He’s baaaaaaaack!

The week-long stretch of Hawkward Reunions continues tonight with J-J-J-J-J-J-Joe Johnson coming back to The Highlight Factory (oh, yeah, you too, Jerry Stackhouse) with the Brooklyn Nets. The six-time All-Star’s return to the Philips Arena floor will likely be met with applause from Atlanta Hawks fans, at least those that remember the not-so-good ole days before he got here. But will his grand return be a triumphant one? This will be a double-dip for the Hawks and Nets, as both teams will fly up to Prospect Heights for another clash on Friday.

Atlanta traded off one “team leader” in July and will go into tonight’s contest without another, as the staff suspended Josh Smith one game for being a baaaaaad boyyyyyy in practice Tuesday. This should result in ample floor time for Anthony Tolliver, Ivan Johnson, and Mike Scott to help Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia match up against the Nets’ stout frontline. Horford will need a big game, playing as a legitimate big and going at Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche, if the Hawks intend to compete tonight.

The burden of added leadership responsibilities is apparently weighing heavily on Smith, who seems to misunderstand that role as trying to be “Joe with Blocks and Steals.” Now shooting almost four three-pointers per night this month (2.3 3FGAs per game for the season, a career high) without averaging even one make, his field goal percentage in January (42.9 FG%) is approaching his free throw percentage (43.3 FT%), a feat which, for most players, would be a good thing. Smith’s season-long true shooting percentage of 47.4% is easily the lowest of his career, while his per-game rebounding (6.2 RPG, down from 7.5, which ranked 6^th in the NBA last season) is his lowest in four seasons. He’s still getting the pretty blocked shots on help defense, but it’s at the cost of rebounds he and his teammates are readily conceding to the opposition.

After the Epic Fail that was the 97-58 goring at the hoofs of the Chicago Bulls, the Hawks find themselves momentarily amid surging teams in the East. The Boston Celtics, one game below them, have won six straight, while the Nets have caught fire with seven straight victories.

While Smoove and the Hawks continue their downward spiral, Joe is making his predictable pre-All-Star Game run with January numbers (20.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.1 TO/G, 47.6 FG%; 47.8 3FG%) up across the board from December (17.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.1 TO/G, 43.1 FG%, 34.7 3FG%). DeShawn Stevenson’s status is still unknown after having his knee examined yesterday, but he’ll be eager to be an impediment against Joe and his former squad.

Reigning Eastern Conference Coach of the Month Larry Drew will be game-planning to stop the bleeding against a team that canned the previous award winner before going on a 9-1 tear. Finger-hickeyed P.J. Carlesimo’s troops are coming off a 113-106 win at Barclays Center last night against the improving Toronto Raptors. The Raps’ 106 points were the most that the Nets have given up in regulation since the 108-93 loss in Milwaukee on December 26 that dropped the Nets to a mediocre 14-14 and proved to be Avery Johnson’s swan song.

It won’t surprise you much to know that a team featuring Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez on offense moves at the slowest pace in the NBA (87.9 possessions per 48 minutes). The offense, however, has picked up considerably in the points column. Brooklyn’s reached triple-digits in six wins during this ten-game stretch under Carlesimo, a mark achieved just seven times in the prior 28 games under the Little General. With the surge, Brooklyn now ranks third in the East in both scoring and scoring defense.

Deron Williams is growing more comfortable as a floor leader for this team (just 2.0 TO/G in his last ten games; 3.0 in his prior 27). His turnover rate is by far the lowest of his career as an everyday starter. Unfortunately, so is his assist rate, as Johnson iso-dribbles in the clutch and Lopez backs opponents under the basket. Yet you get the sense that he and his teammates have figured out there’s enough quality depth where no one player has to go out and try to do everything. Joe, Deron, Brook (each with 20+ points last night), Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries recognize they can get paid handsomely without having to play Headliner Heroball for 40+ minutes anymore.

Wallace has lived up to his nickname. Crash kicked off the season by spraining his ankle, and has been out for the last two games with bruised ribs after a characteristically rough spill early in a game against Phoenix. Wallace will be needed on the floor if the Hawks elect to go big at small forward (less urgent now, with Smith out for the Hawks). He’ll be a game-time decision. Fellow journeyman Keith Bogans has been spelling Crash as of late, to muted effect.

Reggie Evans has supplanted TMZ favorite Humphries in the starting lineup and has failed to disappoint, leading the NBA in total rebounding percentage (24.8 per 100 possessions) and defensive rebounding percentage (37.1 per 100), while remaining a notorious thorn-in-the-side. The array of bigs at Brooklyn’s disposal is making life miserable in the paint for opponents. Beyond team scoring leader Lopez, there’s the resuscitated Andray Blatche (double-digit points in 6 of his last 7 games), Humphries, and even rookie free agent Mirza Teletovic (double-digit points in two of his last three games) coming off the bench. We’ll get an Ivan-Reggie tête-à-tête if we’re lucky. If we’re luckier, we may get a brief Battle of Georgia between Pachulia and a fellow Tbilisian, the lightly-used rookie Tornike Shengelia.

Free MarShon Brooks! The Tucker High product started 47 games in his rookie season for lowly New Jersey, averaging almost 30 minutes a game, but is getting little burn behind Joe, Bogans, and Wallace. Despite shooting better inside the perimeter (54.2 FG% on two-pointers) than last season (46.3 2FG% in 2011-12), the sophomore still is not trusted enough defensively to get much more than 12 minutes per night.

Former Hawks pre-season standout Damion James has picked up a ten-day contract with the Nets. His addition replaced a more prominent ex-Hawk, Josh Childress, who was waived a couple weeks before.

Similar to Utah, the Net guards are generally not catching anybody on defense. No one in the backcourt aside from the lightly used rookie Tyshawn Taylor has a defensive rating below 105 (including Joe’s 111 points per 100 possessions. Hawk guards will need to be ready to catch-and-shoot, as the Nets may be slow to react. Usually, it’s Smith (4.4 APG) kicking the ball out from the block to get the ball movement started around the arc, so we’ll see if Jeff Teague takes more initiative and whether the replacement forwards pick up some of the slack in Smoove’s absence. Kyle Lowry did the scoring damage against Brooklyn in last night’s game with 21 points in just 15 limited minutes. We’ll see if Lou Williams or Devin Harris can play that Microwave role tonight.

Go Hawks!

~lw3