Apr 6, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard John Jenkins (12) drives to the basket as San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (left) defends during the second half at the AT

Greetings! It was a rough week in Hawks land, as the injuries mounted, and the win-loss record suffered as a result. Let’s take a look at what transpired.

Hawks vs. Cavs — Monday, April 1st — Win (102-94)

This was a simple, pleasing victory. The Hawks had four players with 16+ points, led by 25 points and 7 assists from Devin Harris, and they managed to win despite allowing 50% shooting to the Cavs, thanks to a rare free throw disparity that saw Atlanta attempt 26 shots from the line. Defensively, it wasn’t a fantastic effort, as the Cavs were able to get some easy baskets (keyed by Marresse Speights going for 23 and 8 off of the bench), but Atlanta did manage to force 14 turnovers, and capitalized with 23 fast-break points on the night. Beating a Kyrie Irving-less Cavs team is no giant feat, but this was a “take care of business” performance and any win, even at home, is valuable during a playoff push.

Hawks @ Knicks — Wednesday, April 3rd — Loss (95-82)

The Hawks ran into a mini-buzzsaw here. Carmelo Anthony followed up a 50-point game against Miami with 40 points on Wednesday night, shooting 17-for-27 from the field, and generally doing everything he could to bury Atlanta in Madison Square Garden. While it seems simple to say that Anthony was the difference, it’s unquestionably true, and his performance transcended the rest of the action. For Atlanta, Kyle Korver had a big game, knocking down 6 threes and finishing with 25 points and 6 rebounds, while Jeff Teague added 15 points. On the downside, Al Horford and Josh Smith each had rough nights, with Horford failing to reach double-figures (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Smith shooting an abysmal 0-7 from the line in route to 10 rebounds and 8 rebounds. This is one of the not-so-rare nights in the league where it pays to have a legitimate superstar and the Hawks were on the wrong end of this one.

Hawks vs. Sixers— Friday, April 5th — Loss (101-90)

Here’s where the week went off of the rails. Losing to a Philly team that came into the game with an 8-27 road record by double-digits is pretty brutal, and when you remember that the “Big Three” of Smith/Horford/Teague all played in the game, it becomes even more inexplicable. Philly knocked down 9-16 from three-point distance, dominated the glass, and won the free throw battle (with some help from Atlanta’s awful 17-27 performance) in the win. Al Horford led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 8-for-19, and Josh Smith posted a team-worst -20 on the night. This is a microcosm of every bad Hawks performance in that a) it wasn’t a back-to-back, b) “energy” (copyright, Larry Drew) was non-existent, and c) the Hawks beat themselves. I need to stop talking about this one.

Hawks @ Spurs — Saturday, April 6th — Loss (99-97)

In all honesty, this was a pretty impressive performance (albeit in a loss) from Atlanta. Josh Smith, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, and Devin Harris all sat out the game with various ailments, and Atlanta was in the game to the very end with the class of the West. Tim Duncan was the best player on the court in the win for San Antonio with 31 points and 14 rebounds, but the story for the Hawks was the bench explosion. Mike Scott had 22 points, Shelvin Mack added 12 points and 8 assists, and John Jenkins led all Hawks with 23 points including 3-3 from three and 6-6 from the free-throw line. Atlanta got destroyed on the glass (even though Johan Petro grabbed 15 rebounds in a rare start), but with the exception of that, the effort level was tremendous, and when you evaluate the on-court rosters, the Hawks had no business being within striking distance at the end of this game. Kudos to Larry Drew and company on a fine effort, even in defeat.

–

You never want to see a 1-3 week in April, but that’s the reality here. As the playoffs approach, every game is key and seeding is up for grabs on a nightly basis, so it’ll be important going forward to grab some wins. In any case, the week ended on a positive note in San Antonio, and maybe that effort will spring board things in the future.

March 30, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks point guard Devin Harris (34) takes the ball down the court in the second half against the Orlando Magic at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 97-88. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Despite some noise being made at a different sporting event across town, the Atlanta Hawks had a match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were without their unquestioned best and most important player – Kyrie Irving warmed up but opted not to play with a sore shoulder.

The result was a solid 102-94 Hawks victory.

In Irving’s place was Shaun Livingston, along with Wayne Ellington in the backcourt, and it showed as the Hawks were able to poke away a number of balls for fast-break opportunities. The Cavaliers looked discombobulated on both sides of the floor, often fouling due to being out of position on the floor and stalling on offense.

Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao also remained out, arguably Cleveland’s second and third best players, so the remaining players had little pressure to steal this game.

Hawks combo guard Devin Harris got to the hoop a number of times early and often and finished with 25 points on a game-high 17 shot attempts.

Kyle Korver extended his three-point streak to 68 games, which ties Reggie Miller for the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, as well as owning the Hawks’ franchise record..

Atlanta played their game at their tempo and dared Cleveland to keep up. The Cavs stuck around in the first half by winning the rebounding battle, but still found themselves down by eight heading into half.

The Cavs found their groove in the second half by swinging the ball around the halfcourt set and knocking down mid-range shots.

Larry Drew called a timeout early into the third quarter and the Hawks responded in a big way. A 16-4 run spelled the end of Cleveland’s hopes for a win in Atlanta.

Maurice Speights tried to keep the Cavaliers in the game single handily,  shooting a lights out 11-15 for 23 points. Still, you won’t win many games giving Chris Quinn and Luke Walton 39 minutes of play.

The game was chippy throughout with tons of jawing and hard fouls.

Boobie Gibson got ejected after getting hit with two technical fouls for repeatedly arguing a call, and Luke Walton almost followed his lead with a reckless shove of Ivan Johnson.

Al Horford fouled out for only the second time this season.

It was clear that one team was severely undermanned and less talented. Preparation for the 2013-14 season has already begun, as young guys like Tyler Zeller and Tristan Thompson have been given a long look at in the past month and will be viewed under a microscope in the following months.

For the Hawks, they currently sit in 5th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a tentative matchup with the beatable Brooklyn Nets looming.

Don’t look now, but there are only nine games left until the regular season is over and the thrilling post-season begins.

Hopefully, the Hawks can hit that benchmark in stride and exceed expectations in late April into May.

Game Balls:

1. Devin Harris: Harris looked like the player he was in New Jersey today. Despite going only 1-7 from long range, he pushed the action and finished at the rim as often as he finished at the line. 8-8 from the stripe helped ice the game for the home team.

2. Josh Smith: Smoove messed around and nearly had a triple double. 18 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists is surely a gaudy total.

3. Al Horford/Jeff Teague: Both were overshadowed by Josh and Devin respectively but put together solid lines. 16 and 6 for Horford and 19 and 9 for Teague. They both had the pick and pop going early and have visibly grown more comfortable together this season being the focal points of the Hawks offense.

ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 1: Devin Harris #34 and DeShawn Stevenson #92 of the Atlanta Hawks high five during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 1, 2013 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Atlanta Hawks were propelled to victory by a dynamic duo — but it wasn’t Al Horford and Josh Smith.

Point guards Devin Harris and Jeff Teague combined for 46 points and 16 assists, as the Hawks cut down the Cavaliers 102-94 Monday night.

Harris was the MVP of the game, scoring a season-high 25 points, on 8-of-17 shooting, while adding seven assists, three rebounds and three steals in 43 minutes of action.

Teague hit four 3-pointers, as he tallied 19 points and nine assists to go with three boards and two thefts.

Josh Smith narrowly missed posting a triple-double, as he finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. He shot 50 percent from the field (7-of-14) and the foul-line (4-of-8), respectively.

Al Horford logged the least amount of minutes amongst the Hawks starters, but still had a solid game with 16 points, on 8-of-13 shooting, and six boards.

Kyle Korver hit three 3-pointers, extending his streak with at least one triple made to 68 games straight. That ties Reggie Miller’s mark for the fourth-longest streak of all-time.

Atlanta’s victory extended Cleveland’s losing-streak to nine straight.

The Cavs were led by reserve power forward Marreese Speights, who had a fantastic game with 23 points in 25 minutes of action. He shot 11-of-15 overall and added eight rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.

Kyrie Irving was inactive for the game. He will not play in back-to-backs for the remainder of the season following his return from injury. Shaun Livingston started in his place and chipped in with 14 points, six helpers, five caroms and two thefts. He played a team-high 36 minutes and shot 6-of-10 from the field.

Tyler Zeller (12), Alonzo Gee (11) and Wayne Ellington (10) were also in double-figures.