Atlanta Hawks: Rockets 109, Hawks 102 (updated)
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
Welcome to the Hawks’ new style of basketball.
Oh yes, this is going to be interesting.
The Hawks couldn’t contain James Harden. They were killed on the boards. They trailed by as many as 16 points.
Yet, they barely lost.
Harden finished with a game-high 45 points, including seven straight when the Rockets erased a two-point Hawks’ fourth-quarter lead, en route to a 109-102 victory Friday night at Philips Arena. There is still much work to do for the Hawks and a revamped roster.
“We have some things that we really have to focus in and work on,” coach Larry Drew said. “There were area in this game where we weren’t very good, very polished, particularly on the boards. We didn’t do a good job on the boards.” And it wasn’t just our big guys. It was our perimeters not being in position to chase down long rebounds.”
After losing the late lead thanks to Harden, who finished with 18 fourth-quarter points, the Hawks had a chance to tie the game late. Trailing by three points, 97-94, DeShawn Stevenson and Jeff Teague passed on potential game-tying 3-pointers. Teague instead passed to Josh Smith, who missed from long range. Chandler Parsons hit a 3-pointer off the miss as the Rockets went up by six and sealed the win from the free-throw line.
“I saw Harden running at me and it was just a basketball play to make an extra pass,” Teague said. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Josh. I see him work every day on shooting drills after practice. I’ve got all the faith in him. If I didn’t have faith in him, what kind of teammate would I be? I saw him wide open and thought he could knock it down. He happened to miss it but it’s part of the game.”
Since being acquired by the Rockets earlier this week, days ahead of their season opener, Harden’s has scored 82 points in two victories. Jeremy Lin added 21 points and Marcus Morris added 17 in the win Friday.
The Rockets (2-0) held a 58-36 rebounding advantage. They pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and many led to points in the paint. Center Omer Asik had 19, including seven in the first six minutes of the game.
“Giving up 17 offensive rebounds in the first half and 23 for the game, you are not going to give yourself a good chance to win. You have to be able to get in there and gang rebound. … We have to find a body, box them out and limit them to one opportunity.”
Lou Williams led the Hawks (0-1) with 22 points. Smith added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Al Horford (14), Teague (14), Zaza Pachulia (13) and Stevenson (12).
The Hawks made their late run by going to a bigger lineup with Pachulia at center, Horford at power forward and Smith a small forward. Drew also elected to go with the hot hand as Williams played all of the fourth quarter when he had 13 points.
“We have to play how we played at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter,” Williams said. “We have to play like that for four quarters. We have to put four quarters of good basketball together in order for us to be successful.”
The Hawks had trouble with their offensive and defensive assignments. They often conferred with Drew during the course of the game to clear up where they were supposed to be on specific sets.
“It’s still a process,” Smith said. “We are still getting acclimated to the new guys coming in with our defensive principles and getting a feel for where they have to be. It’s still a work in progress.”
The Rockets led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, 68-52, but the Hawks worked to close the gap. They entered the final quarter trailing by seven points, 81-74. With 7:10 remaining the lead was gone. Smith converted in close for an 88-87 lead capping a 14-6 quarter-opening run. Williams and Smith each had six points in the stretch.
The Rockets took a 53-44 halftime lead. Their lead was 14 points, 49-35, with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter when Harden drained a 3-pointer and was fouled by Stevenson. The Hawks closed the gap to nine points by ending the half on a 9-4 run, punctuated by Stevenson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Rockets held a decisive rebounding advantage – 20-8 after the first quarter and 34-20 at the half.
“We made a run and they handled it,” Horford said. “They took it and got their composure back so you have to give them credit. I don’t think we played well enough to win the game tonight.”
The Hawks travel to Oklahoma City to take on the defending Western Conference champion Thunder Sunday.
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310 comments Add your comment
ag
November 3rd, 2012
6:59 am
I forgot to mention Stevenson. We watched the 6th man of the year go for 45 – mostly against Stevenson. Yes, he was a defensive stopper a couple of years ago for the Mavericks, but a couple of years ago, TMac led the league in scoring. This guy is no longer a defensive stopper. He did not get any significant burn with the Nets, why does LD think he should get minutes here?
Marvin scored 5 points for Utah.
The Lakers are 0-3. Kobe still goes for 40 in a loss.
ag
November 3rd, 2012
7:15 am
Teague was in a bit of foul trouble early – especailly after the dunk they called an offensive foul. Korver nerver needs to start. Call James back, cut Tolliver, bring Benson back, cut Petro.
Ray
November 3rd, 2012
7:18 am
LOL at anyone judging this team after 1 game.
Hell LOL for anyone judging Boston and the Lakers even if their 0-3 or 0-2 this isn’t a 10 game season nor is 66 like last year it’s 82.
Honestly Early weak link for me right now is Tolliver he looked lost out there.
Jeff Teague and Devin Harris plus Lou Williams will work nicely. Josh and Al both probably need more time with the rest of the team to start building up that chemistry.
Right now I pick this team to be between 40-44 wins at a minimum and 46-48 at a max. I knew we would be taking a step back, but this pain is one I can endure because I know we have a brighter future.
Ray
November 3rd, 2012
7:23 am
Also to add yeah after about 20 games we”ll see who really needs to go. Only reason Korver starts is because Al is at Center and our C position is basically nothing.
No disrespect to Zaza, but if we started him we have no C behind him lol.
Wouldn’t mind have Cole Adrich.
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
7:26 am
Very disappointed in Al based on observation and one stat to back it up (1 personal foul in 37 minutes of play). He refused to be physical tonight. Watching ZaZa play center is definitely not a thing of beauty, but watch the hands, shoulders and elbows on every single play on both sides of the court. Aldrich and Asik did a good job of giving it back, but those guys felt the difference when ZaZa was in the game. We need more of that, and Ivan would have definitely helped.
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
7:34 am
Before leaving the game o told Nique that Drews rotations sucked and he agreed. Coach Conner kept trying to tell drew to change up tne rotation at one point and they got into it! Drew is stubborn he does not listen to his coaches. The whole time I was telling van exel that drew sucks and screaming put Ivan in no way Tolliver should’ve logged that many mins playing like that! He took Teague when he was finally in rhythm. Kept telling to stop messing w Teagues gm let him be free! Drew has to go !
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
7:39 am
Like i said the Hawks will win no more than 35 games this year with Josh and Horford your starting Frontcourt, you have no more 6′7 Joe and 6′9 Marvin protecting the perimeter, this allow guys to be able go to the rim leaving undersize Josh and Horford hopeless on the board, with a lack of size in your backcourt and at SF who are not AVG. defenders look for the Hawks to finish almost dead last in rebounds this year and giving up 100points a game or more.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
7:43 am
HAWKS 36 REBOUNDS
ROCKETS 58 REBOUNDS
This will be like this every game until Danny find a back up center behind Zaza.
Zaza must starte point blank period or look for and lottery pick in 2013.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GoRockets
November 3rd, 2012
7:50 am
Go Rockets!
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
7:54 am
No way Teague should’ve only played 20 something mins same for Morrow he saw no action i would’ve played him over korver
tidog
November 3rd, 2012
8:12 am
Korver was useless.
ag
November 3rd, 2012
8:24 am
Again, Jeff got in foul trouble, so I see why his time was limited. CV needs to ask the tough question, “Why didn’t Ivan play – enten though the Rockets established early they were dominating the boards?” Then, he could not have given you the BS answer “Matchups.”
I even said before the season starts, we need size starting at SF. I would not mind giving Ivan a shot. He deserves it. Starting ZaZa would hurt our rotation off the bench.
Who is going to guard Durant? The Hawks need to get on the phone and get James to OKC.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:27 am
LD must make some changes in his starting lineup and bench rotation.
Some body need to explain why Morrrow and Ivan is not playing, and why coach LD playing Tolliver over Ivan and Stevenson over Morrow ?
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
8:29 am
Yes, go Rockets! All the way to the 8th seed out West, and we’ll gladly take the 15th and 45th picks in the draft. Thank you very much.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:30 am
Who is this Tolliver guy ? dam he worst than Marvin, SMH
LD is a clueless coach.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NORRIS CHUCK
November 3rd, 2012
8:34 am
Im not going to blow a gasket but i will say that Larry Drew has NO clue as a head coach. It completely dumbfounds me as to how some coaches in sports get these jobs and holds on to them.
Also, as long as Josh Smith is in the ATL, they will never progress.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:36 am
STARTERS TEAGUE, LOU, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA
BENCH DEVIN, JENKINS, MORROW, IVAN, ?
RESERVE KORVER, STEVENSON, SCOTT
Danny go find a defensive center behind Zaza, hack i would bring Dampier back as backup.
PLEASE CUT PETRO AND TOLLIVER ASAP.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wabe
November 3rd, 2012
8:36 am
I’m laughing at the type of love folks are giving Woody here…
And, I’m not sure why the anger when what we saw was to be expected. I don’t see this team being a particularly good defensive or rebounding team. They might make some strides in those areas this season, but I don’t expect guys like Harden or any of the other elite scorers being slowed down when they play us. Despite JJ’s critics [and I'm one of them], dude could play defense. Now, you’re only real defensive option on the perimeter to check the likes of Harden/KD/LBJ/Pierce etc. is DeShawn Stevenson. Harris is really a PG playing the 2-gaurd, and Lou Williams shouldn’t really be counted on to lock up the likes of of these players. So, you’re left with who?
We’ll see how it goes moving forward, but I went into this season expecting a rebuilding year. Yeah, the squad ain’t all that terrible, but they don’t really have ‘greatness’ written all over them. The roster was flawed coming into the season, and it’ll show up through the year. I think the Hawks only chance this season is simply outscoring opponents in high-scoring affairs. I don’t think this is a team that can consistently hold teams under 90-100 pts.
But, we’ll see. I may be wrong.
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
8:49 am
The coaches know drew is dumb but they all just sit and say nothing for the most part they are all yes man!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
8:59 am
Just Joe, I too was terribly disappointed with Al Horford’s play.. He looked like the invisible one in the 1st 12 mins and allowed Asik to set the table for a dominating performance on the Glass! He is supposed to be the Allstar and played more like a stiff..
Larry looks lost…
Our guards were destroyed………..Embarrassed!
You are supposed to lose at home when the opposing back court torches you for 66pts, 17 rbs, and 9 assist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:03 am
One foul? C’mon man? Your the last line of defense? Huh?
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:04 am
LD and Josh have one thing in common, they both don’t get it…
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:05 am
Agree Grandad, Lou is our point guard..Shop Teague and Al….
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:07 am
We’ll see what this team is made of. Next 5 of 7 on the road…. Ouch…
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:13 am
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:28 am
“Its time to give up on Horford. We need a hard nosed center not a pretty boy Dominican.”
Apparently Horford has evolved and become more of a finesse type of player..Looks like the old Horford is gone for good?
What kind of value can he generate on the market at this time?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
9:15 am
No wings
No cebter depth
Timid center
Timid PG
No SF
No perimeter defense
One of the worst HC in the NBA
Mediocre home crowd (tons of empty seats and no noise until we came back)
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:22 am
This was just the 1st game,. Having sais that, it seemed that the starting line-up needs to change moving forward.
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
9:23 am
I think Horford sticks no matter what. He’s the sign and trade bait should anything go wrong (right for the Hawks) with Bynum or Howard.
KevinM
November 3rd, 2012
9:25 am
I like the insight ntrigue and if that’s what is happening, the season will be a long one.
First game, and Josh doesn’t shoot ONE FT! He is not a SF and we keep trying to make him one. He and Zaza are a better combo than inside than Al/Zaza….Al’s game looks painful.
Lou is for real and will have the green light. Stevenson was as good as I expected as I consider him a professional. He will be a good addition if other guys can score around him.
Lin is far from overrated…throw Asik in there also…both outplayed their counterpart.
Slim, you are in midseason form. Al won’t make it through the year as a Hawk at this rate.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:29 am
Also, with the exception of Lou Williams and Devin(early in the game), our guards did not play with any confidence. Give A. Morrow and Jenkins a look at the sg and sf on Sunday.
Starters: Harris-Jenkins-Josh-Al-ZsaZsa or Harris-Morrow-Josh-Al-Zsa Zsa
I would bring Jeff Teague off the bench until he plays with confidence!
Tom Thurston
November 3rd, 2012
9:31 am
Gonna be a long season. Looking forward to draft lottery though.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:34 am
Not impressed at all with Josh Smith or Al Horford. Neither one of them “seized” the moment. There was an obvious lack of LEADERSHIP from Coach Drew, Al Horford, and Josh Smith. 4th Qtr, Poor substitutions, poor shot selections, and poor play by our “Center.”
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:35 am
In his first two [regular season] games as a Clippers player, Jamal Crawford has scored a total of 50 points in a reserve role/capacity; that means he’s averaging 25ppg off the bench.
What do you [Hawks fans] expect after last night’s loss? First, this [Hawks] franchise gets rid of a “pure” scorer in Jamal Crawford and then follows that up by getting rid of another [very good] scorer in Joe Johnson. You go from two big scoring guards [J. Crawford standing at 6'5"/6'6" and J. Johnson standing at 6'7"/6'8"] to three [scoring] guards standing at or about 6′1″/6′2″ [Jeff Teague, Lou Williams and Devin Harris] and, of the three [Je. Teague, Lo. Williams and De. Harris], L. Williams is really the only “true” scorer. “Ol’ Danny Boy” [aka GM Danny Ferry] still hasn’t addressed the big man issues on this team [e.g., lack of interior size at the PF and C positions]. Let’s keep it real. Al is an undersized center and Josh Smith is an undersized power forward. If the Clippers [franchise] can get Ryan Hollins and R. Turiaf to back up DeAndre Jordan at the Center position, then why couldn’t the Hawks have at least picked up a decent big [man] like Ian Mahinmi or Marcus Camby?
Bad Decisions/Management [include, but are not limited to the following] :
1. Letting Jamal Crawford “walk” for nothing [in return]
2. Overpaying Joe Johnson and then trading him for [so-called] “scrubs”
3. Overpaying Marvin Williams and then trading him for [essentially] a driving/slashing [point] guard. Hint: The Hawks already have/had Jeff Teague. [Can you say Dept. of Redundancy Dept. or is it the Redundancy Dept. of Redundancy? Take your pick.]
4. Refusing to address the lack of interior size or acquire quality [legitimate] big men.
Hey, Lame Duck [aka LD] try [out] the following lineup for a duration in the next [regular season] game:
PG – Jeff Teague
SG – Lou Williams
SF – Josh Smith
PF – Ivan Johnson
C – Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:42 am
“Poor Substitutions, Poor shot selections, and Poor play by our starting Center” sums up the reasons why we lost this Basketball game. I expect more from our frontline. I would have benched the entire frontline early on just to make point. They were all absolutely “atrocious.” They made Omar Asik look like Bill Walton and James Hardin looked more like Michael Jordan!
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:50 am
“The Ghetto Terminator/Cyborg” aka Ivan Johnson deserves minutes/playing time.
FREE GHETTO TERMINATOR
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Horford statline 14pts. “5″ rebounds, and “0″ (Zero)Blocked shots. He also had Zero offensive rebounds. Suffice it to say, he is clearly playing out of position!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:56 am
After watching Omar Asik dominate the boards last night, I hope we never see the same starting 5 again. Also, this Tolliver guy, he looked Horrible, offense and defense. JOHAN PETRO could not have played any worse than our frontline did last night. James Hardin was finishing at the rim like “Kobe jelly bean Bryant!”
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:57 am
^Correction: #FREE GHETTO TERMINATOR
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:59 am
Our front line does not invoke fear to opposing players, more like an escort service…. Sheesh!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:02 am
So Woody dismantles the Heat by 20 pts. last night without his Allstar power-forward and some still believe Larry is an upgrade?
Hahahahahahahahahah
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
10:04 am
@keith
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Horford statline 14pts. “5″ rebounds, and “0″ (Zero)Blocked shots. He also had Zero offensive rebounds. Suffice it to say, he is clearly playing out of position!
—————————————————————————-
You’re right but this [Hawks] team already has enough [shooting] guards on its roster.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:06 am
Lakers are 0-11 so guess things could be worse..
Are you glad our Hawks do not live in the Western Conference?… Whew
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:10 am
Speaking of Western Conference, the Hawks will see a few of those teams in their 1st 8? Oh Boy..
Houston just gave them an introduction..
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
Funny how you guys are saying Teague did not play with confidence. He went down the middle, jumped over a player and dunked on him – I think that takes a lot of confidence!
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:15 am
Josh did bang quite a bit in the paint and a couple of occasions he should have gotten a call or and one.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:16 am
We must shake up our starting line-up. I might even start Ivan Johnson-Zsa-Zsa–Josh Smith frontline.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:21 am
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
Funny how you guys are saying Teague did not play with confidence. He went down the middle, jumped over a player and dunked on him – I think that takes a lot of confidence!
Jeff Teague passed up a “Wide Open 3″ to tie the game late. He defferred to, guess who? Josh freakin Smith, Do you want Josh Smith taking a wide open 3 or say anyone else???
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:23 am
IMO Josh Smith and Al Horford should not be on the floor at the same time for long stretches because neither are reliable “shooters.”
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:29 am
http://www.hoopshype.com article “magic Johnson suggests Lakers trade for Josh Smith because the Lakers need more athletes. HECK YES…I would trade Josh Smith for Pau Gasol in a heartbeat.
Magic Johnson suggests that Pau Gasol be the Lakers trade chip.
hittman
November 3rd, 2012
10:33 am
First off I’M GLAD TO SEE THE NBA season is in full effect.
I put the blame on substitution patterns,like where was Ivan?
LD is a horrible coach point blank period,plus the James Harden superstar factor has already acclumulated ,the phantom fouls were ridicolous we will be blatantly disrespected without any superstar or allstar on this roster.
This wasn’t Lebron,Kobe,D-Wade,KD,or even Carmelo for that matter. This was James Harden and Houston has the super star rules all wrote out for him.
And where was JJ2 the guy is a baller Woody Lite is in my Barkley voice just plan old terribull.
On a positive note I wouldn’t mind if Ferry picked up Eddie Curry.
Peace