Hawks move into tie for final playoff spot

[HMFFL]

"They were playing hard but we felt like if we went at them and tried to pour it on a little bit we could take control of the game," said Williams, who added eight rebounds. "We're at our best when we do our work early. And we had a chance to get it going and we didn't hesitate."

When the Hawks needed to get going while under some late-game pressure, Johnson found Childress for a crucial 3-pointer on one trip and Bibby found Williams for a jumper on the next possession.

"Because Joe is such a good player we tend to sit around and watch," Childress said. "Joe finished with 28, but I don't think it was one of his harder 28 [point nights]. And that's good for all of us. Because we're hardest to guard when teams have to decide who to leave and who to worry about and can't just focus on stopping Joe."

Childress finished with 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Smith added 15, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Horford finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"Defensively we could have been better," Johnson said. "But offensively we were ready. I told those guys that when they start double-teaming me, be ready because there are going to be open shots. And they did that. Marvin shot the cover off that thing and hit a lot of big shots. Chils hit that big [3-pointer] late.

"And we need that every night. Josh, Marvin, Josh and Al all making big contributions and Mike leading us. That's the only way we're going to win, is if we do it collectively."

Hawks coach Mike Woodson didn't get a chance to rest his starters for most of the fourth quarter, the way he did in Friday's home romp over the Los Angeles Clippers.

But he did empty the bench with the Hawks feeling secure with a 12-point lead and just 1:44 remaining.

"Everybody was solid, and it's going to take a total team effort for this thing to happen," said Woodson, whose team faces Washington tonight. "We've just got to keep pushing."

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[D21]

The bad is that ATL has to be ahead of NJ because even if we win the last game against them, that would give a 2-2 , and it would be on the conference record. And at this moment, NJ has some room being at 20-18 (ATL 16-21).

[Master8492]

^ouch.