The Hawks really feel they CAN WIN This Series

HAWKS WIN AGAIN! Series tied 2-2, History in the Making?

player of the game: JOE JOHNSON - 35 pts 6 ast 14/24 fGs 2/6 3 pts



JOSH SMITH - 28 pts 6 rebs 7 BLOCKS 8/16 FGs 12/13 FTs

This is Huge. Bigger than 2007 Dallas Mavericks (67-15) getting beat by Golden State Warriors (42-40) because this team is the 'least' of all 'leastern conference' teams. FOOLS! The Hawks aren't just a group of young guys with potential, these are induvidually talented men and they play well as a team on the court. We have our ALL-STAR duo JOE JOHNSON and JOSH SMITH, and although he didn't make the all-star team this year, he SURELY will as he leads the league in blocks for many years to come.

Can we say nobody, i say, NOBODY expected this situation to occur? The Hawks had been thrashed in Boston by 23 and 19 points, respectively, then came to Phillips Arena and won by 9 and 5 points, even MORE respectively. DO PEOPLE SEE AND REALIZE HOW THEY WON GAME 4? The game 3 we won was a statement, a glory road to take off the 'roadkill' label, the 'lowly' hawks perception, and now game 4 will take us off the disrespected highway, the 'underrated' label, and now people are forced to take another look at this team, the passion, skill, and opportunity these young guys are in.

An interesting observation: Now who got the better of the suns/hawks trade?

boris diaw - 05-06 most improved player award (in the absense of Amare Stoudemire, the same year nash got his second MVP award when Kobe should have got his first)

joe johnson - 2-time all-star, avg. 22.0 ppg 5 ast shoot 43% Fgs and 40% 3pts while leading his team to the biggest playoff upset of all time.

the two best records in the NBA this year, the Boston Celtics 66-16 and the Detriot Pistons 59-23 are both tied with the worst records in the playoffs owned by the Philly Sixers 40-42 and the Atlanta Hawks (the worst winning pct in playoffs of all time) 37-45

Boston Celtics 66-16 vs Atlanta Hawks 37-45 - -- -- 2-2 tied
Detroit Pistons 59-23 vs Philly Sixers 40-42 ----- 2-2 tied

ZAZA PACHULIA! ZAZA PACHULIA! ZAZA PACHULIA! ZAZA PACHULIA!

fNow, I will give this man some respect. Understand that we, the fans, have HATED this player since he came to our team, for many and no reasons. It wasn't his fault his 3rd year from the country of Georgia he was forced to start for the Hawks and was blamed for our 13-69 record that year. But that player has risen from the ashes, he went through the storm and he experienced his glory moment in the NBA.



We in da house! GO HAWKS! ATL STAND UP!

HAWKS WIN AGAIN! the could be the biggest upset in NBA History...series 2-2

player of the game: JOE JOHNSON -

4/26 ATLANTA HAWKS (37-45) BEAT the Boston Celtics (66-16) in GAME 3 of ROUND 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs!!

Player of the Game : Josh SMITH 27 pts 9 reb 6 ast 1 blk

runner-up: Al HORFORD 17 pts 14 rbs 6 ast

Joe Johnson 23 pts 7 rbs 6 ast

ATLANTA (AP) -- Led by high-flying Josh Smith, the Atlanta Hawks finally showed they can beat the Boston Celtics.

Good timing.Smith scored 27 points grabbed 9 rebounds with 6 assists -- and give him a perfect 10 in his own personal dunking contest -- to lead the Hawks to a 102-93 victory Saturday night that breathed life into their long-shot playoff hopes, cutting Boston's lead in the opening-round series to 2-1.

Atlanta earned its first playoff win since May 16, 1999, a Game 5 clincher over the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks were swept by New York in the next round, then spent nine long years trying to get back to the postseason.

After getting blown out twice in Boston, Smith and the Hawks seemed to take out all their frustrations on a 66-win Celtics team that finished 29 games ahead of eighth-seeded Atlanta during the regular season. When the buzzer sounded, streamers fell from the ceiling of Philips Arena as if the home team had just won a championship.

The Hawks, who went 37-45 during the regular season, are still huge underdogs. But for one night at least, Smith had the rim rockin' and the sellout crowd of 19,725 on its feet.Smith, one of the NBA's most athletic players, showed it off with five dunks -- none better than the last one. After a Boston turnover, Joe Johnson took off down the right side of the court and passed off to Smith breaking down the other wing. He took off a good 10 feet from the basket and slammed it through over Ray Allen.With the crowd still buzzing over that one, Smith pulled up behind the arc and hit a 3-pointer that gave the Hawks a 94-79 lead with just under 7 minutes left. He backpedaled all the way down the court, then slapped hands with the playoff-starved Atlanta fans on the baseline.Johnson added 23 points and Mike Bibby -- who riled up the Boston faithful with his comments about "fair-weather" fans -- bounced back from two dismal games by doling out eight assists.

Showing much better ball movement and a willingness to run with the Celtics, the Hawks improved from 10 assists in Game 2 to 28 on Saturday.Smith, Johnson and rookie Al Horford all had six assists.Kevin Garnett led Boston with 32 points, but the NBA's youngest playoff team had him kneeling over, looking totally exhausted, by the end of the game.

The Celtics had manhandled Atlanta all year, beating the Hawks three times during the regular season -- none of the games was closer than 10 points -- then routing them twice in Boston by an average margin of 21 points to start this series.With everyone thinking sweep, the Hawks made sure the series will at least get back to Boston for a fifth game. They'll try to even it up in Game 4 Monday night at Philips Arena.Horford, a rookie who knows a thing or two about winning from his two straight national championships at Florida, tried to fire up his teammates by showing them a video of Muhammad Ali's stunning win over George Foreman in 1974's "Rumble in the Jungle."This upset was hardly of that magnitude, but it did give the Hawks a glimmer of hope in a series that already looked to be over.

Horford even showed a bit of contempt for the big, bad Celtics after hitting a clinching jumper with 22 seconds remaining. He got right in Paul Pierce's face, prompting the Boston star to walk toward the Atlanta bench, jawing and flashing hand gestures before he was yanked back.Horford danced away and kept right on talking.

source - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280426001

Bibby, Hawks Avenge Home Loss in Philly

Revenge was a dish best served by veteran Hawks point guard Mike Bibby on Saturday night.

Roughly 24 hours after suffering through one of his worst shooting nights of the season in a home loss to Philadelphia, Bibby helped the Hawks return the favor by draining two huge shots in the final minutes to lift the Hawks to a crucial 92-85 victory over the 76ers at Wachovia Center
Bibby acknowledged that if not for his poor shooting Friday night, he went 1-for-11 in that loss, the Hawks might have been celebrating back-to-back wins over the 76ers.

"I'm the type of person you have to take the good with the bad," Bibby said after the Hawks' (36-41) sixth win in their past seven games. "People with regular jobs don't have perfect days every day. I'm no different. And this is an up-and-down job for every guy in this locker room."

The good came late Saturday, as Bibby was just 2-for-11 from the floor when he hit the first of his two game-changing shots.

The first was a 3-pointer with 2:57 to play that extended the Hawks' lead to 10 points (88-78) and squash a 76ers run that began six minutes earlier.

The second was a pull-up jumper in the lane with 34.4 seconds to play that finished off the 76ers, who clinched their playoff spot with Friday's win.

"I don't care if he's 0-for-15," Josh Smith said. "he's a shooter, and we trust him. In crunch situations, I want to him have that same confidence that he always does. And he gave it to us with those two shots that helped finish this game."

Bibby got an earful from both Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his backcourt mate, captain and All-Star Joe Johnson. Both of them kept reminding Bibby not to let up, no matter how many shots he missed.

"Mike kept telling me he was going to knock one of those shots down," Johnson said after leading the Hawks with 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists. "And I told him I was going to keep passing it to him until he did. He's been big for us all year [since coming over in a trade deadline deal with Sacramento], so there's no reason for us to go away from him now."

Woodson, who has guided the Hawks to the franchise's best win total in a decade, even called Bibby over during timeouts in the second half to prod him into shooting the ball again.
"I just kept telling him to shoot the ball," Woodson said. "Don't stop shooting the ball. And I hollered at him at one point and told him, 'you're going to make one of these in a minute.' And he came back and sank that 3-pointer and then the jumper to seal the deal."
The Hawks' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is three.
With road games coming up at Indiana [Tuesday] and New York [Friday], their opportunity is in their hands.

"These guys are hungry, man," Woodson said of his team. "They feel that urgency like we all do. ... We're in a great position to do something that a young team has not done in a long time in our league. And that's what we're pushing for."

source - By SEKOU SMITHThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 04/06/08
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/2008/04/05/hawks_0406.html

127-120 OT HAWKS WIN! Bibby, Johnson, Smith Heroes

Ha HA!



Whew! What a game!



The Atlanta Hawks win a wildly contestful game at Phillips Arena on Wednesday night in overtime.



It was a hard fought game, from the first quarter where the Hawks outscored the Raptors 31-27, which would have been 31-24 if it wasn't for a RASHO NETEROVIC 3-POINT BASKET to beat the buzzer. WHAT?! In Nesterovic's 10 SEASONS in the NBA he has only attempted 11 3 pointers, and he made the first 3 point basket of his career in this game, so congratulations to Rasho. Because if we had not won this game i would have CURSED that Yugoslovian man, but we won, so congratulations.



Let me re-iterate that this game could have very easily gone the other way, because after that first quarter the entire Raptors team started shooting the lights out. ANDREA BARGNANI entered the game, the #1 pick of the draft class of 2007, and the first and only italian in the league, and immediately scored on a 3-pointer on an assist from JOSE CALDERON, who is the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Hawks were then outscored in the second quarter, 32-24 for a Raptors lead at halftime, 55-59.



The second half started with the Raptors crew still on fire, they hit 5 of 5 of their first field goal attempts, and though the Hawks played stingy defense, the Raptors lead grew to 17. Toronto shot 15-20 from the field in the 3rd quarter, lead by guard ANTHONY PARKER who shot 4-4 in the period, 2-2 from 3 point line. SO at the end of the 3rd the score was 91-80.



Many say the 4th quarter is the time which seperates the good from the great, and the Hawks showed that tonight. JOE JOHNSON, MIKE BIBBY, and JOSH SMITH played brilliantly from start to finish. The fourth quarter started on a layup by Carlos Delfino, making it 93-80, then ZAZA PACHULIA made a made pass and caused a turnover, then fouled Carlos Delfino who then made 2 free throw to make the score 95-80 with 11:01 left to play. That is when ZAZA was subbed for MARVIN WILLIAMS (thankfully, ZAZA is GARBAGE) and the Hawks went on a run. JOSH SMITH started the run with a running layup, Bosh missed a shot, MIKE BIBBY made a jumper, BAGNANI missed one, and JOE JOHNSON races down the court and makes a jump shot to make the score 86-95. After a timeout, the ball goes to BOSH and JOSH SMITH steals it! They race up the court, the pass to JOHNSON and he is fouled. Somehow JOE misses the first free-throw (WTF!?), and makes the second. BOSH is fouled and makes both free throws, then BIBBY hits a three point shot to make the score 97-92. But after that the Hawks foul BOSH again who was a beast on the free-throw line, and he makes 2, twice, which makes the score 101-92.

With 7:30 left we had plenty of time, but it didn't look good, the Toronto Raptors are an excellent ball club, but we needed this win more than them, and we showed it.



The Hawks won in overtime 127-120.

I'm betting on a win tonight at Phillips Arena

This is going to be a good game.

The last time the Raptors came to Phillips, the Raptors got the win, but we took one of their starters (shout out to TJ Ford). Of course it was a freak accident, and TJ's a great PG for the Raptors, but if you remember correctly he was TORCHING the Hawks all by himself, he had like 26 pts 8 assists before he went down in the 3rd quarter. Yeah, so the Raps had to win that to avenge their PG, but now, we the Hawks will avenge that loss tonight.

Last time Josh Smith only had 5 pts 8 rbs and 2 blks on 2-11 shooting. I guarantee that Smith will have a much better game tonight. Al Horford will get the double-double and our All-Star Joe Johnson will get at least 25 pts 5 assists. Oh, and we didn't have a all-star PG the last time we played them so Mike Bibby will also score 20.

The Hawks are on a 4 game winning streak right now, i want to see them take it to at least a 9 game winning streak, which includes Philly Sixers back-to-back, the Pacers, and the Knicks before the Boston Celtics come to Phillips Arena for the first and only time this season.
When the Hawks visited the Celtics Arena, we lost by only 10. Pierce and JOhnson were going head-to head, Josh Smith and Kevin Garnett were trying to prove who is the better '5' and AL Horford got his double-double against Perkins.

If this team can get back to .500 before the playoffs, who knows, maybe we can be the Warriors of '08, and the Celtics can be the Mavs.

Hawks Lead as big as 38 to blow out Grizzlies

The Atlanta Hawks (34-40) blew out the Memphis Grizzlies (19-55) by 17 after holding a 38-point lead in the third quarter.

The Hawks had to refire their offense in the fourth quarter Monday night to turn back a late Memphis rally and defeat the Grizzlies 116-99. Josh Smith had 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Hawks, who had six players in double figures.

When the Hawks built a 101-63 advantage late in the third quarter, they seemed to be cruising to the victory. However, Memphis closed with a 9-2 run and then opened the fourth with 13 consecutive points, part of a 23-4 run to start the period.

The rally made the game more interesting, and forced Atlanta to put its starters back in the game.
"I think [the Grizzlies] just kind of played recklessly, played with nothing to lose, played with a free attitude," said the Hawks' Josh Childress, who finished with 14 points. "They made a couple of shots, and then they got going."

Fans who had booed the Grizzlies earlier in the half suddenly were on their feet -- at least those who hadn't given up and headed home -- as Memphis cut the lead to 12 midway through the fourth.
But the Hawks' advantage was just too much.

"It's just tough to see our team get down like we did, and we have to fight so hard to get back," said Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, who led Memphis with 29 points. "I guess they came out here with the mind-set to move the ball and get everybody involved, and that's what they did."

Al Horford and Joe Johnson scored 19 points apiece for Atlanta, and Mike Bibby had 17, while Marvin Williams finished with 12. Johnson also had eight assists and Bibby seven as the Hawks won their fourth straight and kept a solid hold on the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Smith shot 11-of-13 from the field, part of Atlanta's 56 percent effort on the night.

All five of the Hawks' starters had reached double figures by halftime.

"We were moving the basketball so well," Johnson said. "We were posting, and they were doubling. We were kicking, making the extra pass and getting wide open shots. That's all ball movement, and that was the key for us."

But when the Hawks tried to close out the game with their reserves, Memphis suddenly began hitting shots and chipping away at the advantage. Although, it never got under double-digits, the starters had to come back out and maintain the lead.

"It bit us tonight," Johnson said of the reserves' play. "It didn't really hurt us, and we put up the win, but it's something that shouldn't happen in this league. You're up 38, 40 points ... and you blow that? That's unheard of."

From the opening tip, the Hawks' shooters had little resistance from the Memphis defenders. Atlanta was still shooting almost 70 percent from the field in the final minutes of the first half. The Hawks not only were scoring inside, but they were hitting 58 percent on 3-pointers while building the lead to as many as 29 before halftime.
source - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280331029