Zaza and Richardson to miss Game 4: Advantage, Hawks

"My head's harder than yours!" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

"'My head's harder than yours! Want me to prove it again?'" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

Losing Zaza Pachulia hurts the Hawks. Losing Jason Richardson hurts the Magic more. It’s pretty simple why.

Zaza is a sub splitting minutes at center, where the Hawks have other choices: Jason Collins is the starter in this lineup, and Al Horford has had some success at the position, having twice made the All-Star team. Richardson is a starter and was, at least during the regular season, the second-leading scorer on a team starving for options beyond Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson

Howard has averaged 33.3 points in this series, up nearly 10 over his regular-season yield. Of Orlando’s 92 baskets, he has 33. Nelson has 19. That means 56.5 percent of the Magic’s offense is coming from two players. That’s why the Hawks lead 2-1. The rest of the Magic men have been, in a word, lousy.

The trades the Magic made in December were bold in the sense general manager Otis Smith acknowledged his team as constituted couldn’t win an NBA title, but being bold isn’t always being smart. The Magic were clearly better with Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat than with Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas. Better offensively, better defensively, better every which way.

Turkoglu has been the biggest dud. He was great as a point forward in Orlando’s run to the 2009 NBA finals, but after a stint in Toronto he’s half the player he was then. He has made 25 percent of his shots in this series, and his 3-point try over Al Horford with 30 seconds remaining Friday was, as coach Stan Van Gundy conceded more than once, a “horrible shot.”

Without Richardson, Turkoglu will need to shoot more. And somebody — J.J. Redick or Gilbert Arenas — will need to start. If it’s Redick, he’ll have to guard Joe Johnson, which is a howling mismatch. If it’s Arenas … well, Van Gundy rates him so highly he was deployed for six minutes in Game 2 and not at all in Game 3.

Howard worked 45 minutes and three seconds of Game 3. He sat only at the start of the second quarter, over which time the Magic were outscored 8-3. (The Hawks would win 88-84. Pretty big three minutes, those were.) Said Van Gundy: “He can’t even get a drink of water.”

Van Gundy also said: “We know who our guys [meaning scorers] are — Dwight, Jameer, Turk, J-Rich.” Only two of those have held up their end against the Hawks, and now one of the other two has been suspended for Game 4. Advantage, Hawks.

By Mark Bradley

86 comments Add your comment

J.J.M.

April 23rd, 2011
5:32 pm

2012 FEAR THE END

April 23rd, 2011
5:33 pm

Mark Bradley

April 23rd, 2011
5:34 pm

Kudos to 2012.

2012 FEAR THE END

April 23rd, 2011
5:35 pm

J.J.M.

April 23rd, 2011
5:35 pm

I think its advantage magic only because j rich really havent been playing well the whole series so what are they really losing? for the hawks we are losing a body that can bang with howard and besides zaza is NOT scared of howard which gets under howard skin.

Mark Bradley

April 23rd, 2011
5:39 pm

Whoops. We had a “first” stuck in the filter. I fear I’ve kudo’ed the wrong firster. J.J.M. takes the checkers.

2012 FEAR THE END

April 23rd, 2011
5:40 pm

Hot sauce

April 23rd, 2011
5:42 pm

Hawks must win game 4 to win series

J.J.M.

April 23rd, 2011
5:44 pm

lol@no thanks

Sean in a car

April 23rd, 2011
5:51 pm

Bradley, my kid just spit green Jello all over me

dave

April 23rd, 2011
5:58 pm

Chpatt

April 23rd, 2011
6:19 pm

Completely agree Mark. For a few reasons. We have shown that we can win with Dwight scoring 46 points, so now that they have lost ANOTHER option (15 ppg from JRich in the regular season) it is definitely advantage Hawks. Also, as you said. the matchup of Joe Johnson and JJ Redick/Quentin Richardson definitely favors the Hawks. However, i would not be surprised if Stan starts Q. Rich over Redick b/c Quentin was 3/3 from the 3 pt line in game 3; however, i don’t think he will be the same starting and playing all those extra minutes that he hasn’t played all season.

todd grantham

April 23rd, 2011
6:26 pm

Mark, you think Zaza will watch the game from Tblisi, Georgia?

Patrick

April 23rd, 2011
6:27 pm

I assume this means Etan Thomas will be activated for Game 4?

merbertmoover

April 23rd, 2011
6:28 pm

hmmm….merbert aint too sure….i love me some zaza for real! he gets all up in everyones faces and acts all scary and stuff….i wanna see zaza kick dwights a$$ in a cage match, you know what im sayin? i pay all kinds of money for that! mmmmhmmmm…..go hawks!!!!!!!!!! cmon baby!!!!!!! make the ATL proud!!!!!!!

BigDawg

April 23rd, 2011
6:30 pm

Love to see the Hawks playing with fire in their belly. I far cry from the regular season and last year’s series!

Jesse

April 23rd, 2011
6:35 pm

Time for ETAN THOMAS to earn his paycheck. He’s been on the bench all year… .he’ll need to come in a use his 6 fouls quickly.

dawg4u

April 23rd, 2011
6:40 pm

Mark, you are right that the Hawks are the better team and the suspensions favor the Hawks. My gut feeling is that the Hawks will win if they do it by at least game six. If it goes to a seventh game then I would favor Orlando.

country boy

April 23rd, 2011
6:52 pm

Hawks need to win game 4 badly. Howard and his refs will be hard to handle in Orlando.

Fair weather fan

April 23rd, 2011
6:52 pm

How bout dem Braves?
Off topic?
Ok
How bout dem Hawks?

Fair weather fan

April 23rd, 2011
6:53 pm

Braves win 5-2

Fair weather fan

April 23rd, 2011
6:56 pm

BTW, Jamaal called glass right after he put it up, right?

Jamaal

April 23rd, 2011
6:59 pm

Damn right. Mark heard me.

Mike

April 23rd, 2011
7:01 pm

ZAZA IS A STIFF!!!!!

Jamaal

April 23rd, 2011
7:03 pm

In that case, Mark’s definitely right.

BigMan

April 23rd, 2011
7:04 pm

I want to see what Etan Thomas is really made of. He showed it towards the end of year-can’t remember which game it was. But, he had like 10 points, 7 Rebounds, and like 4 blocked shots. Etan Thomas is capable of doing it.

J.J.M.

April 23rd, 2011
7:08 pm

etan had a death in the family

Hell hath froozen over ...

April 23rd, 2011
7:09 pm

Let’s put a bruiser in & have him throw some elbows a-la-Howard. Zaza got in Howard’s head … going to miss that in game 4.

TruthSeeker

April 23rd, 2011
7:11 pm

Agree with Bradley. Zaza has done a great job, but he’s basically an interchangeable part. Collins can do the same things we asked Zaza to do. So can Etan Thomas in a pinch.

BCC0224

April 23rd, 2011
7:14 pm

Zaza has played great in this series. He’s as tough as nails, and I’m glad he was standing up to Dwight Howard and the Magic because I know I would be mad if someone elbowed my jaw. Not saying he shouldn’t be suspended, but if the refs pay more attention to Howard’s flaying elbows, then Zaza’s one game suspension is well worth it. And just like the Boston series a few seasons ago, the ATL crowd is solidly in his corner.

Najeh Davenpoop

April 23rd, 2011
7:30 pm

Disagree. In this series, J-Rich has just been another inconsistent perimeter shooter who can’t guard Joe one on one. Redick can knock down 3’s and get burned by Joe just as well as J-Rich can. Zaza on the other hand is one of two effective Dwight defenders the Hawks have. With him out, a gimpy Collins becomes the only Hawk who can limit Dwight or force him into turnovers and/or offensive fouls. Advantage Magic.

Skeezix

April 23rd, 2011
7:31 pm

IF TURKOGLU DOESN’T PICK IT UP, THE HAWKS MAY WIN THIS THING.

Bull

April 23rd, 2011
7:36 pm

Zaza shoud not have been suspended. Dwight Howard whaled his fist backhanded against Zaza’s jaw and Zaza walked away only to have that other dude come over to get in his face.

Bull

April 23rd, 2011
7:37 pm

Advantage Magic.

Nate D

April 23rd, 2011
7:40 pm

Good stuff brad! We might actually make it to the finals! If we dont then we all know we need a center and move marvin to backup sf with pape sy all will need is a backup PF.

confusahawk

April 23rd, 2011
7:40 pm

This has always been the worst officiated sport. Whoever is overseeing the ref’s is a gutless SOS. At some point Josh needs to stay down low and get nasty tough. Go Hawks….

LakeDawg

April 23rd, 2011
7:59 pm

This might be a wash. Richardson was starting to warm up and I’ve been afraid he would go off. However, Zaza has been very effective against the “mauler” D. Howard.

LakeDawg

April 23rd, 2011
8:01 pm

J. Smoove could earn his keep now. Stay down low and take it straight at Howard. He might foul out, but who cares. He might get a few fouls on the “mauler.”

Gwinnett Fred

April 23rd, 2011
8:03 pm

Another reason I think the Hawks come out better is mentally.

Orlando will be grousing about how they got screwed, they lost a starter, etc. etc. and the team has no emotional tie to Richardson.

However, Zaza is a popular player for the Hawks and they can (and hopefully WILL) use his absence to get even more fired up “Win one for the Z” kind of a deal.

At least I hope so – cause as big as the Game 3 win was – I honestly feel the winner of Game 4 winds up taking the series.

LakeDawg

April 23rd, 2011
8:16 pm

Gwinnett Fred…I think you’re right. Game 4 winner takes it.

Eric

April 23rd, 2011
8:30 pm

This scares me, now Orlando will go with JJ who is starting to heat up.This also means that Agent 0 will get some minutes and what if he starts to hit. Hawks must put the stake in the heart Sunday.

Techster

April 23rd, 2011
8:33 pm

Disagree. Zaza, along with Horford, are basically the heart and soul of this team. No he doesn’t score the most points or grab the most boards, but he doesn’t disappear in big games, he doesn’t quit, he doesn’t get intimidated, and he always plays hard. How many of the other Hawks can say that? I fear a letdown by the Hawks and can see Howard having a huge night.

Mike Jay

April 23rd, 2011
8:40 pm

I’m in the it’s a wash camp. nobody can guard Howard but Zsa Zsa gets under his skin and makes him do stupid things. Richardson has had little to no impact this series. Negative more then anything. I guess he might the best available to guard JJ but he is capable of disappearing all on his own. Iknow I’ll personally miss Zsa Zsa a great deal. he plays 110$ and wit ha ton of heart. out of control sometimes but maximum effort every minute. Wish the rest of the team played more liek him.

Mike Jay

April 23rd, 2011
8:42 pm

Opps. Sorry abotu the sloppy typing. Easter Bunny came early and he left me soem 90 proof treats!

James on Pharr Rd

April 23rd, 2011
8:46 pm

Zaza’s value in the playoffs doesn’t come up on the stats sheet or scouting report. He shoots free throws very well for a Big, His ability to get the crowd involved is a big plus for us, and then his fouls are pretty annoying to the opponent and sometimes force Dwight and Bass to jack up quick shots. That being said Richardson was due for a big game, he’ll have to wait it out till game 5. Advantage Magic though….

James on Pharr Rd

April 23rd, 2011
8:55 pm

My biggest surprise of this series has been with The Turk. I had picked the Magic to do what the Hawks are doing all the way up to the conference finals. But, for someone that made his name as a difficult cover in the playoffs, he has proven to be quite a bust since that big Toronto contract that Ottis wisely refused to give him. (Ironic he would re-sign him)

Something important to note as well, is the Magic’s play has been much like the Hawks inconsistency in the last 2 years (remember the Finals Conf loss to BOS last year) Take away their coaching advantage in SVG, they are the Atlanta Hawks with decent talent: which makes me wonder if a coach is all we need here to make that big step.

Shiraz

April 23rd, 2011
9:27 pm

its an Atlanta website, not surprised for redneck hawks bias
–from Raleigh, NC

Magic FTW

April 23rd, 2011
10:06 pm

I’m seeing some Q.Rich down at 2 and Earl Clark at 3. Good ole’ E.Clark is scared of no one and I watched him stuff Durant, LBJ, guard Kobe, etc. We need more Clark and maybe this will finally force Stan to make some good personnel calls.

Mr. Dumb Redneck

April 23rd, 2011
10:10 pm

You’re writing from Raleigh, NC and you’re calling someone else a redneck? That’s pretty hypocritical.

Redneck Hawk

April 23rd, 2011
10:26 pm

Haha Shiraz, sorry for your bitter jealousy. You know, with the local state team not making the playoffs and what-not. What’s with all these outsiders invading our board anyway?

Joe

April 23rd, 2011
10:48 pm

Wrong! We need Zaza against Howard. Richardson’s been a bum in this series, so there’s no difference in losing him.

jgsbrids

April 23rd, 2011
11:08 pm

i think it hurts the hawks a lot more. zaza is a hustler–goes hard for offensive rebounds and nags the heck out of howard and others as well…the hawks will have to scramble to offset the loss of pachulia…someone (smoove?) has got to go to the offensive glass. we can’t afford to shoot jump shots all over the place with nobody underneath.

Dirk Norwinski

April 24th, 2011
2:58 am

I don’t know, I think J-Rich hurts the Magic more than Zaza hurts us…J-Rich’s ball pressure on JJ has been a big difference in our offense after game one…

STRETCH

April 24th, 2011
7:15 am

How about “Dirty Dwight” he clearly took a shot at Zaza’s grill but only got a tech. The NBA is a joke!

The Game Has Changed

April 24th, 2011
7:41 am

No matter how you look at it. Orlando needs this game more we do. If they lose they go down 1-3 and have to win 3 straight. We lose the series is tied 2-2. Not the end of the world. According to all the Hawk Haters we were suppose to be swept. So I guess we playing with house money

Priest Lauderdale

April 24th, 2011
8:45 am

I disagree Mark……Zaza was clearly under Elbow-Slingers skin. That’s why he was slinging elbows. This is Pimp Stern’s way of evening the scales so the more “market-able” team stays in the series. Then they’ll go back to Orlando and the Magic will shoot 80 free-throws to our 10 and the series will effectively be over becaus the Hawks ill give up.

WCJ

April 24th, 2011
9:22 am

The magic have bite off more than they can chew. They(the magic)believed this would be easy, like last year, the magic were wrong. Zaza is taking it to Dwight, and Dwight does not like it. You know the Hawks have the attention of the Magic when Magic players are complainting the
Hawks are playing dirty. What a different a year makes.

HG

April 24th, 2011
9:23 am

You write this and watch the person who takes his place have a crazy good game.

Ted Mp

April 24th, 2011
9:27 am

um…Mark your logic escapes me. The Magic are losing a player who is playing poorly while the Hawks are losing a player who is playing well. Ah, that’s advantage Magic.

Ted M

April 24th, 2011
9:29 am

how’d that “p” get in there.

Collins is a starter in name only as he only plays 15-18 minutes.

Ted M

April 24th, 2011
9:36 am

How come Zaza doesn’t play this good all year long?

sam'l

April 24th, 2011
9:47 am

“Wrong! We need Zaza against Howard. Richardson’s been a bum in this series, so there’s no difference in losing him.”

I agree. Mark’s off on this one…..Collins isn’t supposed to play too long against Dwight and tends to pile up on fouls. Advantage….big advantage…to Orlando in a critical game……Yes,Pachulia has fight, but also very very stupid to get suspended……

Another piece of work….Josh Smith….still cranking up 20-footers and at one time throwing the ball to NO ONE near the end of the game……I was thinking, put this guy on the train to somewhere else. Now, I know what Smith is thinking…..It’s something like, they can’t pull me from the next game cause Pachulia is gone. Therefore, I can take as many threes as I want…..

Throughtout the game, I felt there was intense mental pressure going against the Hawks, so I waa really surprised to see them win. But as everyone says at least on the air……the Hawks are a talented bunch…..like top teams……but something has been holding them back………

Let the world be the judge if the Hawks face Chicago….I would like to see that. …

WCJ

April 24th, 2011
9:55 am

Zaza has gotten into Dwight’s head. Dwight can’t believe that Zaza is this physical. Zaza wil be missed tonight, however the magic will have more problems than the hawks tonight. Jason Richardson was a “threat” to score, and someone had to guard him. Without him , the hawks can force the magic to give Dwight Howard 30 or 40 touches tonight. Dwight don’t have enought scorers around him to make a different. The Hawks will win tonight and Dwight may have 50, he is weapon the magic really have.

sam'l

April 24th, 2011
10:06 am

yeah, yeah…series ain’t over…..tough fight against a lackluster team with no soul…….Orlando really has a bad personality…starting with VanGundy…….Spoelstra can conjure up evil spirits with his energy but Van Gundy should be exorcised daily……Howard is a despicable liar and thug. Howard goes on the air and pretends he didn’t smash Pachulia in the face. kept mumbling about the technical was wrong….Howard smiles on the court as if he is in fantasyland and can’t understand in his wildest dreams why he got a technical…….dude is a liar….we all saw it you jerk. Pull ALL his endorsements….no one likes Dwight Howard, except the same idiots who thought Shaquille ONeal was great for the game because of his POWER and SIZE…. Is it too late to secede from the rest of the fans?

There is clearly something wrong with Redick as a human being, Gilbert Arenas speaks for himself and in general, this is just an ugly team with no soul and the “fans” will be ready to rip them apart if they lose to a team like the Hawks.

So, while the Hawk are in the hole without stupid Pachulia and while they still go catatonic for long stretches in the game…..what if they do beat Orlando?

Can they use Teague against Rose? in a special cameo like Collins against Howard?

Don’t bet on it….Teague looks very out of place against Orlando……and cost us a few points there that we needed..

JASon

April 24th, 2011
10:22 am

Congratulations to the national sports media magnates for maintaining a level of integrity in reporting the hawks spectacular win friday…lord knows if it was any other city’s team, they would have been wetting themselves. Certain websites that begin with a y ought to be ashamed of themselves. So sick of the homogeneity! Mark, this has nothing to do with you, I just needed to vent.

Grant

April 24th, 2011
10:38 am

Imagine if we didn’t have marvin and josh and had dwight.

Br

April 24th, 2011
10:39 am

Gotta win tonight or they lose the series.

Judge R

April 24th, 2011
10:51 am

Losing ZaZa is a huge advantage for the Magic. Collins is a joke and Horford will rack up fouls trying to stop Dwight’s 33 points a game. What a special moment it was when the Hawks boooed their team off the floor in Game 4 last year, the sweep that is!

Dwayne C

April 24th, 2011
11:02 am

The Atlanta Hawks will find a way to lose this series. They’ve regressed from last year, winning nine fewer games and in a season where they suffered a handful of startlingly atrocious defeats on their home court. The Hawks have some good players: Al Horford, Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Kirk Hinrich might be a keeper as well. When the Hawks are defeated by the Orlando Magic in this series, and they will be, an overhaul of this team may be in order. Head coach Larry Drew, he of a milquetoast demeanor and personality, should be served his walking papers. If Drew is retained and no major changes are made to the Atlanta hawks then I’d expect this team to play .500 next season and barely make the playoffs as a #7 or #8 seed and be a non playoff team entirely in two years.

yodaddy

April 24th, 2011
11:24 am

Yeah I’m in the boat that Zaza is more valuable to us than JRich is to the Magic.

The one thing we have lacked is size and Zaza is a 7 Footer that we couldn’t afford to lose for an entire game.

The Magic have plenty of SF’s and SG’s to mix and match. All we have is Jason Collins, Etan Thomas (formidable I’d say)…Hilton Armstrong who is a joke….and that other guy they signed from the D-League like two weeks ago.

Expect the Hawks to play a lot of small ball with Horford at center and Marvin at the 3 but they shouldn’t. When Collins gets in foul trouble (hopefully not in the 1st quarter) Etan Thomas should come in. After Etan then it should be Armstrong. Horford at Center only in DIRE situations when there is no other option.

I Don’t know if the Hawks are disciplined enough for this but they must NOT foul Dwight in the first quarter…for any reason because we cannot afford to have Josh Powell and Hilton Armstrong in the game for more than 2 minutes.

Van Gundy is the flop

April 24th, 2011
12:01 pm

Stan Van Gundy says he is frustrated by the Hawks ” flopping ”
in an attempt to draw fouls.

Van Gundy’s real frustration is the Hawks are outplaying his poorly coached team.

Shiraz

April 24th, 2011
12:30 pm

men u cant compare georgia to north carolina georgia is way more redneck than nc…..

That Dude Devin

April 24th, 2011
12:49 pm

Etan Thomas will play a great game for his grandma today. He has arms about as big as Dwight. Dwight is tired and Etan will be fresh, so watch out D12. And Joe Johnson needs to earn that max contract and exploit his match up tonight. Go Hawk!

The Game Has Changed

April 24th, 2011
12:55 pm

@Dwayne C- Well my man you can continue to look for us to fall on our face but it wont happen. Drew has them playing well. I didnt expect the Hawks to win as many games as they did last year but I did expect them to get the 4 or 5 seed. Now you are saying we wont be as good next year as we were this year. Only time will tell. But everybody thought the Bucks, Rockets, Bobcats, and the Nets would be better than the Hawks. Sorry if that didnt turn out according to predictions. I respect your opinion but the fact at hand is Van Gundy is getting out coached and the Magic are getting out played. Go Hawks

bigeasy830

April 24th, 2011
1:51 pm

Hawks, ” just win baby, win”, I don’t care how you do it just win. The Hawks match up very well with the top 4 teams in the east. The Hawks have trouble against big teams. Besides Howard the Magic don’t have much else in the post. So if we win this series, I see us also doing well against the Bulls, Al plays very well against his old Florida teammate and J Smoove matches up well against Boozer. So again, “Just win baby win”.

bigstack19

April 24th, 2011
2:21 pm

I have come to the conclusion that Dwight Howard could murder a Hawks player (look out Jason Collins) and the NBA would let him get away with it. He should have received a suspension for whipping around with his elbow but the NBA couldn’t suspend Howard because he is a star and the rules don’t apply to stars especially in the playoffs. Besides, does anyone really think the NBA wants Atlanta to win this series?

auburn fan

April 24th, 2011
2:27 pm

Are the Hawks announcers just homers or are we getting terrible calls against D. Howard?

I see him just abusing the Hawks on both ends of the floor and not getting too many calls. I know he is a star but this stuff just is too obvious. They finally called a T on him for trying to take Z’s head off.

auburn fan

April 24th, 2011
2:29 pm

Has anyone told Josh Smith that he can drive and dunk? What makes him want to shoot jumpers? He could foul out D. Howard all by himself.

Ball Hog

April 24th, 2011
3:19 pm

Is anyone looking forward to playing teams like the Celtics,Heat,or Bulls if Hawks get by Magic ?

Ball Hog

April 24th, 2011
3:31 pm

Fact is the Bulls,Celtics,& Heat each have 3 stars to rely on to win games. The Hawks still have one (JJ) just like the Magic (Howard) have. I foresee a sweep in te later rounds if they eek by the Magic.

JOSH SMITH FOR 3!!!

April 24th, 2011
4:05 pm

Hawks win in 5, and Howard goes to the Lakers early.

Then Orlando goes the way of Cleveland. Sad, really.

Marie

April 24th, 2011
4:23 pm

Mark I know the Hawks are the hometown team and yeah it’s a good idea to cheer for them and all. But I can’t. I think they will stretch this series to a game 7 and will possibly win the whole thing. But I don’t want them to. Why? Because I enjoy good, competitive basketball more than seeing the hometown team go to round 2. For the past 2 years the Hawks have gotten to round 2 and have done nothing but been a complete embarrassment. As a matter of fact throughout the entire history of the Atlanta Hawks they have NEVER been able to go past round 2. And there best showing in round 2 was the game 7 in Boston in which Nique and Bird had their epic battle (one of the best playoff games in the history of the NBA); other than that the Hawks have been nothing but a big disappointment.

So the Hawks facing the Chicago Bulls would be nothing but child’s play for Rose, Noah, Boozer and Company; and would be swept in 4 as they have the past 2 years. I honestly believe the Magic would put up a better fight and actually go out there to compete.

Ben

April 24th, 2011
5:16 pm

I thought this team quit on their head coach 2 months ago?

Jack

April 24th, 2011
6:26 pm

Yet another example of Bradley not knowin g what he is talking about. However I would love to eat my words with a Hawks win

Hoops

April 24th, 2011
7:04 pm

I can see the Hawks really going after it tonight. Collins and Thomas will be on fire with the challenge that Zaza left them with. Hawks in 6.

[...] 9. Zaza and Richardson to miss Game 4: Advantage, Hawks, mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution [...]