Hawks ready for dangerous game against the Wizards
The Hawks are rested for what a few players said could be a dangerous game against Washington at Philips Arena tonight.
The Wizards are the NBA’s only winless team (0-9), which would make them easy enough to overlook. On top of that, the Hawks are facing games at a resurgent Charlotte (5-4), vs. the Clippers (8-2) and vs. Charlotte.
But Al Horford said the Hawks won’t overlook Washington.
“They are hungry for a win,” he said. “They are going to be ready.”
Coach Larry Drew said the Hawks will start Horford, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver and Devin Harris, the same starting five that defeated Orlando 81-72 on Monday in what was a ragged performance affected by some members of the team being struck by the flu and four games on the West Coast.
“I’m hoping we will be a lot better than we were on Monday night,” Drew said. “(I) didn’t see the sharpness or crispness with our execution.”
Drew gave the Hawks Tuesday off so that the players who have logged a lot of minutes could rest. Teague said it looked like the team got its legs back.
The Hawks will need to be sharp against the Wizards, led by guards Jordan Crawford and Bradley Beal. That duo is combining to average almost 24 points per game. Teague said the key to slowing them down is to consistently challenge them around the 3-point line. Washington is hitting 30.4 percent of its 3-point attempts and is averaging 86.9 points per game, compared to the Hawks’ 92.9 scoring average.
Though the Wizards are winless, five of those losses have come by seven points or less. They could be bolstered by the return of Nene.
“This Washington Wizards team is a team that’s very capable,” Drew said he told the team. “They’ve got some good players over there and some guys that have a lot of pride that have been in their ball games.”
– Doug Roberson, AJC (filling in for Chris Vivlamore)
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253 comments Add your comment
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
9:53 pm
Lets see what LD draw up as a final play….
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:53 pm
LOL @ Nique . . . “you don’t need a quick shot”
Nique, there is only 9 seconds left in the game. You shoot the ball if you have a good shot, regardless.
terrell
November 21st, 2012
9:53 pm
Laughable. Fire LD. Trade Josh and whoever else.
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:54 pm
Dammit Drew . . put John Jenkins in
Jenkins, Korver, Teague . . with Josh and Al.
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:55 pm
They’re going to double TEague, with Josh’s man . . we’ll see if Teague can get the ball to Josh for the game tying shot or game winner from 3.
J.J.M.
November 21st, 2012
9:55 pm
Wasted a timeout
terrell
November 21st, 2012
9:55 pm
What does this fool see in Devin Harris??
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:56 pm
Oh wow . they fouled Devin? Haha . . . gotta love bad teams.
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
9:56 pm
All star devin harris
Najeh Davenpoop
November 21st, 2012
9:57 pm
Nice job by LD using Korver as a decoy to clear out space. Clutch FTs by Ludacris. Hopefully the Hawks can get this ugly ass game to overtime and grind out a win.
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
9:57 pm
teague, horford or josh would have bricked at least one of those
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:57 pm
Guard Bradley Beal with your life.
Please don’t put Jordan in right now. He might make this.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 21st, 2012
9:57 pm
Oh yeah, all you “fire everybody, trade everybody” people can say what you want, but the plus/minus tells the story. The starters may not have been spectacular but they weren’t bad. The bench, primarily Lou, was awful.
Buddy Grizzard
November 21st, 2012
9:58 pm
Nique: “Montel Webster”
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
9:59 pm
Yeah bad team and bad coach. Thank God he didn’t put Jordan in.
Buddy Grizzard
November 21st, 2012
10:00 pm
True story Najeh… the starters have beat the Wizards soundly in this game. The Hawks gave up two leads close to double digits while Lou was on the floor.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
November 21st, 2012
10:00 pm
HAWKS ….got LUCKY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:02 pm
Horford is 1 rebound and 2 assists away from a triple double . . . but he’s shooting terrible from the field and from the FT line.
And Teague is having a nightmare shooting game.
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
10:02 pm
Teague floater is off tonight….
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:03 pm
Another assist by Al . . and most of them have went to Josh.
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
10:03 pm
AL looking for that triple double…
Buddy Grizzard
November 21st, 2012
10:04 pm
Teague lets AJ Price blow by him AGAIN then recovers to add a foul to the non-existent defense.
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
10:04 pm
4 pt swing on the josh airball
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:05 pm
LOL . . I’m screaming to Josh “DON’T SETTLE” . . . and then he settles for that jumper . . . airball
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
10:05 pm
Josh got Al his 10th assist
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
10:05 pm
unreal
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:06 pm
I mean . . . why?
Buddy Grizzard
November 21st, 2012
10:06 pm
Wide open three created by Price’s effortless penetration against Teague’s non-defense.
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:07 pm
Buddy . . you’re dead on about Teague. You would think sooner or later that he’d force him left.
Buddy Grizzard
November 21st, 2012
10:07 pm
Price blows by Teague AGAIN.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
November 21st, 2012
10:07 pm
JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! …. STOP IT
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
10:07 pm
ball game?
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:07 pm
Uh oh
J.J.M.
November 21st, 2012
10:08 pm
I don’t even care bout josh anymore. Dude hasn’t learned now he will never learn…thank god he fouled out
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
10:08 pm
Korver rushed that shot….
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
10:08 pm
no morrow?
Chea
November 21st, 2012
10:08 pm
Somebody make a shot!
Smokey
November 21st, 2012
10:08 pm
hawks are lost on D and decide josh jumpers are good offense.. smh
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:09 pm
Wow Al . . seriously?
Reggie
November 21st, 2012
10:11 pm
I want Josh outta Atlanta…period
BravesFan79
November 21st, 2012
10:11 pm
Holy sht…. Stevenson did something productive! Its a miracle.
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:12 pm
Now if Al misses THESE TWO FTs . . . just trade both he and Josh tonight.
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:12 pm
Oh wow
JaeEvolution
November 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Al is f*ckin 1-8 from the line???
Rev in Tampa
November 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Gameball goes to Korver for hustle
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
Mookie Blaylock
November 21st, 2012
9:57 pm
teague, horford or josh would have bricked at least one of those
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terrell
November 21st, 2012
10:13 pm
All Star Al. smh
Melvin
November 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
My goodness AL…. They may need to take him on this last possession before the Wizards go Hack-a-AL…
northcyde
November 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
I guess Teague has to be the closer tonight.
BravesFan79
November 21st, 2012
10:14 pm
I still don’t see whats so special that Stevenson brings on defense that warrants him getting all these minutes over Morrow. DS cant shoot to save his life, yet seems to think hes Reggie Miller. I know one thing, if we had Korver and Morrow on the floor at the same time most of the game, we would score alot more than 85 points in a game against the Wizards!