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Joe Johnson didn’t realize just how many different combinations of players the Hawks could use until he started seeing it for himself.

On paper, the Hawks’ improved depth at key positions make for some rather interesting possibilities.

On the floor, however, those possibilities have turned out to be even more dangerous than even Johnson could have imagined.

“I warned [Charlotte’s] Jason Richardson that we were going to pick them apart with the group we had out there at the end,” Johnson said of the final minutes of the Hawks’ 102-96 preseason win over the Bobcats Saturday. “If they tried to come up and trap me I had three different ways I could go with the ball.”

In that particular instance Johnson went to Acie Law IV in the corner with the 20 seconds to play, Law’s 3-point dagger providing the Hawks with a 98-92 cushion.

Before that, starting point guard Mike Bibby was busy putting on a show, scoring nine of his 14 points in a wicked three-minute stretch that showcased how truly versatile this Hawks’ team can be.

“They didn’t know where it was coming from next,” Johnson said of the Hawks’ 30-point fourth-quarter finish to the game. “And how could they? A lot of people, including myself, are seeing how this works for the first time. And that works to our advantage.”

With all three members of his starting frontcourt — Josh Smith, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia — in foul trouble early and often, Hawks coach Mike Woodson had to employ some “small ball.”

There were several instances during the game, and particularly down the stretch, where a combination of Johnson, Bibby, Law and either Flip Murray (18 points in the win) and/or Mo Evans (13 points) were on the floor together.

It’s an effective new wrinkle that no one should be surprised to see again tonight when the Hawks host Orlando in a preseason game at Philips Arena — or in the future.

“The nice thing about what I’m seeing is that when teams want to play small ball we have enough to play small ball,” Woodson said. “That was kind of our game last year, when we caused a lot of havoc playing small ball. We’re kind of mixing and matching it now based on how we do with fouls.

“But it was kind of nice to see Flip and Mo get into a flow, and they’ve been pretty solid all the way through camp, but this is huge for us.”

The Hawks made nine of their first 13 3-point shots and 11-for-20 on the night with Johnson (3-for-4), Bibby (2-for-4), Law (3-for-3), Evans (2-fot-5) and Murray (1-for-4) doing all the damage.

“It’s a different look for us,” said Johnson, whose 22 points marked his highest scoring total of the preseason. “Different in a good way, of course.”

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