Hawks look to soar in second half of season

By Bud L. Ellis

Joe Johnson and Al Horford are back from the All-Star game. Zaza Pachulia and Jamal Crawford are back from minor injuries.

For the Atlanta Hawks, it’s the second half of the season, and it’s time to make a move.

The Hawks sit in a great place in the standings, third in the Eastern Conference and just 1 ½ games behind second-seed Orlando in the Southeast Division. While catching the front-running Cleveland Cavaliers for the Eastern Conference lead may be a reach for both teams – the Hawks are 8 ½ games back; the Magic seven games in arrears of Cleveland – the division title is there for the taking.

And with Boston just ½ game behind Atlanta for fourth and the red-hot Toronto Raptors in fifth and only four games behind the Celtics, the race for the second through fifth seeds in the East figures to go down to the season’s final days.

Atlanta opens a critical four-game west coast road swing Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Hawks also visit Phoenix, Golden State and Utah on the trip, before returning home to Philips Arena next Wednesday to face Minnesota. The last three teams the Hawks face on the road trip all are above .500 and all would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 8:51 pm by bud

Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Zaza Pachulia

Crawford sparks Hawks in rout of Bulls

By Bud L. Ellis

When the Atlanta Hawks acquired Jamal Crawford during the summer, they knew bringing in the scorer would bolster the bench.

And while his first 20 games in an Atlanta uniform have been solid, Crawford unleashed his best game of the season Wednesday night, helping the Hawks roll to their biggest win of the season.

Boosted by a season-high 29 points from Crawford, the Hawks raced past Chicago 118-83 Wednesday at Philips Arena.

Josh Smith scored 18 points, and Maurice Evans came off the bench to score 18 as well for the Hawks, who improved to 15-6 on the season and stayed two games behind Orlando in the Southeast Division.

Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams each scored 12 points for Atlanta, which got scoring from every player on the roster. The Hawks broke it open in the middle quarters, outscoring the Bulls 65-36 to turn a two-point lead after one quarter to a 31-point advantage.

Crawford led the way, hitting on 10-of-16 field-goal attempts, including four from 3-point range, and all five of his free-throw attempts. He added four assists, a rebound and a steal in 34 minutes.

The Hawks travel to Toronto to face the Raptors on Friday.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 9:59 pm by bud

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Maurice Evans, Philips Arena, Toronto Raptors

Hawks rediscover offensive output, blast Raptors

By Bud L. Ellis

It looks like the Atlanta Hawks have rediscovered their offensive mo-jo.

Mired in a slump on the offensive end during a 1-3 stretch, the Hawks busted out in a big way Wednesday night at Philips Arena. Nine Atlanta players scored in double figures as the Hawks ripped the Toronto Raptors 146-115, matching the highest offensive output in the NBA so far this season.

Al Horford led the assault with 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, but he had company … lots of company. Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford scored 16 points each. Marvin Williams added 14. Rookie Jeff Teague scored 13. Joe Smith, Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson added 12 points each, and Zaza Pachulia scored 11.

The Hawks hit 59 percent of their shots from the floor, totally blowing away the overmatched Raptors. Atlanta led by 21 at halftime and by 30 after three quarters. Going into the fourth, the Hawks had 114 points, after scoring 88 points or fewer in the three losses preceding the rout.

Now 13-5 on the season, the Hawks take on New York on Friday.

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Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 9:38 pm by bud

Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Joe Smith, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, National Basketball Association, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Zaza Pachulia

Hawks seek return to offensive output

By Bud L. Ellis

There’s no place like home for the holidays, and the Atlanta Hawks will enjoy plenty of home cooking the first three weeks of December.

Starting with Wednesday’s home contest against Toronto, the Hawks will play six of their next eight contests inside the (apologizes to Cubs’ fans everywhere for this) friendly confines of Philips Arena. The combined record of the opposition in the next eight: 53-88.

Not exactly a list of world-beaters, this upcoming stretch for the 12-5 Hawks. Toronto, which the Hawks face twice, is 7-12. There are home games against 0-17 New Jersey, 4-14 New York and 6-12 Memphis in the next three weeks.

Is it too much to ask the Hawks to go 6-2 during this stretch? If Atlanta could do that, the Hawks would be sitting at 18-7 after 25 games, a 59-win pace that would set the franchise record for victories in a single season.

But these Hawks have much more on their minds than accomplishments from November to April. After reaching the playoffs the past two seasons and winning a postseason series for the first time in a decade last spring, the Hawks really believe they can make a push deep into the Eastern Conference playoffs.

But wins – no matter the caliber of the opposition – all count just the same. And the next three weeks, the Hawks have a great chance to pile up some marks in the W column.

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 9:39 pm by bud

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Cubs, Memphis Grizzlies, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philips Arena, Toronto Raptors