Going into the road trip a 2-2 record would have been viewed as satisfactory. After Sunday’s loss the doubters began to climb out of the woodwork, but the beauty of an 82-game season is that chances of redemption come quick. At least that is beautiful if you are a good, mature, contender. Young teams let Sunday’s fourth quarter collapse linger into the game on Monday. The Hawks jumped on the Jazz from the start, taking a 14-4 lead and letting Utah know they were not going down without a fight.

“No question, you know, after last night, I think we could have folded it in,” said Al Horford. “It’s a really tough place to play in, tough environment, and to be able to come out here and really put a game together like this, it speaks a lot about our team.” 

Monday’s win gives Atlanta 17 wins over Western Conference opponents, second among teams in the East (Cleveland has 19). After home games against Minnesota and Dallas this week the Hawks only have three games remaining against the West, including a rematch against the Warriors at the Highlight Factory on March 5. In comparison the Magic still have to play 11 games against Western Conference opponents and the Celtics have eight.

A good win always trumps a bad loss. Many will want to focus on Sunday as a missed opportunity, but over the course of 82 games teams will lay an occasional egg. This was a case of one bad quarter rather than one bad game. The team’s response to adversity is much more encouraging than the loss was devastating. Plus, playing well in a “playoff atmosphere”, as Woody described Utah on Monday, is what counts come mid-April.

Jamal Crawford is expected to return tonght after missing the final game before the All-Star break with a sore left-shoulder. At full strength and facing a team that is adjusting to a trade, Atlanta should be focused on starting this four-game west coast swing with a win. Tough match-ups with Phoenix (who will be looking to atone for letting one slip away at the Highlight Factory) and Utah (recently won nine straight) are on the horizon, so taking care of business against L.A. and Golden State take a higher priority.

The Hawks take on another dangerous foe tonight at the Highlight Factory.  A few weeks ago there was a countdown to Vinny Del Negro’s last supper with the Bulls, now he has one of the most improved teams of this season. Jamal Crawford gets to see one of his old teams again. He won’t say it but I think he did not like being traded from Chicago and always intends to prove that against them.

The Hawks seem to love working on Friday as of late. This will be the fifth consecutive Friday night that the Hawks will be at home-they have won their last four at home on the start of the weekend.

Go Joe

Joe Johnson has gone north of 30 points in back to back games now.  It won’t be a bad thing if he heats up right before the All-Star festivities.

Rebound-and-Block-a-Palooza

Al Horford, Josh Smith, Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng…there should be a lot of bodies flying and a lot of shots swatted tonight.

Three the Easy Way

There are plenty of snipers in this one and the good guys have the edge. Bibby, Joe, and Jamal, all have the green light to shoot the money ball. Add John Salmons for the bad guys, and the forecast could call for a steady dose of three’s.

etc.

-Make sure you catch Marvin Williams next week on Sports South on Tuesday at 11pm

-Comeback here on Monday for the one on one interview I have with Mario West.

@ Oklahoma City - Won 2-of-3 in current homestand, including win over Denver.
The Thunder is in playoff position in the West and beat the Hawks in Atlanta on Jan. 18th

vs. L.A. Clippers - Have lost 4 straight, all on the road.
Playing without their top pick Blake Griffin the Clippers have struggled all season.

vs. Chicago - Have won 5 straight, all on the road.
The Bulls have found their rhythm on the road and enter today on a five game winning streak.

@ Washington - Have lost 5 of their last 6 home games.
The Wizards haven’t fallen as much as predicted after the suspension of Arenas.

@ Memphis - Have won 7 of their last 8 home games.
The Grizzlies have recently beat the Lakers, Magic and Suns at home.

vs. Miami - Have lost 4 of their last 5 games.
Possible first round playoff opponent. Hawks need to make a statement after getting handled in their last meeting in Miami.

Oklahoma City and Memphis are both teams that could have been viewed as easy match-ups as the season began, but both are included in the “Most Improved” category and will require a solid effort on the road if the Hawks want to leave with a victory. Many believed Chicago’s current stretch of 9 out of 10 games on the road would be the end of head coach Vinny Del Negro’s tenure, but the Bulls have rallied to beat quality teams (Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio) and have to at least be viewed as a dangerous team when they visit this Friday.

So three home games, three road games, three teams playing well, and three teams stumbling a bit. All of the games are winnable. This is a great opportunity for Atlanta to make another statement this season.

The Hawks have broken through another barrier on first stop of their Texas two-step. Winning in a building for the first time in a decade is just another obstacle knocked down by this impressive Hawks squad.  The last time the Hawks won in Houston, the Rockets were playing in the Summit and Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley were on the court and not in the Hall of Fame. Coupled with the season sweep, the Hawks have yet again shown they have not only turned the corner, but are running around it by winning on the road in another tough environment. 

Good ball movement and crashing the boards, good games from Joe, Josh, and Jamal, along with a fantastic effort from the bench held of Houston late. Adversity revealed itself in the form of foul trouble for Al Horford and guard production from the Rockets, but in the end the better team played smart down the stretch.

SENDING A MESSAGE

The Hawks play three of their next five games on the road with no bums along the way.  San Antonito, Orlando, and Oklahoma City are all trying to move up in the standings. Improving on the road record certainly is a goal.  However, there are a couple of statement games along the way.  

With the Magic now looking up at the Hawks in the standings, this would be a good time to knock them down another peg and add more distance between the teams. It would also be good to win number one against Orlando this season at such an important time.  And what would it mean if the Hawks sweep the season series from the Celtics with a win on Friday night?

EYEBROW GATE

Was it a bet, a barber gone wild, a fashion statement, or midlife crisis?  Coach Mike Woodson left Atlanta with a winning streak and two full eyebrows.  He still has a shot at returning with a winning streak.  An answer may or may not come soon. Not one source of mine seems to know anything about the situation, and Coach Woodson was coy when asked about it after the game.  What do you think?

First place halfway through, three potential all stars, a great home record and still half a season to go. What did you expect from the Hawks? Did you expect them to be in first place, be one of the highest scoring teams in the league or having one of the best home records?  Did you expect them to beat the Celtics three consecutive times and get two wins in Boston? Did you expect the national media to pick up additional Hawks games throughout the year?

The players, coaching staff and ownership are not shocked one bit. The team has worked hard, learned to play well together, and is progressing nicely in the 2009-2010 campaign.

The Hawks started off hot and with the exception of a four game slide, have been a consistent team in the win column. It seems the team has learned not to let bad habits linger for long, and has figured out how to not one bad game snowball into a bad week or month. While there are times where the starts are slow and shot selection could be better, the good far exceeds the bad and this team has earned the top spot in the division. Can they hold it?  Here are some quotes on the first 41.

COACH MIKE WOODSON

“I like the direction that we are going, losses are tougher to swallow because expectations are high.”

JOSH SMITH

“Feels good, we just have to stay focused and not look at the standings and come out and play.”

MO EVANS

“We feel like we are right where we want to be and we still gave away few games that we felt like we should have had.  If we learn and put this chemistry together we can go really far.”

MARVIN WILLIAMS

“We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start, our goal was to get 50-plus wins and get home court advantage throughout the playoffs. We can’t have too many let downs.” 

ZAZA

“We had a good first half and we are looking forward to a better second half.”

JOE JOHNSON

“Our effort has to pickup in the first quarter, we can’t have mishaps in games we are supposed to win so we need to come out and handle business.”

OWNER BRUCE LEVENSON

“We couldn’t have asked for anymore than what we got this first half … I like this team I like this locker room.”

OWNER ED PESKOWITZ

“The team has just come together and is much better.  Jamal has made a great difference you can see a lot of chemistry, it’s really exciting. This team is really really competitive.”

THE GOOD TIMES OF THE FIRST HALF

The Hawks have had some memorable moments in the first 41 games this year here are a few:

Beating the Celtics three straight times, Jamal Crawford’s buzzer beater against the Suns, Smooth’s buzzer beater against the Rockets, the red jerseys, winning in Dallas, the largest crowd in Philips Arena History against the Cavs , the return of Mario West (Feel free to fill in the blanks).

THE BAD

Some things did not go the Hawks’ way in the first 41, but the sting of the not so good should be used to motivate the guys to not let them happen again.  I’m sure we all remember these:

The entire game against the Magic in Orlando in Orlando, The first half in Miami, the fourth quarter against Cleveland (10 points), two home losses against the Knicks, and who could forget Nate Robinson in overtime!

WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN SECOND HALF

Trade deadline- Is the team fine as currently constructed or will Gm Rick Sund pull the trigger on a move to make the team more devastating?  What do you think?

Mesmerizing  the Magic-The Hawks are in first place against the Magic, but Orlando owns the tie breaker. Figuring out how to beat this team will be huge for the standings and for a mental standpoint.

Beating Beatable and Bad Teams-With the Cavs, Celtics, Magic and Hawks close together not giving games away will be crucial in the second half.  If a team has a losing record they should be beaten. You can’t win them all, but imagine if the loses to the Knicks, Pistons, the Hornets without Chris Paul, had gone in favor of the Hawks.

“BOB-HAWKS”

Five former Hawks will be in the house on Friday as Acie Law, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw ,Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray all return to the highlight factory as the enemy.  Charlotte is a very dangerous team and this will be a highly competitive game.  Great plays, three pointers, and blocked shots will be coming from both teams. Flip Murray was replaced by Jamal Crawford so that will be a production battle to watch. Flip was a fan favorite…but Jamal is better.

Wait right there.

This is not the Charlotte Bobcats of 2009 (or ’08, ’07, ’06, ’05 or ’04). They have won 10-of-11, including road wins at Cleveland and Miami, and at home against Houston, San Antonio and Phoenix. They own the second best home record in the East (18-4). And, oh yeah, they beat Miami by 39 points last night, moving them into the fifth spot in the East.

The Hawks will break down game film of the Bobcats and they will be reminded of the 103-83 loss they took on the chin back in early November. That should be enough to avoid looking past former Hawks Stephen Jackson and Flip Murray. The Bobcats aren’t in the ‘Big 3′ and they aren’t the Lakers. They aren’t going to win 60 games this year, but that doesn’t mean that for a one or two week stretch they can’t play like an elite team. Streaks are powerful in sports… but they always come to an end eventually.

A week ago the Hawks were mired in a three game losing streak.  A week later they have beaten the Celtics for the third time this season, took two out of three from best teams in the eastern conference, and are a game and a half out of first place in the division.  There were cries that the start was a fluke, the guys weren’t playing hard, the team needed to make a move…rubbish.  The Lakers have lost three out four, the Magic lost four straight this year and there was not a peep about whether or not they were the real deal.

Losing happens in the NBA, and teams find in rough spots , it’s about not letting a bad week turn into two.  The fact is a bad start in Orlando turned into an embarrassment, bad shooting in Miami led to a blow out and the Hawks should’ve beaten the Knicks at home.  They followed up  the negative with a good performance by erasing a 14 point deficit on the road in Boston on their way to victory.  A great way to put out a fire.

Even with the losing streak last week , The Highlight Factory is still a tough place for opponents as the Hawks have only four losses, and Atlanta is still a top ten road team in the NBA…the team is on solid ground.  Improvement in different areas is a must and execution of the offense has to be a focus when the jumpers don’t fall.  With that being said, this is a very good and very dangerous team on any night.

Learning how to stop a losing streak is just as important as learning to win.  As long a the team can recognize and react to the habits that are dire to their spot in the standings, it should be considered a part of the process, and something all good teams have deal with.

Huddling Up

After the comeback win in Boston the team gathered near their bench as the clock hit zero and joined together for a moment of unity.  Al said it was a moment the team will remember and was a good lesson on how to remain poised in a hostile environment. Al also waved goodbye to the Boston faithful on his way out…he said they were doing more than waving. 

No Laughing Matters

With the Wizards coming in town it won’t be the same without their star player. There have been plenty of jokes made with the trouble Gilbert Arenas has found himself  in the past few weeks but not from the Hawks or other NBA players. It is certainly unfortunate that the Wizards and the league are losing a star player for some time.  The players are all aware of the situation and are taken aback like most fans and take the gun issue very seriously. Georgia Tech alum Javaris Crittenton who was allegedly a part of the incident, is a very good friend of Josh Smith and a local favorite.  Josh said that Javaris, “ is like a little brother” to him and that he will not comment on the situation.

Mario West

The return of Mario West is certainly good news and greatly appreciated by his teammates and coach.  There will be no doubt he will get a good ovation the every time he hits the floor. Coach was glad he was back and surely his defense will help the team and hopefully will rub off on his teammates.  As an aside Mario has already played his first game. He went one-on-one with coach Woodson after practice.  Mario won and pointed out his record against coach is now 56-0.

After a tough time in Miami and losing a season high four games in a row, this is the time for the team and fans to be tough.  Mired in the longest losing streak of the year, finger pointing and the blame game could easily begin for players and fans but won’t solve the issues surrounding the team at this juncture.  

While there is a difference between losing games and being beaten, the issue for the Hawks at this point is that they are having both happen to them.  The first three games of the rocky road saw the Hawks get up big, but fail to close the deal in the final period of play.  In Miami it was over after getting down 25 in the first half, which is most atypical of the team this season.

Things are not uncorrectable, but the team needs to avoid bad habits. The ghosts of bad games past have shown up too much and do not need to fester.  Standing around, too much one on one play, missing wide open shots, not running the floor and giving up easy buckets are the symptoms which need to be inoculated to cure this losing cold

The Hawks that got out to a 19-6 start, destroyed teams in the fourth quarter, ran the floor and owned the paint while putting up 100 points seemingly every night.  Now the fast break points have dwindled, the team is not winning the battle in the post, and scoring has come down.

With all that being said it is time to get back to what worked early, not play the blame game and get back to the team mantra this year: “DEFEND, REBOUND AND RUN” which is the solution to ending this streak.

GETTING BACK TO BASICS

The Hawks simply have not been able to score enough to put teams away.  Throwing up 100 point games came effortlessly up until this point and now during the losing streak, scoring has gone down to 92 points per contest. Much of that can be corrected by finishing up strongly in the fourth quarter, making free throws and attacking the basket.

NOT SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT

There have been plenty of opportunities for the Hawks to snap their streak but have basically shot themselves out of games.

-Against Cleveland it was going nearly nine minutes without a bucket then blowing a 17 point lead.

-Against the Knicks it was shooting under 40 percent in the fourth quarter(and Nate Robinson going Teen Wolf , my goodness).

-Against the Heat it was shooting into a 25 point deficit in early in the game and not being able to recover.

Go to the basket!

Streak Stats not in favor of the Hawks

Outscored 188-154in second chance points

Outscored 50-24 in fast break points

Outscored 113-71 in the fourth quarter and overtime

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Hawks have been very good care takers of the ball, leading the league with the fewest turnovers per game so they are not giving many possessions away.  Cleary the execution and ball movement have been major factors but there is no need to panic.  This team is still 12-4 at home and is a top ten team in the league (7^th) on the road.  It is not always easy and losing streaks come to all teams.  This is the time to rally around the birds and be tough together.

Many will go on and on about the unimaginable offensive breakdown in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s loss to the Cavs. It was crazy, I will give you that, but trying to draw conclusions about the Hawks (or Cavs) as a whole based on that 8 minutes and 48 seconds would be a mistake.

I will make a bold statement – The Hawks were one basket away from winning the game tonight. One basket in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter and 1) the Hawks take the lead, 2) everyone takes a deep breath and refocuses. As it was, that basket never came. It was a cold spell when everyone fell a little out of rhythm. Don’t try to tell me that “the pressure got to them”. The Hawks have won close games in hostile environments and in the Highlight Factory. Sometimes there are cold spells that can’t be explained. The Cavs defense is good, but it did nothing to make two of the Hawks best free throw shooters miss three in a row.

Even with the absurd drought, the Hawks fought back to within five points in the final minute and had the other team’s back-up center shooting a 3-pointer from the corner. Ilgauskas is not your typical back-up center when it comes to long-range shooting, but it was still the shot Atlanta wanted to give up. The shot went down, and that was that.

The beauty of the quirk in this year’s schedule is that there is little time to dwell on this “fluke”. The two teams do it all over again tomorrow night in Cleveland. (7pm, Fox Sports South HD)