SMITH’S INJURY A STRAINED LEFT TENDON, STATUS DAY-TO-DAY

ATLANTA, GA – Atlanta forward Josh Smith, who left Tuesday’s game against
Boston with a sprained left knee, was diagnosed with a strained left tendon and
his status is day-to-day.

So you can add Smith to the list of wounded Atlanta big men, but hope that his “day-to-day” classification leads to a quick return to action. The injury appears to be related to the tendinitis that Smoove has battled all season long. Josh and fellow starter Jeff Teague were the only Hawks players to appear in all 66 regular season games, and they joined only 14 other players around the entire league that started all 66.

Meanwhile, Zaza Pachulia’s day-to-day has turned into week-to-week, as Friday will make it three weeks since he injured his foot in Orlando. Big Z has seen improvement over the last few days and has not ruled out a return on Friday for Game 3.

With two days off in between Game 2 and Game 3, the Hawks will have time to watch a lot of film and make strategic adjustments in an effort to regain home court advantage with a win in Boston. Maybe more importantly, the two days off will provide time to rest and (hopefully) recover.

Smith had turned in a solid first half. In fact, he was exactly halfway to a 20 and 10 night (10 points, five rebounds), the gold-standard for forwards in the NBA. But on this night, when the Suns were keying strongly on Joe Johnson, he knew 20 and 10 wouldn’t be enough.

For a majority of the third quarter the Hawks floundered, unable to cut the lead to less than nine points. They hurt themselves with unforced turnovers that gave the Suns seven uncontested points on the other end. Finally, with the lead at 11 with 2:35 left in the quarter, Josh decided to get the team over the mental barrier of nine points. He stepped behind the arc and nailed a 3-pointer, and then added another two minutes later to cut the lead to five. The Hawks were back in the game, and Josh had that determined look in his eye.

Two minutes into the fourth, Coach Drew was going to give Josh a chance to rest for the final push, but with the lead down to just one point Joe Johnson wanted his co-captain with him on the court.

“I was going to pull Josh out early in the 4th,” Drew said afterward.  “And right when I subbed Joe in, Joe said ‘Leave him out there, he’s young.’ I thought he was tired, I mean we played last night and he played quite a few minutes, so I just wanted to give him a quick blow. But he wanted to stay in, and I’m glad he did because he just played a phenomenal game.”

When Josh was asked if he was glad that LD left him in the game, he got a good laugh saying, “I bet he is glad he left me in.”

“He was going to take him out, but you got a guy rolling like that, man, he’s 24 or 25,” Joe said after the game. “He can handle it. He’s got some mileage he can put on that body, so ride him ’til the wheels fall off. We’ve got two days off, he can rest tomorrow.”

The result, a stat line for the record books…

From Elias:
Josh Smith had 30 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocks in the Hawks’ 101-99 win against the Suns. Since 1973, when the NBA first officially recorded steals and blocked shots, only one other player reached all five of those statistical levels in one game. That was LeBron James, who had 31 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocks for the Cavaliers in a double-overtime game against the Bobcats on January 11, 2008.

“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Josh said. “I knew they were keying in on Joe and we needed some offense somewhere else. Me and Willie definitely picked up the slack.”

The win will definitely make the break more enjoyable. Rather than a three-game slide, the Hawks have a good feeling as they enjoy their first consecutive days without a game since the season began on Dec. 27.

“I told the guys I don’t even want to see them tomorrow,” Drew said after the game.

“I don’t want to see him either,” Smith said later, with a laugh. “I want to see the bed, the pillow, the covers. All that good stuff.”

The rest is certainly well deserved.

Playing without starting center Al Horford AND without “Mr. Kryptonite” himself, Jason Collins, the Hawks could have rolled over on Friday night and accepted defeat. Not this year’s team. Led by Josh Smith, Atlanta came out aggressive and played scrappy and physical the entire night to earn the 89-87 overtime win.

Following a similar script to last season’s wins in Orlando, the Hawks sacrificed offensive production and a quicker pace to wear down the Magic and their All-NBA center, Dwight Howard. In fact, this was the first time this year that Atlanta posted a victory despite scoring less than 90 points… and they even had an extra five minutes of action to increase their point total.

In analyzing the win, you have to start with Smith.

“I just took what the defense gave me tonight,” Josh commented after the game. “I wanted to be efficient down low on the block. I wanted to be able to help down there on the rebounds with Dwight. Just wanted to be able to come out there and put my best foot forward.”

His “best foot” included 23 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. When asked to comment on J-Smoove’s performance, fellow forward Marvin Williams didn’t have much to say.

“When you get a statline like that, it speaks for itself.”

One Hawk whose stat line might not jump out at you, but had a big impact on the game was Zaza Pachulia. With Horford and Twin inactive and newly acquired Erick Dampier only available for limited minutes, Pachulia was tasked with containing Dwight Howard by himself for most of the game. Big Z is usually one to make full use of his fouls, but without the luxury of a deep frontcourt he had to pick his moments tonight. The result was a solid night on both ends of the court, helping to force Howard into committing five turnovers and finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.

It was far from a two-man show for the Hawks on Friday night, as they received contributions from many angles. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams each scored four points in overtime to help lead to victory. Jeff Teague and Tracy McGrady combined for 12 points in the second period when Atlanta’s offense stalled for a bit.

The result was a big win that should build on the momentum that was gained from Wednesday’s home win over the Pacers. It is momentum that the Hawks will need as they host the Heat on Sunday before embarking on a five-game road-trip that crosses has the team playing on each coast.

C-Webb via Twitter: (@realchriswebber)
Josh smith. Call 911.You got robbed. No mask no gloves- its fingerprints- all over the place call first 48-no call Atlanta CSI- Call the FBI

If a crime has been reported, it is always good to build a strong case, complete with a thorough list of witnesses. Fortunately for Smoove, a large number have already come forward:

Sekou Smith via NBA.com’s Hangtime Blog
…he was leading the Hawks before Al Hoford went down for the season with a torn pectoral muscle and, along with Joe Johnson, (who received his sixth All-Star nod last night) has kept them among the Eastern Conference elite since then. Even his most ardent critics have come around this season, recognizing the maturation in his game and that he’s been the Hawks’ catalyst this season.

Former Hawk Jamal Crawford via Twitter (@JCrossover)
don’t know what else Josh Smith can do to be an all star smh …

Stephen Babb via The Bleacher Report
Don’t just take Chuck’s word for it, though. Smith got robbed and it’s not the first time. Smith has generated All-Star production for at least five of his eight seasons, but has yet to get an invitation to the big game.

Current Hawk Tracy McGrady via Twitter
Real upset that my man JSmoove got snubbed for the AllStar game! Josh Smith is one of the best forwards n the East and deserves to be there!

Kenny Smith on TNT
He should have made it because if you take him off that Hawks team, they don’t win. Both of those guys should have been on that team.

Charles Barkley on TNT
Josh Smith deserved to make the All-Star team. … Josh Smith has been the best player on the Atlanta Hawks this season.

Jeff Schultz on AJC.com
Smith wasn’t named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team Thursday night. That makes eight straight years he hasn’t been honored. Most of those seasons, nobody could argue. But this season’s omission is a huge injustice.

Alex Kay via The Bleacher Report
Somehow, Josh Smith has yet to make an All-Star Game in his eight-year career. He’s made an All-Rookie team, an All-Defensive Team and even won a Slam Dunk Contest, but he can’t catch a break as an Eastern Conference forward. This may be his finest season so far, especially when you factor in the Atlanta Hawks’ major loss of starting center Al Horford.

Shawn Muller of CBS Chicago
Josh Smith, on the other hand, is averaging almost as many points per game as Johnson (15.6) and leads the team in rebounds (8.9) and blocks (2.0).  If those aren’t “All-Star numbers”, then what are?

Pete Schauer via The Bleacher Report
If there was a list for constant All-Star snubs, Josh Smith would be No.1. Again, Smith is averaging more points and rebounds than his career numbers, and again he’s been left off of the All-Star squad.

That gives you an idea…

I could keep adding to the list as it seems like each time I refresh my browser there is a new post about All-Star snubs with Smoove’s name at the top of the list.

The silver lining for Hawks fans is that Josh knows that it is the coaches that vote on these things, so (not that he needs it) he will have extra motivation each night he takes the floor.

The early results of the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting were released by the league earlier today, and Josh Smith was not among the top-10 forwards in votes received. It is the latest example of how fan voting isn’t always accurate.

Don’t give up hope yet that this may finally be the year that Josh breaks through to add “All-Star” to his impressive resume. The fan vote only determines the starters, while two or (most likely) three reserve forwards will be determined by the Eastern Conference head coaches. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony seem to be locks for the fan vote based on the early results and historic precedence, so it is really a handful of forwards competing for the collective nod from the coaches.

One day after Smith dropped 30 and 13 on the Bobcats, I felt it was a good time to make the argument for Josh to make the trip to Orlando in late February.

Smoove is the ONLY player in the Eastern Conference that ranks in the top-10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks among forwards. That’s right, not even LeBron or ‘Melo can make that claim. James is actually the only other player to rank in the top-10 in four out of the five categories.

Josh’s overall numbers are definitely enough to get the attention of many Eastern Conference coaches, but they have been even more impressive recently.

After a relatively slow start (10.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg in December), Smoove has taken his game to a whole new level. Over the last eight games he is averaging 20.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.9 spg and 1.8 bpg.

On paper, Smith looks like he should get some serious consideration to make this year’s team… but history has proven that there are factors other than what is found on the stat sheet that determine how coaches vote for all-star reserves.

It is safe to say that players that have made the All-Star team before have a decided edge over those who haven’t. This puts guys like Josh and Chicago’s Luol Deng at a disadvantage against players like Garnett, Pierce, Bosh and Stoudemire.

Coaches also tend to vote for guys that are leading the better teams in the conference. If the Hawks continue to play well and have one of the four or five best records in the East when the coaches cast their votes, then that should help Smoove’s chances.

There are plenty of games between in the condensed schedule between now and when the coaches votes are due, but if this recent stretch is any indication of the type of play we can expect from Smith all season long, then J-Smoove will be a hard name to leave off the ballot.

Josh Smith was in Barcelona this past weekend as part of the NBA’s 5 United Tour presented by BBVA. (Click Here to read the official press release from BBVA.)

Adidas is also a big sponsor of the event and their Facebook team was nice enough to put together a great photo gallery of Smoove in action.

Click Here to View the Full Gallery from “adidas Basketball” on Facebook

JOE JOHNSON –
Joe is serving as the Honorary Chairman of Arkansas Baptists Church’s HoopJams this weekend in Little Rock. Joe grew up playing in a similar event in Arkansas called Hoop Fest, and views his appearance at the competition as a good way to give back.

“It’s a chance to give back a little and show my appreciation for what the state and the city of Little Rock have done for me,” Johnson told Lindsey Millar of the ArkTimes.com.

AL HORFORD –
Horford definitely has a busy summer planned and is currently on the opposite side of the globe making appearances for the NBA in China. Al is scheduled to promote Tsingtao Beer (an NBA China partner) and possibly participate in a community event or two. Track all of his activity by following his Twitter feed: @Al_Horford.

Once Al is back stateside he is going to host two youth basketball camps in late June. One will be held in Atlanta at Emory University from June 25-26, and the other will be in Lansing, Michigan, from June 28-29.

JOSH SMITH –
Smoove is also spending some time abroad, working with the NBA’s 5 United Tour. Josh will be making at least two appearances in Spain this month and will join other NBA stars Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose in supporting the tour.

Smoove also has a camp scheduled for this summer (July 8-10) here in Atlanta.

JEFF TEAGUE –
Jeff Teague is hosting a pair of camps in the burbs around Atlanta next week. The first one is at Salem H.S. in Conyers, and the second is at Wheeler H.S. in Marietta.

DAMIEN WILKINS -
Wilkins recently visited the “Star Student” at a local elementary school. (Click Here to watch the video) He is scheduled to join Teague tonight at the Buckhead Bottle Bar (owned by teammate Zaza Pachulia) for a NBA Finals viewing party and Hawks Appreciation event (invitation only).

ZAZA PACHULIA -
Speaking of Big Z, Pachulia will be appearing at the Hawks Youth Basketball Camp early next week at Life University. Zaza is extremely excited for the end of the summer though, when he will lead his native Republic of Georgia in their first-ever appearance in the European Basketball Championships (Aug. 31 – Sept. 18, 2011).

JOSH POWELL –
Powell recently joined up with fellow Atlanta native Dwight Howard and his D12 Foundation to help families in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa whose homes were damaged by this Spring’s tornadoes.  The duo then had a light-hearted moment as they headed for home: rap video.

Keep up with all of JP’s charitable activity on Twitter @jp21reasons.

If they come out with the same fire and precision they displayed on Sunday, Chicago is going to have a miserable time trying to pull away at home in Tuesday’s Game 5.
Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo! Sports
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To look now is to see a team unlike the one we’d seen this season or any season this century. We see a team figuring things out on the fly, which is frankly incredible.
Mark Bradley, AJC.com
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The good Josh Smith kicked the bad Josh Smith out of Philips Arena just in time for the Hawks to save themselves from themselves and make this a series again, one that is becoming increasingly more difficult for the Bulls to put away and prepare for the Eastern Conference finals.
Michael Wallace, ESPN.com
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Atlanta seems to be the ultimate light switch team – they show up sometimes and completely disappear at others – but their talent should allow them to be one of the best teams in the NBA.
Daniel Marks, DimeMag.com
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‘Every city has its own way of expressing itself, expressing how they like their basketball,’ Gibson said. ‘This place [Atlanta] becomes a hostile environment, especially when they get a dunk or a nice crossover layup. It’s bananas in here. Players feed off of that, and they have a lot of high flyers on this team. Their team is a solid team when you look at it. They have a lot of high flyers, guys that can make a spectacular play off the dribble and using their ballhandling skills, and the crowd feeds off it and gives it back to them.’
Scott Schroeder, SBNation.com
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• This is the first time the Hawks have held a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series since the opening round of the 1970 NBA Playoffs. Back then there were no conferences and only eight teams made the playoffs, so the opening round was the Western DIVISION semi-finals. The major difference in that series was that the Hawks were the heavy favorites as the top-seed from the Western Division, and they held a 3-0 lead before winning the series in five games.
• On Sunday, Jamal Crawford became just the third player in the past 20 seasons to score 20 or more points off the bench in four consecutive playoff games. Kevin McHale did it in 1991 and the other player that did it is none other than Hawks’ Player Development Instructor, Nick Van Exel. “Nick the Quick” averaged 30.5 ppg over his hot stretch in the 2003 NBA Playoffs while helping the Mavs to the Western Conference Finals. Neither McHale or Van Exel was able to score 20 in the fifth game.
• Jamal’s 24.0 ppg in the playoffs is on pace to be the highest average for a reserve in the past 15 years.

Quotes:

• Al Horford:
  This is the first time we’ve been in this position, being up 3-1. You know, we are a different team. They’re coming out and they’re going to give us all they have, so we have to make sure we come out ready.
• Coach Drew:
  (On putting the series away earlier rather than later) It’s very important. I think with this team particularly, I’m always talking about this team growing. To me, them positioning themselves as they are right now, to go into Orlando and to finish this thing off… that’s a huge step in our growth process.
  (On  deciding minutes for the guards) It’s really hard. I actually have a dilemma. There did come a point in the game in the second quarter where I wanted to get Joe back in the game, but yet both Kirk and Jamal were playing really well. Actually, just showing you the kind of person that Kirk is, and the pro that he is, he came over to me and he said ‘we gotta get Joe back in there.’ We left Kirk in there another minute and then we got Joe back in. It’s a nice problem to have. I like having that problem.
• Josh Smith:
  It’ important to get the win. No matter if it’s 7 games… 5 or 6 games. We want to get it done tomorrow, but if not we will have another shot at it at home… we really want to get it done tomorrow.

After a Game 1 where Orlando’s supporting cast was extremely limited, Smoove is expecting his defensive assignment, Hedo Turkoglu, to be more aggressive in Game 2.

“I see him being more aggressive,” Smith said prior to this morning’s shootaround. “He understands that when somebody’s hot, like how Dwight was, it’s kind of hard to really assert yourself. I really think he’s going to try and get his stuff early, and I gotta be ready for it.”

Joe’s Floater, Version 2.0
Joe Johnson scored a team-high 25 points in Game 1, converting a majority of his shots inside of 15-feet with an extended floater. Joe has used the floater for years, but against Howard (recently named 2011 Defensive Player of the Year) he has to pull the trigger a little quicker. Last year Joe had trouble hitting that shot against the Magic, but this year he has been on the mark. Here is what he had to say about his floater:
I had it as a youngster coming up, and when I hit a growth spurt it kinda stayed with me. I know I’m not getting in the lane, I ain’t about to jump over nobody or nothing like that. You know I had to counteract that with something else. You know the floater has basically been my shot when I get in the lane.