Al Horford scores career-high as Josh Smith anchors a balanced offense and defense in a 102-91 win over Utah for 4th place in East

A brilliant performance.

The Utah Jazz were determined to get a win after a gut-wrenching overtime defeat against the Boston Celtics where Paul Pierce scored 26 points, 7 in OT to give the Jazz their 26th loss. Knowing the Los Angeles Lakers were gunning for their playoffs-necks, they were determined to beat the visiting 14-13 road record Atlanta Hawks.

But the Hawks were TOO GOOD!

Josh Smith led the Hawks in a brilliant performance as the Hawks went into the 4th quarter with a 82-56 lead and survived a futile rally for a 102-91 victory. Josh had one of his classic, awesome "i-cant-believe-this-guy-is-not-an-all-star-WTF-is-wrong-with-you-NBA-coaches" games, scoring 24 pts (9/19 FGs 1/4 3ptFGs 5/7 FTs) 14 rbs (3 off) 7 asts and 1 stl. He virtually controlled the pace of the game in all 42 minutes of his playing time, imposing his will on the game definitely helped Al Horford have an AMAZING GAME scoring a career-high 34 pts (14/22 FGs 6/6 FTs) 15 rbs (4 off) 5 BLOCKS! and 3 asts in 43 minutes of playing time. It was Josh Smith's 8th game this season with 7 assists or more and his 8th game with 24 pts or better.

Al Horford described the the grit and determination he and Josh play with now as the primary scorers on the team, "We just kept fighting and I kept fighting. we worked too hard to give it up," Horford said. "It was one of those things where you don't want to lose, so you kind of do whatever you have to do."

Al Horford seems to be the biggest beneficiary of the Joe Johnson trade for the Hawks, he has always led the team (AND led the LEAGUE at his position!) in Field Goal %, with more touches in a more balanced offense he has averaged a career-high scoring average, which has his season stats at 17.1 ppg 10.1 rpg 3.2 apg on 55.6% FGs, tell me that's not an ALL-STAR! but a career-low free throw shooting at 61.5% 



Jeff Teague had a great game orchestrating the offense and being at the right spots on time, he scored 19 pts and 7 asts, and Devin Harris has been a good duel-point guard starter with Jeff as he scores 12 pts.

The Hawks are now 33-23, on pace for a 48-24 record, an IMPROVED winning percentage from last season, they continue their road trip by going against the Phoenix Suns on Friday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Chalk up the Phoenix game as a win but that Lakers game is going to be very tough, as they fight for their playoff lives AND they get prepared to make their once-a-season trip to Phillips Arena on March 13, only 10 days after that game. 

Speaking of the Hawks/Lakers game, there is a special event happening before that game. There is a brand new sports organization on the bubble that is VEEERYYY intriguing in Atlanta. The ModelsBasketball League is a women's basketball league established in 2011 that promotes beauty and fitness through basketball, and they are actually opening up for the Hawks/Lakers game. They have previously played at Phillips Arena at Hawks/Grizzlies match-up on 02/06/2013 and at the Hawks/Nuggets on 12/5/2012, it may not be NBA level basketball but it is a whole 'nother level of beautiful ;) 

LET'S GO HAWKS! Until next time...
 

No All-Stars for the Hawks?! Thats okay, we'll still take 4th place in the Eastern Conference

What the hell is it gonna take for this franchise to earn some respect?! DWIGHT HOWARD?! He would probably fit right in with all the hate he has gotten this season, but the NBA coaches apparently weren't impressed by a 29-22 record, which was good for 5th in the Eastern Conference.

They weren't impressed with a career-reviving season from Al Horford, currently averaging 16.7 ppg 9.7 rpg 3.2 apg and 1.1 bpg, this season after suffering a SEASON-ENDING torn pectoral muscle last year.

They weren't impressed with Josh Smith's consistency and leadership, who's impact is MORE THAN THE STATS SHOW but still averaging 17.2 ppg 8.7 rpg 4.2 apg and 2.1 bpg

I don't know how they aren't impressed with Jeff Teague's emergence as a full-time primary ball-handler (They were impressed enough for him to be the ONLY HAWKS PLAYER DOING ANYTHING at All-Star Weekend, Skills competition), currently averaging 14.4 ppg 7.1 apg 1.5 apg on 45% FGs 37% 3ptFG and 87% FTs

Even KRACKER KORVER currently LEADING THE NBA IN 3 POINTERS MADE!! Was not even invited to the 3 point shoot out! Korver, acquired in an off-season trade with the Bulls, now understands the Hawks hate by the NBA, but there are no answers as to why.

 WHHHYYYYYY?!?!?! (i dont know, Kyle, I just dont know...)

How much better were the Hawks expected to be?? When Joe "$125M" Johnson was traded to the Brooklyn Billionaires (Nets) I recall several media outlets (ESPN, Sports Illustrated) predicting the Atlanta Hawks would be a LOTTERY TEAM, (they also predicted the Lakers would win about 70 games sooo....) In my humble perspective, the Hawks have OVER-ACHIEVED thus far! How could our franchise trade away half of our player payroll, our UNDISPUTED franchise player (very disputed, lol) and still make the be between 4th and 5th place in the Eastern Conference?! What kind of award do we get for trading away a SUPERSTAR (lol) getting ROLE PLAYERS in return, only ONE OF THOSE PLAYERS currently in rotation (Shout out to 2011 Champion DeShawn Stevenson!), and having a chance to IMPROVE OUR WINNING PERCENTAGE from last season!!

So what can we do to earn our respect? We aren't getting it from NBA coaches, we definitely aren't getting it from NBA referees (SHOUT OUT TO TIM DONAGHY!), hell we barely get respect from our hometown FANS!

The only way to get that respect is to win, and the Atlanta Hawks have been doing that lately through great defense and a balanced offense that lets all of the players shine, not just a cup of Joe...

Last 3 games
W 122-108 vs Kings MVP Jeff Teague 20 pts (8/18 FGs 5/5 FTs)12 asts & Al Horford 28 pts (11/14 FGs) 8 rbs 6 asts 2 blks
*3 players with over 20 points

W 103-102 vs Bucks MVP Al Horford 23 pts (11/22 FGs) 11 rbs 3 asts 2 stls 2 blks (with the GAME WINNING LAY-UP!) & Devin Harris 21 pts (7/11 FGs 4/5 3ptFGs)
*3 players with over 20 pts, Josh Smith with a double-double (15 pts 13 rbs 5 asts)

W 114-103 vs Pistons MVP Al Horford 23 pts (10/13 FGs) 22 rbs (CAREER-HIGH!) 3 asts 2 stls 2 blks & Jeff Teague 20 pts (6/13 FGs 2/4 3pt FGs) 12 asts
*Jeff Teague's 9th double-double of the season, one of the only point guards to post those numbers

Yeah, we lost to those Miami (c)Heaters when they scored a ridiculous 40 points in the 4th quarter, most of them while LeBron James was sitting on the bench, but that says more about their team than anything, beating the Miami Heat is a tall order for any team in the NBA right now, but I know that these Josh-Al-Jeff led PLAYOFFSHAWKS are not a team to be taken lightly this season.

Right now the Atlanta Hawks are 32-23, which is a half-game ahead of those Brooklynites for 4th place in the east.

Next game is tonight in the city of Salt Lake, this is one of the BIGGEST frontline teams in the NBA, let's see if we can help the Lakers playoff position tonight, shall we?


-WORLDinFAMOUS