Pacers: No Problems Against Hawks

Hawks 96 Pacers 113

Just like that, the Hawks have lost four straight games and look like a totally different team than the one that reeled off six consecutive victories to start the season.

Until last night, the fewest minutes Al Horford had ever played in an NBA game was eight. The team suffered a major blow when Horford went down less than seven minutes into the game. Luckily, the injury was only an ankle sprain and x-rays were negative.

Horford’s injury made light of a trend crippling the Hawks since Josh Smith went down one and a half weeks ago. As the Hawks options for big men decrease, points for players who can slash through the lane increase. I draw your attention to Devin Harris scoring 30 and 33 in the two wins for the Nets and Danny Grainger’s 34 point explosion last night (yes they scorched jump shots-but anybody who thinks they can take it to the hoop like that every night as well is out of his or her mind). While both are fine players, this season, Harris averages 23.0 points per game and Grainger averages 24.3 points per game (that’s after factoring in the 30+ point games against the Hawks).

In the six games that the Hawks won, they held opponents to under 90 points per game and had the second best points allowed average in the NBA. They did this by constantly switching and creating mismatches with Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, and Josh Smith. With a unique combination of athleticism and size (all players are between 6’7” and 6’10”), when the Hawks play their true starting line up, they have the ability to match their shooting guard through center position on any player on the court (even in the Boston loss- this ability was best seen at the end of the game when Horford was playing defense on Pierce’s game winning shot).

As the Hawks get healthy, defense will be the overriding force that helps them get back on track. Anyone who watched the game last night could see that the Hawks were playing with a false sense of urgency that caused them to rush shots on offense. It’s only the tenth game of the season; there is no sense of urgency for anyone. Though this team has the ability and athleticism to run up and down the floor with the best of the west coast high scoring teams, it’s not the way the Hawks play best. I truly believe that in order to have success, the Hawks should focus on playing tough defense that leads to fast break opportunities. However, the break should not be the ultimate goal. As seen earlier in the season, the Hawks were able to play controlled offense and make the extra pass to get an open dunk or open three. By feeding off successful stands on defense, the offense was able to control the game much better and get better scoring opportunities.

If I have learned anything through the first ten games, I’d rather see the Hawks “d-up” and win 95-85, than try and run their way to 117-115 win (which they haven’t proved that they can do).

Quick Notes:

Wow! It’s exciting to see A.C. Law play loose. Reminds me of the days when he put Texas A&M on his back and rose to stardom in the NCAA tournament. In thirteen minutes last night he had 9 points, 2 assists, and 3 rebounds. More importantly, he brought a burst of energy off the bench that helped the Hawks attempt a fourth quarter comeback. Before the season started (and I knew what Flip Murray and Maurice Evans brought to the table), I banked on Law picking up some of the slack left by Childress. Just because he doesn’t have to anymore, it would still be a nice option to see him have more performances like last night. I get the feeling he will.

Hawks are 6-4 through ten games. All things considered, not a bad start.