Hawks at Mavericks (2/11)

[Jamaaliver]

Not long ago, the Atlanta Hawks were one of the bigger surprises in the NBA. However, their strong first two months appear to be a distant memory with the club on a run of inconsistent play since.

The Hawks (27-22) have stumbled since a 20-10 start, and personnel changes may be coming as speculation swirls around Josh Smith.

Smith had 19 points against New Orleans on Friday, but the Hawks fell victim to Greivis Vasquez's triple-double in a 111-100 home loss.

Atlanta continues to struggle to guard the 3-point line, as the Hornets made 13 of 24 from beyond the arc. The Hawks have allowed opponents to shoot 41.6 percent on 3s as they've lost four of six, and teams are hitting 38.3 percent from 3-point range against Atlanta this season -- among the highest marks in the NBA.

The Hawks led the Hornets by 14 in the second quarter but were outscored 29-16 in the third.

The Mavericks had won three in a row over Atlanta before a 106-89 loss in the teams' regular-season finale April 26. Smith had 23 points and shot 10 of 14 to go with nine rebounds and seven assists.

Team Stat Leaders ATL DAL
Points J. Smith 16.9 O. Mayo 18.0
Rebounds A. Horford 9.7 S. Marion 8.3
Assists J. Teague 6.8 D. Collison 5.3
Steals J. Teague 1.5 D. Collison 1.4
Blocks J. Smith 2.2 E. Brand 1.3

[GrimeyKidd]

Time to win

[Jamaaliver]

Starting linuep expected to be:

AL
Smoove
Tolliver
D Harris
J Teague

We need some wins. We have an easy week heading into the ALL Star Break. Let's start the week off with a victory!

[ATL Boy]

It is imperative that we win these last 2 games heading into the break

[GrimeyKidd]

If this is how we play when josh doesnt take a jumpshot and works the post i want too keep him

[ATL Boy]

They have no answer for Teague

[GrimeyKidd]

Josh has been phenomenal tonight

[Jamaaliver]

If this is how we play when josh doesnt take a jumpshot and works the post i want too keep him

70% of Josh's FGA have been outside of the paint.

He's hitting the jumper, but he really should focus on scoring from the paint. We need him IN THE PAINT!

[ATL Boy]

Awful foul on Zaza at the end of the 3rd

[Jamaaliver]

Zaza, AL and Josh have combined for 30 rebounds tonight. That's BIG!

Not bad for two PFs and a backup center.

[Rip2137]

When Josh removes that weird hitch from his jumper he is a competent shooter. Then it randomly comes back. I honestly don't get it. When his release is on the way up, its a decent shot. When he tries to shoot at the top of his jump, its streaky(mostly bad streak).

By the way, I have never understood why Brandon Wright never got a solid chance in the league. I mean, I understand Nellies hate of traditional bigs hurt him early in his career, but its just been weird since then. He has great shotblock timing, a solid midrange shot, not the greatest of post defenders, but not bad either, solid rebounder....I don't get it.

[Rip2137]

That was a cheap 5th foul on Josh.

[Rip2137]

not feeling good about this.

[Rip2137]

Well...feel better now!

[Jamaaliver]

Agreed about B Wright.

His career just sort of ended. Before it truly started.

[Rip2137]

Big win, especially with the other losses in the conference tonight.

[GrimeyKidd]

Keeping J-Smoove. I say a firm No to the Nets

[GrimeyKidd]

Keeping J-Smoove. I say a firm No to the Nets

[parson]

Well, we putzed around and acted like we didn't want to play but we won, anyway.

One thing we need to learn: when we're playing teams that are weaker than us inside, we need to pound them. Forget about style points; grind out a runaway win. How many times are we going to see Smith go 4-5 from 3?

[parson]

Keeping J-Smoove. I say a firm No to the Nets

Relax, there's no way Ferry would take Humphries or Wallace. That's insane. It's just the NY papers talking. Now, if they offered Lopez...