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.

I’m on vacation this week, but since the pre-sale is on, I thought I’d pre-load some content as we begin the lead-up to the start of training camp by counting down the “Ten Games To Watch” for 2009-10.

#9 at Golden State Warriors, Sun. Feb. 21, 2010

An uncertain offseason for Atlanta got off to a tremendous start on the morning of the 2009 NBA Draft when the Hawks traded Speedy Claxton and Acie Law to the Warriors in exchange for Jamal Crawford. Instantly, what had been two players making limited contributions (for a variety of reasons) to the squad became one with the potential to make a large one.

Slights, whether real or imagined, are a huge motivator in the NBA, and for most players, the chance to go up against your former team is a date you circle on the calendar. Hence, the meeting on Feb. 21 in Golden State (scheduled for a national TV audience on ESPN) should be an interesting one as I’m sure all three players will be out to show their former teams what they are missing. In addition, new Hawk Joe Smith makes his return to face the franchise that made him the #1 overall selection in the 1995 NBA draft.

Match-ups to watch: Anthony Randolph has been compared a bit to Josh Smith because of his youthful exuberance and freakish athleticism. Atlanta’s veteran backcourt duo of Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson will provide a sharp contrast to the Warriors’ young but talented Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry.

What do you think?