Bad Weekend! Hawks Fall to Magic, Sixers

The Atlanta Hawks have not only lost three straight, fallen to 7 games behind the Orlando Magic in the Southeast, and slipped into fifth place in the Eastern Conference (half a game behind Detroit), but they've also lost Al Horford to a knee bruise - indefinitely. He will miss at least three games. Tuesday the Hawks will have to make due against Amare and Shaq as they head to Phoenix. Then its off to play the Clippers and Warriors, two teams the Hawks should beat.

Its been a rough week for Hawks fans as they dropped two to the division-leading Magic, in two very similar games. Wednesday night the Magic jumped up by as much as 21 until the Hawks courageously fought back to get within 4 - then time ran out. Friday night there was no comeback as the Magic jumped up by as many as 38, putting a very frustrated Hawks team away early. Orlando currently holds the #2 seed in the East, behind Cleveland.

Horford's absence was certainly felt when the 76ers pushed hard inside to overtake the Hawks on Sunday. High-flying Andre Iguodala and former Yellow Jacket Thaddeus Young pushed around the depleted Hawks front-court, while on their way to a fourth straight win. Philly improves to 17-20, good enough to be tied for the 8th seed (finaly playoff seed). Whether the Hawks can stem this losing streak will hinge on whether they can replace Horford's presence and production down low. That means Zaza, Solo and J-Smooth stepping up to crash the boards, block shots, and play physical basketball against superior big-men like Shaq, Amare, Marcus Camby, and Andris Biedrins. More to come from the Hawks road trip later this week.
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Hawks Show Up in Fourth, Fall Short Against Magic

[photo from ajc.com]


Ah the Highlight Factory. The fire, the music, the Kiss Cam! Its a splendid experience. No better than when its your first time. This was the case tonight as I took in some hoops with my girlfriend, who'd never been to a Hawks game before. It was set to be a great matchup with Dwight Howard's Magic in town. Top of our division, four games ahead. This was big. Though you'd never know it judging by the number of fans - who weren't the only people not to show up.

The Hawks weren't there. Something wasn't clicking, they couldn't find a rhythm. We held close for the first couple of minutes before Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu took over. It felt like they didn't miss a shot for at least ten minutes. At the same time we were getting out-muscled. Understandable, given Howard's size (and let me tell you, he's absolutely enormous in person), but Josh Smith all too often wouldn't drive hard to the hoop. Even on JJ Redick, who had a great game off the bench. We couldn't drain threes, but they could. We couldn't make stops, but they could. We couldn't hit our free throws... well you get the idea. We're down 15 at halftime. Down as much as 21 in the third quarter. Solomon Jones was getting serious minutes battling Howard down low. Something just didn't feel right... then came the fourth.

Hawks fans let me tell you if we played as hard in the rest of the game as we did in the fourth, we may have won by 20 points. We battled back to get within 4 before the Magic even knew what hit them. Flip Murray played smothering defense, taking over whenever he was on the floor. Joe Johnson started to drain jumpers. Josh Smith was making monster dunks. Down 4 with under 2 minutes left, Bibby poked the ball loose and led a fast break all by himself to the basket, no Magic in sight, and easy bucket... but he misses the layup. And we don't get the rebound. Instantly the momentum shifted back to Orlando who were ultimately able to fend us off long enough to win by four, 106-102.

A valiant effort to come back, but it was ugly early and often for the Hawks, losing just their third game at home this season. Luckily for us we can make up that game when we travel to Orlando Friday night for a rematch.

Game Leaders
Dwight Howard: 23 points, 19 rebounds
Hedo Turkoglu: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists
Josh Smith: 21 points, 9 rebounds
Mike Bibby: 17 points, 9 assists (1-5 3PT)
Al Horford: 13 rebounds, 3 blocks
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