Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 104, Thunder 95
Vivlamore reporting from Oklahoma City.
The Lou Williams signing looks pretty darn good right about now.
The Hawks did what few thought was possible on Sunday. They entered one hostile environment and stared down the defending Western Conference champion Thunder. Oh, and did we mention they did so without star Josh Smith.
Williams had a run of 10 straight points late in the fourth quarter as the Hawks defeated the Thunder 104-95 silencing a once raucous sellout crowd of 18,203 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Williams scored 14 of the Hawks’ final 23 points. DeShawn Stevenson hit a 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining that put the Hawks up 100-91. Williams then hit four free throws in the final seconds to ice the victory and end a Thunder mini-run.
“Over the past four or five years of my career, the fourth quarter has probably been my best,” said Williams, who finished with 19 points. “I’ve always gotten off to slow starts for whatever reason. I just pick it up in the fourth quarter. It’s something I’ve done in the past and something I want to bring to this team.”
Williams also had a team-high 22 points in the season-opening loss to the Rockets.
The Hawks also got a strong effort from Al Horford. The center finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Horford scored eight of the Hawks’ first 13 points. After a scoreless second quarter, Horford scored nine of the Hawks’ first 19 points of the third quarter.
“Coach went to me early in the third,” Horford said. “He wanted to get me back involved. I missed some shots that I usually make. I just stayed positive and kept playing. Whatever the defense gave me, I just played off that.”
The Hawks (1-1) got contributions from nearly the entire team. All 10 players who entered the game scored at least four points. Jeff Teague had 16 points, including eight in the first quarter. Ivan Johnson added 10 points.
The Hawks’ rebounding, which was such a sore spot in their season-opening loss to the Rockets, was impressive. The Hawks held a 38-37 advantage on the boards.
Although the victory came in the second game of the young season, coach Larry Drew and his team did not want to underestimate the scope of the win.
“If you look at it before the game probably a lot of people didn’t give us any kind of chance,” Horford said. “It just shows character of this team. … This was a team effort we are pretty proud about.”
The Thunder (1-2) were led by Kevin Martin with a game-high 28 points, including 22 in the first half. Kevin Durant added 22 points and 12 rebounds.
With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Drew elected to stay with a veteran lineup of Zaza Pachulia, Devin Harris, Horford, Stevenson and Williams.
“Lou got into a rhythm and we were going to ride it,” Drew said. “I had to make a decision whether to bring Jeff and Kyle (Korver) back but the group that was in there had a good rhythm going and I didn’t want to do anything to disrupt that. We decided to ride Lou’s hot hand. He made some really good baskets.”
The Hawks led by as many as 10 points in the first half. Jeff Teague and Al Horford each had eight first-quarter points to lead the early offense. Horford scored six of the Hawks’ first eight points of the game. Ivan Johnson provided energy off the bench with six points and two rebounds in the half.
The Thunder stormed back and closed the second quarter on a 22-9 run to take a 51-47 lead into intermission.
The Hawks rallied in the third quarter, tied the game on four occasions and took two leads. Anthony Morrow drained a 3-pointer for a late three-point lead. The Hawks took a 75-74 advantage into the decisive final quarter.
It was the Hawks’ second straight win over the Thunder. They won their only meeting last season, 97-90, playing without Joe Johnson in Atlanta.
So, that Williams signing looks pretty good now.
“I would hope,” Williams said with a smile. “We will see. It’s early.”
- Chris Vivlamore
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* Failure not an option for Tolliver
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162 comments Add your comment
cp
November 5th, 2012
3:10 pm
Lmao@ Astro. I still owe you that honey bun due to the draft.
Astro Joe
November 5th, 2012
3:11 pm
doc, yep. And in the OKC game, Teague played quite well in the second half but didn’t have the confidence in his own shot to take it himself. He deferred. So even when he is playing well in a game, he may not get a chance to finish because his finishing skills have not been great. And, there is reason to believe that Lou and maybe Devin are better finishers of a tight/late game.
In a transition year, I’d have no problem giving him a until the All-Star break to figure out how to handle those late/close game situations. But the Hawks have opted to go with a lame duck head coach so that is a risk he won’t likely take.
O'Brien
November 5th, 2012
3:15 pm
Rod,
They asked him about that 3 that Josh took at the end of the game, and he said that Teague had an open look, and passed to Josh with time running out on the clock..
Did LD say Teague passed up an open shot. I thought he said he said Teague passed up his shot and made the extra pass to Josh who was wide open.
Ms Dee,
I’m a fan of Horford too, but I don’t think Josh’s inconsistencies have anything to do with B’Ball IQ. I think his problem is overconfidence (and some stubbornness too). But I think Josh’s B’Ball IQ is fine.
Put Josh Smith on the Spurs or the Celtics and see how his game improves with a coach like Doc Rivers or Greg Popovich. The talent is there. It’s his mindset that needs improvement (not B’Ball IQ imo).
Astro Joe
November 5th, 2012
3:22 pm
cp, I thought I was working with a honey bun deficit. i appreciate you ‘fessing up. Sullinger has moved into the starting line-up in Boston. Funny how when we’re considering a guy like that, we would read comments about an “undersized PF who no athleticism”. But when we play guys like that, some admire their toughness, smarts and ability to make winning plays.
Oh well.
At least PJ3 didn’t go for a triple double against us last night.
Slimjr
November 5th, 2012
3:25 pm
Yes, the Knicks are 16-5 w/o Armare.Kinda hard to gel when your Allstar has not been healthy and missing quiet a few game the past 2 years..This aint tennis..
But know this when Amare fully heals he is still better than any Hawk player on their roster..Hmmmmm
What a quandary for Woody to figure out. How to integrate his multiple Allstar power forward into his system once he heals up and continue pulverizing opponents….
Guess that why the Knicks pay Woody the BIG BUCKS! hehehehe
Woody is 20-6 [regular] season record.. Sublime!
cpsman_atlanta
November 5th, 2012
3:26 pm
Another article from Mr. Yes Man, Chris Vivlamore. BOYCOTT THE ATLANTA HAWKS AND PHILIPS ARENA UNTIL ATLANTA SPIRIT GROUP IS OUT OF TOWN!!! BRING BACK THE THRASHERS!!!
doc
November 5th, 2012
3:35 pm
i would love to see a competent big on this team as a back up to zaza so we could go to the line up with zaza, josh and al in there to start games and play extended minutes together. if DF could pull that off and get a back up with some basic skills and a specific talent this team could compete for top three easily.
unfortunately they will be overwhelmed at times, or they cant counter with a strength osf size to overcome someone playing their game better than them like might occur with the knicks and a healthy tyson. it is like what happened with asik and other teams that are big and be unable to compete. just like al said.
no one on okc has bulk and certainly zaza does not fear perkins. al is not overwhelmed by their size or ibaka either. throw a real big out there and have zaza playing back up is recipe to disaster for the hawks.
hate the decision to get rid of, james was it?, and keep ivan off the floor in the first game. just stupid.
Slimjr
November 5th, 2012
3:37 pm
Did not see that win last night coming before the tip off, but be honest neither did you..
One thing it confirms, Larry is in over his head..
There’s an old saying: “know your personnel”. It appears from his rotation atrocities that he has not really figure out his personnel.. I believe that’s been his Achilles heel all along…Poor guy….
ag
November 5th, 2012
3:39 pm
A lot of passion Ms Dee. I do agree Josh has to change his game for this team. He needs to understand if Al is on the elbow, he should be posting down low and grabbing offensive rebounds. His complaining to the ref’s is getting old and tired. I do believe when he is on the outside, that is the way our offense is designed (i.e Tolliver and Ivan were both outside).
I do disagree. Josh is our leader and the plays should go through Josh, INSIDE .. OUTSIDE.
Kirk Hinrich averaging 4.7 ppg with the Bulls
Peter
November 5th, 2012
3:40 pm
Maybe Josh Smith is a problem and not a solution ?
doc
November 5th, 2012
3:42 pm
o’b where teague ends up at the end of games speaks for LD. if LD didnt “exactly” say it like that, that he passed up an open shot, if teague starts sitting at those moments then indirectly we can assume that is exactly what LD meant, saw himself and wasnt pleased about it and i am all for it.
that said a nice durant poster by teague last night. the guy has to believe in himself more in uncomfortable situations is my thing. i wont trash him if he misses but i reserve the right to if he doesnt take that shot.
Hawks: Lesson to be learned in technical fouls |
November 8th, 2012
1:10 pm
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