Atlanta Hawks Schedule
Monday
10/4/2010
TBA
Atlanta Hawks Pre Season Game 4 No Game
Thursday
10/7/2010
7:00 PM
Atlanta Hawks vs Memphis Grizzlies PRE
Monday
10/11/2010
7:30 PM
Detroit Pistons vs Atlanta Hawks PRE
Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI -
Buy Tickets
NEWS
By Bud L. Ellis
Defensively, it wasn’t what the new-look Atlanta Hawks wanted to see on opening night.
Indiana hung 65 points on the Hawks in the first two quarters of Wednesday’s season opener at Philips Arena. But the bolstered Atlanta offense still had the lead at intermission, and buoyed by five starters in double figures and a strong defensive showing in the fourth quarter, the Hawks opened this season of promise with a 120-109 victory.
As tough as it was for the Hawks to slow the Pacers in the opening two quarters, Atlanta found their defensive footing in the final 12 minutes. Indiana shot just 33 percent and scored only 15 points in the final quarter.
That would be enough to give Atlanta the separation it needed, especially considering the strong offensive output from a team that returns all five starters and added four key pieces to the bench. Joe Johnson overcame a sluggish start to lead Atlanta with 25 points. Al Horford played strong in the middle, scoring 24 and pulling down 16 rebounds. Josh Smith added 18 points with eight assists.
Marvin Williams scored 14 points and Mike Bibby added 10, rounding out a stellar effort by the Atlanta starting five. Off the bench, Mo Evans chipped in 12 points. First-round draft pick Jeff Teague scored five and added four assists for Atlanta, which shot 52 percent from the field.
Atlanta tries for a 2-0 start Friday against Washington at Philips Arena, then opens a four-game road trip.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 9:13 pm by bud
Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, Mo Evans, National Basketball Association, Washington Wizards
By Bud L. Ellis
After an offseason of resigning key cogs and bolstering the bench and seeing the rest of the East get stronger, it’s showtime for the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta tipped off the 2009-10 season Wednesday night at Philips Arena, the first step of an 82-game journey that Hawks’ fans hope will lead Atlanta to the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
Very few campaigns have been met with this much hope, this much enthusiasm surrounding Atlanta’s NBA entry. Sure, there were the years in the late 1980s, when the Hawks ran off four consecutive 50-win seasons, yet could never crack through the Eastern Conference semifinals.
There were a few decent years in the 1990s. There was the 1979-80 team that won 57 games, a mark matched by the 1986-87 team. But the meter of anticipation is nearing an all-time high in Atlanta, and with good reason.
The Hawks addressed multiple needs this offseason by signing Jason Collins and Joe Smith. The two veterans give Atlanta size off the bench and veteran leadership, two traits a talented-yet-youthful core needs.
The Hawks are about to embark on a season that they believe will carry them into late May. Doing so would be the most successful foray for this franchise in decades. The adjustments are now done. Time to see this machine roar to life. The road to a deep advance in the NBA playoffs won’t be easy. You have to get there first.
But there is every reason to believe this team has what it will take to play toward Memorial Day.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 8:47 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Jason Collins, Joe Smith, National Basketball Association, Philips Arena
By Bud L. Ellis
In each of the past five years, the Atlanta Hawks have won more games than the year before.
The past two seasons, the Hawks have nudged their way back into contender status in the Eastern Conference. In 2008, Atlanta made the playoffs for the first time in a decade, then pushed the eventual world-champion Boston Celtics to seven games in the first round.
Last spring, the Hawks outlasted Miami in seven games to win a playoff series for the first time since 1999.
So, as the Hawks get ready to tip off the 2009-10 season Wednesday night at home against Indiana, the question is can Atlanta continue its upward surge?
It won’t be easy. The Hawks won 47 games a year ago, but play in the rugged East where the big three contenders — Boston, Cleveland and Orlando — all made major moves in the offseason.
So too did the Hawks, who added Jamal Crawford to the backcourt, Jason Collins and Joe Smith to the frontcourt, and drafted Jeff Teague to be the point guard of the future. Add in the playoff experience gained by Atlanta’s core, and the components are in place for the Hawks to crack the 50-win plateau.
The East will be a battle all season, and while the Hawks probably won’t be the ones to emerge from the fray come June, Atlanta should be good enough to make at least a decent push come playoff time.
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Monday, October 26, 2009 at 8:56 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Jamal Crawford, Jason Collins, Jeff Teague, Joe Smith, Miami Heat, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic
By Bud L. Ellis
Granted, it was the final game of what’s been a stellar preseason for the Atlanta Hawks.
But this was not the way to end it, especially to one of the teams the Hawks are chasing in the Eastern Conference.
Ripped apart inside and out, sluggish in every facet of the game, the Hawks sustained a 123-86 drubbing at Orlando Friday night, closing out the preseason at 5-2.
Buried under the onslaught of the Magic shooting 61 percent from the floor, the Hawks surprisingly lacked any punch or fire as a 37-16 first quarter buried Atlanta, in a game against their major Southeast Division rival. The Hawks missed on 50 of their 80 shots from the floor, and were dominated on the glass 46-32 (13 pulled down by Orlando’s Dwight Howard).
Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 14 points. Joe Johnson and Randolph Morris scored 11 each, and Josh Smith added 10. First-round draft pick Jeff Teague suffered through a miserable night, going 0-for-15 from the field in scoring just four points.
Atlanta trailed by as many as 40 in the second half. The Hawks open the regular season at Philips Arena on Wednesday against the Pacers.
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Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 6:18 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Dwight Howard, Indiana Pacers, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic, Philips Arena, Randolph Morris
By Bud L. Ellis
Running out to an 11-point lead after one quarter, the Atlanta Hawks continued their strong preseason showing Thursday night with a 92-87 exhibition victory over Miami in Jacksonville.
Opening the first of a two-game, two-day road trip through the Sunshine State, the Hawks shot 57 percent from the floor and never really were threatened by the Heat, the team the Hawks bounced in a sizzling seven-game series in the opening round of the NBA playoffs last spring.
Joe Johnson led five Hawks in double figures with 14 points. Johnson also finished with a team-best eight assists. Jamal Crawford and Al Horford each scored 12, and Mo Evans and Marvin Williams scored 10 points apiece. Horford led the Hawks with 10 rebounds.
Atlanta takes on Orlando Friday night in the preseason finale, then begins preparation for Wednesday’s season opener against Indiana at Philips Arena.
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Friday, October 23, 2009 at 10:01 pm by bud
Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Miami Heat, Mo Evans, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic, Philips Arena
By Bud L. Ellis
He didn’t light up the scoresheet by any stretch of the imagination. He didn’t play very often.
But Mario West made a big impact on the Atlanta Hawks the past two years.
The native of the western suburb of Douglasville, West surprised everybody by walking on at Georgia Tech after his high school days. He ended up becoming a team captain and leading the Yellow Jackets to the 2004 NCAA championship game.
West surprised everybody yet again two years ago by making the Hawks’ roster as a non-drafted free agent. In his two years with Atlanta, West earned praise for his hustle and his tenacious defense. Often, the Hawks would put him into the game near the end of a quarter or a half, when Atlanta needed a stop.
With the additions of Jamal Crawford and Jeff Teague this offseason, West’s odds of making the roster were even longer this preseason. Wednesday, those odds were cashed in, as West was cut from the Atlanta roster.
Here’s hoping he lands on somebody’s NBA roster. The way he plays the game is worth somebody giving West a shot at earning a spot.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 9:17 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Georgia Tech, Mario West, National Basketball Association
By Bud L. Ellis
4-and-1 … it’s the operative record in Atlanta these days.
The Falcons are 4-1 and among the NFL’s elite. The Thrashers are 4-1 and off to their best start in the franchise’s 10-year history.
The Hawks? They’re getting in on the act, too. Atlanta improved its preseason record to 4-1 with a 113-95 victory Monday night over Washington, as six players scored in double figures.
Yet again, first-round draft pick Jeff Teague continues to impress. Teague scored a team-high 16 points with five assists, and Marvin Williams also scored 16. Williams hit 6-of-7 from the floor and pulled down six rebounds.
Al Horford scored 14 for the Hawks. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith each scored 13, and Mo Evans added 10 for Atlanta, which ran out to a 23-point halftime lead.
Jamal Crawford made his preseason debut, scoring four points with nine assists in 28 minutes.
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 8:27 pm by bud
Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Mo Evans, National Basketball Association, Washington Wizards
By Bud L. Ellis
Riding the strength of a 71-point first half, the Atlanta Hawks improved to 3-1 in preseason NBA action Wednesday night, downing Memphis 111-96 in Memphis.
Maurice Evans returned to the lineup and shined bright for Atlanta, scoring a team-high 27 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Evans, a key cog off the bench for the Hawks last season, hit three 3-pointers and drained 8-of-9 from the free-throw line in 26 minutes.
Al Horford added 14 points and five rebounds for the Hawks. First-round draft pick Jeff Teague continued his impressive preseason with 13 points and four assists.
The Hawks shot 52 percent from the floor and used strong defense to build a 20-point halftime lead. Memphis pulled within 89-77 after three quarters, but the Hawks had too much down the stretch.
Atlanta plays host to Washington on Monday at Philips Arena, then closes out the preseason with a two-game Florida road swing. The Hawks play the Heat next Thursday in Jacksonville, then take on Orlando next Friday in advance of the Oct. 28 season opener at home against Indiana.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 5:32 am by bud
Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Jeff Teague, Maurice Evans, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic, Philips Arena, Washington Wizards
By Bud L. Ellis
For some rookies, the middle days of October are when their NBA dreams expire.
For others — like Jeff Teague — it’s when those fantasties take flight for real.
Teague, the Atlanta Hawks‘ first-round draft pick this summer, continued to show why the organization thought so highly of the former Wake Forest star on Monday, leading Atlanta with 17 points in a 107-90 preseason victory over Charlotte at Philips Arena.
Teague needed just 29 minutes to score his 17, dish out seven assists, and continue to make an impression on his new teammates and coaching staff.
“It was a fun game,” Teague told Hawks.com. “I think I’m learning on the fly, learning quickly, trying to understand the game.”
That understanding is coming quickly for a player who gives Atlanta a young point guard to spell Mike Bibby this season. Teague leads the Hawks in scoring through three preseason games at 16.0 per contest
Coming off a loss Sunday night in Detroit, the Hawks showed plenty of bounce. Atlanta led by as many as 17 in the first half, hitting 53 percent from the floor in building an early eight-point advantage.
“We did a lot of good things tonight, which we didn’t do (Sunday) night in Detroit,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson told Hawks.com. “So it’s nice to see us bounce back.’
Joe Johnson, Zaza Pachulia and Juan Dixon each scored 14. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams added 11 for Atlanta, who plays Wednesday at Memphis.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 5:43 am by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Juan Dixon, Marvin Williams, Memphis Grizzles, Mike Bibby, Mike Woodson, National Basketball Association, Philips Arena, Wake Forest, Zaza Pachulia
By Bud L. Ellis
With three games in the next four nights, the Atlanta Hawks ramp up preparations for the 2009-10 season.
It’s likely by the time this three-game stretch ends Wednesday, there will be a few players who will be looking for another team.
Cuts are likely to come down at some point during this stretch, which begins at 6 p.m. today at Detroit. Atlanta returns home Monday to play host to Charlotte at 7 p.m., then travels to Memphis at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
As the Hawks’ staff evaluates the guys on the fringe, the more-established veteran players and the top newcomers brought onto the roster in the offseason will continue to work on meshing together as a team.
That’s what preseason is all about. Guys like Jamal Crawford, Jason Collins and Joe Smith are seeking the chemistry and where they fit into a team coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. Other guys, like Mario West, Othello Hunter and Courtney Sims, are hoping they can do enough during the next three weeks to land on the opening-night roster.
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Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 9:35 am by bud
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Courtney Sims, Detroit Pistons, Jamal Crawford, Jason Collins, Joe Smith, Mario West, Memphis Grizzlies, National Basketball Association, Othello Hunter
