said Westbrook was better than Harden?!?! You know who you are! LMAOOOOoooooo
nobody
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
Ivan didnt play. Morrow didn’t play. Jenkins didnt play. Just. Wow.
High-sider
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
OKC is stupid. Now, you should see how big a problem “Westbrick” is!!!!!!!
Roy Kittles
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
Small ball not the answer. Harden and Lin dominating the hawks .
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
They are not going to rebound this badly every game (Al in particular will do much better), and they are probably going to be a pretty good offensive team on most nights (even with all the bricks in the 2nd quarter, they finished shooting 46%, and probably earned a few more trips to the line than they got). The perimeter D is the one problem from this game that will linger all season.
DawgNole
November 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
Came all the way back, then barfed. Better than not coming back at all, but hauntingly familiar. Always a disappointment to start a season like this in front of a decent home crowd. We’ll see if they can bounce back.
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
We actually had the lead (1st qtr) then LD started with those weird substitutions.
High-sider
November 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
Asik: 0pts, 19rebs.
http://www.nba.com/games/20121102/HOUATL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0021200018#nbaGIboxscore
playmeortrademe
November 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE. Wonder who is on Danny Ferry’s short list of head coaches?
ag
November 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
First, I would like to say a terrible job of coaching. One of our best rebounders does not make the team.
Second, I am a Horford fan, but he did not show up….