Heat back on top after big win

[Hawksquawk]

It's hard to know which are the big games this season. With several teams going through difficult stretches each week, it isn't easy finding a matchup between two quality teams who are (relatively) healthy and rested.

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[Admin]

How about your Atlanta Hawks? It's pretty amazing how much our defense has improved this year and we've done well without Al for the most part defensively, although our offense has definitely struggled at times without him and clearly our rebounding has taken a big hit.

This year

4 Atlanta (15-6)

Pace: 93.0 (22), Off: 102.5 (9), Def: 95.6 (4)

Atlanta is mostly winning with defense, while getting just enough offense from Joe Johnson and a random teammate selected nightly. Marvin Williams has made 10 of his last 13 threes, and Johnson's wild three at the end of regulation helped the Hawks pull a victory out of thin air in Detroit on Friday.

Last year

11 Atlanta (13-8)

Pace: 92.6 (25), Off: 106.8 (9), Def: 104.0 (15)

It's too early to tell how Joe Johnson's absence will affect the Hawks. Without him, they got an offensive win over the Grizzlies, a defensive win over the Sixers, and then couldn't crack 80 points in Miami. They've lost 11 of their last 12 against the Magic, but may catch a break Monday if Dwight Howard is still out.

[capstone21]

It's hard to know which are the big games this season. With several teams going through difficult stretches each week, it isn't easy finding a matchup between two quality teams who are (relatively) healthy and rested.

View the full article

I think it was more of a choke on Chicago's side. Rose missed both Free Throws to put them ahead.

[ATLSmith]

I think it was more of a choke on Chicago's side. Rose missed both Free Throws to put them ahead.

Yea, I had the game on in the background and watched the last 2 minutes. Man, I've never rooted for the Bulls so hard in my life... Ha. Rose missed those free throws but the guys is still a beast. Some of the buckets he made were incredible.

The Hawks came out on a mission against the Hornets, you know they watched some of that earlier game.

[macdaddy]

#4 is pretty sweet. The improvement in defense from last year to this year is dramatic and obviously is the key to our success. To me the two things keeping us from being a top tier team were defense and clutch scoring. We have some guys now who can do both. Obviously we try to count on Joe, and Smoove and Marvin have stepped up in the clutch some, but we also have Teague, Green, Tmac, and Rad who can knock down shots when needed and aren't huge liabilities on defense.

Go Hawks!

[Guest]

What a difference having a PG that can defend so we don't have to switch every single screen does for an entire teams defensive philosophy. Also, having veteran players on the bench that can actually play is worth a whole lot.

[Nicholasp27]

I love how chi and Miami are 'heads and shoulders above the rest of the east' when hawks are #4 and beat both those teams at full strength along with another strong 3 quarters against the bulls at full strength

[EazyRoc]

I love how chi and Miami are 'heads and shoulders above the rest of the east' when hawks are #4 and beat both those teams at full strength along with another strong 3 quarters against the bulls at full strength

Lack of true star and our own jekyll and Hyde nature prevents writers.from getting behind us. I mean who wants to put their name and reputation on the line only for them to drop games like that Heat game when they were without Wade and James.

[Peoriabird]

I love how chi and Miami are 'heads and shoulders above the rest of the east' when hawks are #4 and beat both those teams at full strength along with another strong 3 quarters against the bulls at full strength

You got to love it!

[Admin]

I love how chi and Miami are 'heads and shoulders above the rest of the east' when hawks are #4 and beat both those teams at full strength along with another strong 3 quarters against the bulls at full strength

I'm with you... but damn 3/4 of Hawksquawk act like we're among the worst teams in the league so why should national writers get behind us?

[Diesel]

#4 is pretty sweet. The improvement in defense from last year to this year is dramatic and obviously is the key to our success. To me the two things keeping us from being a top tier team were defense and clutch scoring. We have some guys now who can do both. Obviously we try to count on Joe, and Smoove and Marvin have stepped up in the clutch some, but we also have Teague, Green, Tmac, and Rad who can knock down shots when needed and aren't huge liabilities on defense.

Go Hawks!

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR??

is that respect that I see peaking into Atlanta?

OK, where is Ashton?

[Sothron]

Lack of true star and our own jekyll and Hyde nature prevents writers.from getting behind us. I mean who wants to put their name and reputation on the line only for them to drop games like that Heat game when they were without Wade and James.

People hate to hear this, myself included, but this is the truth. We don't have a superstar and when we lose it is an all out no effort stinker that looks worse than just another "L" in the w/l column.

[BrazilianHawk]

I think it was more of a choke on Chicago's side. Rose missed both Free Throws to put them ahead.

The so-called MVP shoots too much, and takes his fellow players out of the game, pretty much the same Smoove does with the Hawks from time to time.

I don't fear the Bulls at all, I wish we would get to Conference finals and play them again.

[Rattler4life000]

Yep, the so call mvp, look how many shots he took to get his 30 something points, he was like 11- for 30?....

Rose, 11-28, 0-4 at 3pt...... Not a high percentage

[EazyRoc]

Derrick Rose kept his team in the game until he missed the free throws. He deserves to be the MVP. The Bulls would be hopeless without him.

The so-called MVP shoots too much, and takes his fellow players out of the game, pretty much the same Smoove does with the Hawks from time to time.

I don't fear the Bulls at all, I wish we would get to Conference finals and play them again.

I agree that he should defer more, but Boozer has been utterly disappointing and Hamilton and Deng both need to be set up to score. Derrick Rose is a bonafide MVP caliber player. With that said, I believe we could beat them in a 7 game series.

[Rattler4life000]

He's a great player, I'm just saying look how many shots he took to get his 34.... I like our chances in a 7 game series too if it comes down to that.

[yungsta]

I watched that game yesterday the heat had control of the game at the end but they were awful finishing the game. The last couple of plays was stand 5 ft behind the three point, wait til the shot clock was down to 3 secs and jack up a contested long 2 pointer and when they got the o-rebound they did not waste anymore clock but just jacked up a quick shot and missed.

[WraithSentinel]

http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/year/2012/week/5

You know what? The Hawks' 8-2 record without Al Horford -- with only three of those wins coming against teams (Wolves, Blazers, Bucks) playing what you'd call decent basketball -- is a touch easier to explain than the fact Horford was averaging only a modest 12.4 ppg and 7.0 rpg when he got hurt.

Another insult by Espn directed at the Hawks? I think so.

[Admin]

http://espn.go.com/n...ear/2012/week/5

You know what? The Hawks' 8-2 record without Al Horford -- with only three of those wins coming against teams (Wolves, Blazers, Bucks) playing what you'd call decent basketball -- is a touch easier to explain than the fact Horford was averaging only a modest 12.4 ppg and 7.0 rpg when he got hurt.

Another insult by Espn directed at the Hawks? I think so.

It certainly sounds like it could be insulting ... although their ranking of us at #9 seems far more accurate than NBA.com having us 4th. Any honest fan would tell you that we're not the 4th best team in the league, hell we're not even the 4th best team in the East, at least not without Al.

[benhillboy]

Directions: Take Power Rankings and mix well with grain of salt.