Full Recap: Hawks Win Big vs. Bobcats In 1st Game Without Al Horford
By Editorial Staff
We all know the Hawks will take a step back with Horford out, but at least we know that the Hawks will not be Charlotte Bobcats bad.
With Horford out, the Hawks expect Joe Johnson and Josh Smith to step up their play, and they certainly did tonight.
Joe Johnson and Josh Smith had a combined 53 points (21-40), 20 rebounds, and 11 assists.
You probably won’t see that great of a stat line as Hawks play tougher opponents later on, but give credit to Joe Johnson and Josh Smith for taking the lead in this game as the two captains and leaders of the team.
Joe and Josh were the two highest contributors, but overall, it was a great all around effort from the entire team in this blowout win.
Final Score: Bobcats 81 | Hawks 111
After the jump, see some of the other game notes I have from this Hawks win…
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SDS Player of the Game (Josh Smith)
Once again, Josh Smith gets the nod for the Player of the Game. He’s still the only Hawks player that has received the award more than once from me this season. Josh Smith really helped a lot of fantasy owners out there, finishing with 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He also shot the ball at a high percentage (14-22)….although, it would have been higher if he stopped taking ill advised mid range jump shots. Also, don’t expect this kind of production from Josh Smith every game, he’s not going to be facing Boris Diaw in every game.
The Joe Johnson of old?
It was a weird sight to see. Joe Johnson played like the Joe Johnson of old. The one that took it upon himself to carry the scoring load, the one that made great assists, the one that helped out on the boards. Joe Johnson had a great game yesterday. He finished the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Joe Johnson could have probably finished with a higher point total, but he missed more than a couple open jump shots (2-8 from beyond the arc).
Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Great?
Ivan “the Terrible” is just a terrible nickame because he’s not a terrible player. I thought he was at first, but he actually has some talent. He’s not a finished product by any means, but the energy he provides in a nightly basis will always be seen. He finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds before fouling out late in the 4th quarter.
No Horford? That’s okay, we can still rebound..
A combination of great effort by the Hawks and little effort by the Bobcats, gave the Hawks a +25 rebounding advantage over the Bobcats. The Hawks grabbed 55 rebounds compared to the Bobcats’ 30. 20 of the 55 rebounds were offensive boards. Hawks had six players grabbing 6 or more rebounds: Smith (13), Pachulia (10), Radmanovic (8), J. Johnson (7), I. Johnson (7), and Teague (6). The Bobcats’ leader in rebounds was Boris Diaw with 6.
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Bobcats & Hawks Players & Coaches Quotes/Reactions:
"Defense, rebounding, help each other out, gang rebounding. Even the guards have to come in there and help out a little bit. Ivan has done a good job thus far with the toughness. I think everyone else needs to pick it up."
Coach Larry Drew on the overall performance:
"That was a gutsy performance by the entire team. Today has been somewhat of a slumber day . . . with our walk-through prior to the game, you could kind of see it in the guys’ body language. I told them this is going to be a time for us to come together. Our season is not over. We have to step up to the challenge thrown before us, and I thought our guys tonight played with an enormous amount of energy"
Coach Larry Drew on Marvin Williams:
"I don’t know when he will be back to play. He was in here earlier and said he’s feeling good so hopefully he will be back soon."
Coach Paul Silas on the Hawks:
"They just beat us down tonight. They got almost as many offensive rebounds (20) as we had total rebounds (30). That’s difficult to accept. I was pleased with some of our bench play (out-scoring Atlanta 27-25) . . . but the first unit just didn’t come with us (out-scored 86-54 and out-rebounded 44-15)."
Al Horford tweeting after the game:
"Hey everyone I’m doing good. Just trying to get back on the court as soon as I can. Proud of how the guys played tonight. Go Hawks!"
Larry Drew on what the win meant for him:
"If you look at this game and the game at Houston, you see two different ballclubs. We have to become a more consistent ballclub. When we reach that stage, yeah, we can start talking about statements. Right now we are just trying to find ourselves as a club and get better."
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Extra Short Notes:
- The Bobcats never led in this game (zero lead changes).
- Final Attendance: 10,597. I would have guessed around 7-8,000…
- Zaza Pachulia had a quiet double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
- Five Hawks players were in double digits in scoring: Josh Smith (30), Joe Johnson (23), Jeff Teague (16), Ivan Johnson (12), and Willie Green (11).
- Out of Hawks’ 42 field goals, 29 of them were assisted.
- Hawks limited their turnovers, only 9.
- The Atlanta Hawks had their season high in points in with 111. Previous season high was 109 (done twice).
- The season high record was broken with a Jerry Stackhouse dunk in the last 37 seconds of the game. Would not be surprised at all if Stackhouse complain about a sore back or knees…
- Byron Mullens led the Bobcats with 21 points. Dude can hit mid range shots and run the floor pretty well.
- Dominique Wilkins celebrated his birthday yesterday, he’s now 52.
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Other Recaps:
- Roberto Gato- Bobcats Fall Hard in Atlanta (Click here)
- Rufus on Fire- Hawks Run Bobcats Out Of Arena (metaphorically), 111-81 (Click here)
- Hoopinion- Initial Feedback: First Test Passed (Click here)
- Peachtree Hoops- Bobcats vs. Hawks Final Score: Atlanta Hawks 111, Charlotte Bobcats 81 (Click here)
- AJC Blog- Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 111, Bobcats 81 (Click here)
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Next Game:
Ricky Rubio!!!! The Hawks’ next game is against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, January 14th.
The Timberwolves aren’t a top tier team, but they should provide a better test on where the Hawks stand with Al Horford out with an injury. Zaza, Josh Smith, and Ivan Johnson better look at film on how to box out Kevin Love…
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