Can you name a better pair of big men age 22 or younger in the NBA than the Hawks' Josh Smith and Al Horford?
Josh Childress didn't think so.
Their teammate has been touting the talented frontcourt duo, especially after Wednesday's 98-95 win over the Los Angles Lakers. Childress also has been managing their unofficial campaigns: Smith for Defensive Player of the Year and perhaps Most Improved Player and Horford for Rookie of the Year.
"They do everything, and they do everything well," said Childress, whose Hawks host LeBron James and Cleveland Friday night. "With Josh, blocking all the shots and the assists, rebounds and scoring, he fills up the stat sheet. But with Al, we've got another one of those guys now, especially with him eating the glass the way he does. And both of them are becoming big time low post presences.
"I think that shows just how good we can be if we have the type of performances we got out of them these past three games every night."
"Listen, they play hard," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "And that's the key. A lot of nights they are both playing on just pure force, because they are both still learning their way through our league. But they've been able to hold their own. And they've pushed each other, which I think is great."
They can be overmatched size wise. They are without comparable backups to spell them for long stretches. Yes, the Hawks starting power forward (Smith) and center (Horford) know going in that every night is going to be a struggle.
Yes, they wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's a battle out there and we accept the challenge," Horford said. "I got Josh watching my back swatting everything that goes up and I just try and stay solid in the paint and do my job. We do have Zaza [Pachulia], Shelden [Williams], Solomon [Jones] and Lorenzen [Wright] battling with us out there, but we're comfortable taking on that challenge every night."
Smith is averaging 18.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.4 blocks and 2.0 steals this season. But his numbers have been ridiculously gaudy in recent weeks. He's averaging 19.7 points on 61 percent shooting, and also 7.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 5.7 blocks and 2.3 steals in the Hawks' last three games.
Horford is averaging 9.2 points and 9.9 rebounds for the season, but has kicked both those averages up to 11.7 and 11.7 in the three games this month.
"We're just resilient down there," Smith said. "We're outmatched every night. But it's all about heart and we bring it to the table, every night. We understand that. We don't make that an excuse, either. We take it to people every time out there and I wouldn't want anybody else watching my back."
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