Mar 3, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) drives against Los Angeles Lakers small forward Metta World Peace (15) during the game at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Greetings! It was a gauntlet of a week that featured four road games for Atlanta, with the final three on the West coast. Let’s take a look at what transpired.

Hawks @ Pistons — Monday, February 25th — Win (114-103)

As of Monday, “The Al Horford Show” was in full swing. Horford finished with 23 points (on 10-for-13 shooting) and a ridiculous 22 rebounds in the win over Detroit, and he was every bit as good as the numbers indicated. Detroit simply had no answer for him, and even with a quality big on the other side (Greg Monroe), there was little resistance for Horford. Outside of Al’s performance, the key to the road win here was the play of Jeff Teague, who used a steady hand to produce 20 points (on just 13 shots) and 12 assists, while  holding Jose Calderon to a bad (3-11) shooting night on the other end. Detroit is obviously a weaker opponent, but this was a “take care of business” spot and the Hawks did just that in the Motor City.

Hawks @ Jazz — Wednesday, February 27th — Win (102-91)

This is easily the best result of the week. Remember “The Al Horford Show”? Well, it’s finest hour may have been in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night. Horford had his best performance of the season, scoring 34 points (on 14-22 shooting), grabbing 15 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots in the victory. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone in an Atlanta Hawks uniform play at this type of level, and he was absolutely outstanding throughout the game, abusing Al Jefferson and company on both ends. Josh Smith was no slouch either, as he went for 24 points, 14 boards, and 7 assists in the game, coupling with Horford to win the front-court battle against one of the league’s best collections of talent. Winning on the road when you have a 47-38 rebounding disadvantage is extremely hard, but that’s what Atlanta managed to do here on the backs of Horford/Smith, and a sterling 49% FG percentage. The stat of the night? Atlanta scored a mind-boggling 54 points in the paint in this one. That trend likely won’t continue, but it was beautiful.

Hawks @ Suns — Friday, March 1st — Loss (92-87)

For as well as Atlanta played in Salt Lake, they played as poorly in Phoenix. There is no shame in losing on the road in the NBA, but with Phoenix performing at the level that they’ve established lately, this is a game Atlanta should win. The Hawks committed 20 turnovers and shot just 42.5% from the field in this one, suffering through poor performances from both Jeff Teague (3-11 FG, 4 turnovers, 1 assist) and Josh Smith (2-11 FG, 0-5 3-PT, 5 turnovers) to fall flat offensively. It’s very tough for this roster to win games when 2 of their 3 best players play poorly, and both guys were pretty much wretched throughout. The bright spots came from Al Horford (20 points, 7 boards, 8-16 FG) and Kyle Korver (17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 threes), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the bad. Phoenix’s bench was the difference in the game, as they had four bench guys go for 11+ points, and they got a combined 7-10 shooting from 3-point distance out of Marcus Morris and Wes Johnson. Yikes.

Hawks @ Lakers — Sunday, March 3rd — Loss (99-98)

This was a barn-burner. The Hawks trailed by as many as 16 points in the 3rd quarter, before surging (on the back of 12 consecutive points from Devin Harris) back into the game, and eventually taking the lead at points during the 4th quarter. In the final moments, there were several crucial plays, including a highlight dunk from Kobe Bryant (on Josh Smith!), an egregious no-call on a traveling violation by Bryant that led to two decisive free throws, and a beautiful high-low from Josh Smith to Al Horford for a lay-up. In the end, however, it came down to a final possession as the Hawks trailed by one with 9 seconds remaining, and Jeff Teague’s pass to Josh Smith was a hair late causing Smith to fumble and not be able to get a shot off in time. Al Horford was very good (again) with 24 points, but outside of his performance, the biggest contributions came off of the bench. Devin Harris went crazy in 3rd quarter (mentioned above) and finished with 16 points and 6 assists in 24 minutes, while Kyle Korver played all of crunch time, and went for 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. One crucial stat for Atlanta was terrible free-throw shooting, as the Hawks shot just 8-for-15 as a team, and Josh Smith converted exactly zero of his six free throw attempts. It’s the little things when you’re trying to win high-level road games, and that was a black mark in the biggest way. In the end, it was a solid performance, but it wasn’t quite enough for a road win in that building.

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If you told me that this was a 2-2 week, I would have believed (in a vacuum) that Atlanta lost in Salt Lake City and LA, and won in Phoenix and Detroit. Frankly, winning in Salt Lake is probably an overachievement by this roster, and while the Phoenix performance was underwhelming, a 2-2 week with 4 road games is fairly solid. The difference between an outstanding week and an average one was simply a quarter-of-a-second on the Teague-to-Smith pass on Sunday night. Sometimes, it’s just that close.

SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Atlanta Hawks all-star caliber center Al Horford straight up dominated the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, scoring 23 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a 114-103 victory.

With such a stellar game, it wasn’t only Hawks history that Horford was making. It was NBA history as well.

In order to provide the proper perspective on Horford’s career night, I’ll let stat masters ESPN and Elias Sports Bureau do the talking…

Horford Posts A 20-20 Game

With a performance more typical of the last century, Al Horford scored 23 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the Hawks’ 114-103 win at Detroit. It was the third time that Horford posted a 20-20 game, something no other Atlanta player has done since Dikembe Mutombo did it six times during his five seasons with the Hawks (1996-2001).

– Elias Sports Bureau

Horford’s career night

Al Horford tied his career high Monday with 22 rebounds against the Pistons. It was the first time since 2008 that a player recorded 23 points and 22 rebounds in a game while shooting at least 75 percent (Tyson Chandler, Jan. 4).

– ESPN Stats and Information

Feb 25, 2013; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) shoots during the second quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

With Zaza Pachulia was sidelined with a tight Achilles tendon, Larry Drew deployed a more conventional starting lineup by pairing the Hawks Big 3 with DeShawn Stevenson and Kyle Korver. As a result, Al Horford, Josh Smith and Jeff Teague powered the Atlanta Hawks past the Detroit Pistons 114-103.

There was no question where the Detroit Pistons go for offense. In the first quarter, the Pistons outscored the Hawks 18-4 in the paint. They finished with a 66-26 margin but their poor perimeter defense allowed this to be a non-factor. Devin Harris hit a couple of three pointer to help the Hawks match the Pistons low post presence.

Dahntay Jones also saw time in the first quarter off the bench. He was able to hit his first bucket in a Hawks uniform in the second quarter. Jeff Teague and Rodney Stuckey matched up other with numerous run-out layups in the first half. Al Horford was near automatic in the first half going 6-7 with 13 points and 13 rebounds, including 5 offensive.

The Hawks defense was able to throw the Pistons’ offense out of rhythm in the second half, and they never even sniffed the lead from that point on. The Atlanta Hawks are simply in another league. It’s unfortunate to see the Pistons struggle so badly but there was clearly a more talented team on the floor tonight.

The Hawks assisted on 31 of 40 made buckets and broke down the Detroit defense with ease. Per usual, there was a high reliance on three point shots, but they were flying through the net with a high frequency.

This is the fifth win in six games for the Hawks, with the lone loss in Miami against the World Champions. There were numerous good signs, despite the weaker competition. The speed and aggressiveness of the point guards and the accuracy of the shooters is something that will carry the Hawks to success or failure in the months ahead. Make no mistake, the Hawks’s foundation rests firmly in its pillars in the paint: Al Horford and Josh Smith. When those two can use their athleticism and chemistry with one another, there are few defenses that can slow them down.

The Atlanta Hawks have risen to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, pushing past the Brooklyn Nets. Within sight are the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, both no more than 2 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta. If the Hawks can repeat this type of performance, they may find themselves near the very top of the conference.

Game Balls:

1. Al Horford: He has been on a tear in recent games but this is his finest performance to date. He finished with a monster line of 23 points and 22 rebounds. Over the last 6 games, Horford has shot 69% (65/94) in the last 6 games. Al Horford even drained his fourth career three pointer in the state he attended high school.

2. Jeff Teague: He continues to push the pace in tandem with Devin Harris. He continued a streak of 9 straight games with at least 8 assists and finished one off his career high in that category.

3. Josh Smith: Rounding out the Hawks Big 3 is J Smoove. He started slow but finished very strong. Like the other two, he surpassed 20 points and added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and good defense like always.