Feb 20, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) hangs on the rim after dunking the ball against the Miami Heat during the second half at Philips Arena. The Heat defeated the Hawks 103-90. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Greetings! After a week full of trade rumors and suspense, the roster remained (relatively) unchanged, and as far as Josh Smith is concerned, the biggest focus after Thursday afternoon was his on-court performance against the Kings and Bucks. Let’s take a look at what transpired on the court this week.

Hawks vs. Heat — Wednesday, February 20th — Loss (103-90)

For three quarters, this was a really nice performance from Atlanta. They led Miami by a 73-63 margin after 36 minutes, and things were looking favorable for a rare win over the defending champions. Then, the Heat’s offense absolutely exploded. Miami scored 40 points (to just 17 for Atlanta) in the final frame, stepping on the gas in a way that only they can and putting Atlanta away. Ray Allen and Shane Battier, not exactly the two likeliest sources, combined for 24 of the 40 Miami points in the frame, as they teamed up to knock down five momentum-grabbing threes. Lebron James was Lebron James, finishing with 24 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds, but this was a total team effort from the Heat. On the Atlanta side, it was a masterful performance from Al Horford (12-15 shooting, 27 points, 9 rebounds) but the Jeff Teague/Josh Smith duo combined to shoot 9-25 from the field, and 19 turnovers were too much to overcome. It’s not always as easy as “better team wins”, but on this night, when the real Heat showed up, it was over in the blink of an eye.

Hawks vs. Kings — Friday, February 22nd — Win (122-108)

It wasn’t always pretty, but in the end, the Hawks were able to dispose of the woeful Kings. Sacramento led by 9 after the first quarter, and by 3 at the half, before Atlanta dominated the second half by scoring 61 points and clamping down on defense. It was a highly efficient offensive performance from both Al Horford and Josh Smith, as each player shot at least 66% from the field (8-12 from Smith, 11-14 from Horford) and the two combined for just one turnover on the night. Sacramento entered the game as one of the league’s worst defenses, and that point was proven over and over again. On the bright side for the Kings, Isaiah Thomas finished with 30 points and 9 assists, and he was flanked by a 26-point, 13-rebound performance from DeMarcus Cousins. Unfortunately for Sacramento, the Atlanta defense came alive, and Cousins was held to just four 4th-quarter points. On most nights when the Hawks shot 53% from the field as a team, high-point totals will follow, and this was no different. A ho-hum victory.

Hawks @ Bucks — Saturday, February 23rd — Win (103-102)

Winning on the road in the NBA is hard enough… but winning on the road when you’re badly outrebounded (58-41) and outshot from the field (46% to 43%)??? That is impressive. That’s where the Hawks found themselves on Saturday night, and with a late charge, they snuck out a win in Milwaukee. Atlanta trailed by seven with under 3 minutes to go, but with Devin Harris and Josh Smith (sigh) making huge threes followed by the patented Smith-to-Horford high-low securing a dunk, the Hawks were down just one on the final possession. Then, Al Horford went right at Larry Sanders (the NBA’s blocks leader, no less) and converted the game-winner with 5 seconds to go. The story of the night for the Hawks was incredible three-point shooting, as the team combined to shoot 14-28 and five Hawks made at least two threes on the night led by Devin Harris’s 4-for-5 showing. This performance, along with 27 assists to just 11 turnovers, overcame a woeful shooting night from Josh Smith (6-19) and Kyle Korver (2-10) to grab victory. Some of Atlanta’s overriding problems did show themselves on this night, however, as they allowed a ghastly 17 offensive rebounds, but in the end, this was an incredibly positive result. The “same, old Hawks” would have shut it down in the 4th quarter, but this group battled to the end, executed their stuff (including yet another great call out of a timeout by Larry Drew, who is suddenly awesome at this), and out-willed Milwaukee. Really a nice win.

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As we look back at the week that was, a 2-1 result with an understandable loss to the defending champions is certainly within the realm of acceptable outcomes. This team is certainly capable (and frankly, almost certain) of holding on to a playoff seed, and even avoiding the 8th spot (and the match-up with Miami) in order to give themselves a puncher’s chance in round one of the playoffs. That is the “focus” of the season after the deadline, and with this core in tact for at least four more months, it’s time to play.

Rocky Widner/NBA/Getty Images

Game Preview

Let’s all welcome Sacramento to town!

The Kings feature the league’s worst defense, allowing over 108 points per 100 possessions. Their roster never made sense from the beginning (a million power forwards, a million combo guards, not much else), and while their overall talent level isn’t disastrous, things don’t match up.

DeMarcus Cousins could pose serious issues up front as an offensively-skilled mauler, but if Al Horford and the Hawks can keep him out of the deep box he can be neutralized. This is also a good match-up (size-wise) on the perimeter for Atlanta, as the Kings deploy several small guards in a similar mold to the Harris/Teague/Jenkins trio.

This is a game you have to win, especially at home.

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Quick Facts

Who?: Atlanta Hawks vs Sacramento Kings

What?: East vs West Showdown (Game #53, Home Game #28)

Where?: Philips Area (Atlanta, GA)

When?: Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 – 7:30 PM (EST)

How?: SportSouth HDTV / 680 AM & 93.7 FM

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Projected Starting Lineups

Atlanta Hawks: 

PG: Jeff Teague | SG: DeShawn Stevenson | SF: Josh Smith | PF: Al Horford | C: Zaza Pachulia

Sacramento Kings:

PG: Isaiah Thomas | SG: Tyreke Evans | SF: John Salmons | PF: Jason Thompson | C: DeMarcus Cousins

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Injury/Inactive Players Report

Atlanta Hawks: Lou Williams (torn right ACL) is out.

Sacramento Kings: None.

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Current Records/Streak & Hot, Lukewarm, or Cold

Records: Atlanta Hawks (29-23) … Sacramento Kings (19-36)

Streaks: Atlanta Hawks –> OVERALL: Lost 1 / HOME: Lost 2 / ROAD: Won 2 … Sacramento Kings –> OVERALL: Lost 3 / HOME: Lost 1 / ROAD: Lost 6

Home/Away Records: Hawks are (17-10) at home … Kings are (5-23) away.

Atlanta Hawks: Lukewarm. The Hawks won two straight before the All-Star break but dropped the first game back as the Miami Heat rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Atlanta 103-90 on Wednesday.

Sacramento Kings: Cold. It’s been 12 days since Sacramento has won a game. 28 days since their last road victory.

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Season/Past Season Series

The Kings come to Philips Arena for the only time this year in the second-and-final showdown with the Hawks. Atlanta posted a 112-96 triumph on 11/16 in the first meeting. Kyle Korver (22), Lou Williams (21) and Al Horford (20 and 10 rebounds) all scored 20-plus points that night, while Jason Thompson put in 19 to pace Sacramento. The Hawks currently own a nine-game winning streak in the series, including five straight at Philips Arena. Sacramento’s last win in the series was a 119-107 home decision on 2/20/08, with the last win at Philips Arena coming on 3/3/06 (102-93). The Kings lead the all-time series 152-151, with Atlanta holding an 83-29 edge in home games.

LAST MEETING — HAWKS 112, KINGS 96 — SLEEP TRAIN ARENA — 11/16/12

Behind a 13-point first quarter from Jeff Teague, the Hawks jumped out to a 34-20 lead after one. The lead swelled to as many as 18 in the second, but the Kings came back to pull within two at the half behind a 36-24 second period (including 32 bench points). Atlanta re-established themselves in the third, outscoring Sacramento, 28-14, holding the Kings to .250 FGs (6-24). The Hawks maintained in the fourth quarter to post the 16-point win. For the first time this season, three Hawks scored 20-or-more, led by Kyle Korver (22 points on 7-9 FGs, 5-5 3FGs and 3-3 FTs), Lou Williams (21 off the bench) and Al Horford (20 points to go with 10 rebounds). Josh Smith added 19. Jason Thompson paced the Kings with 19 points and 10 rebounds. DeMarcus Cousins pulled down 16 boards to go with his nine points.

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Common Threads

Larry Drew (1981-86) is a former King. Kings assistant GM Shareef Abdur-Rahim is a Marietta native (Wheeler HS), and played two-and-a-half seasons with the Hawks (2001-04). Kings assistant Alex English is a former Hawks assistant coach. Jeff Teague and James Johnson were college teammates at Wake Forest. Devin Harris and Johan Petro played with Travis Outlaw for the Nets in 2010-11. Kyle Korver and John Salmons were Philadelphia 76ers teammates from 2003-06, with Lou Williams part of that group as a rookie in 2005-06.

Information was used from the Hawks and Kings official gamenotes

Dec 10, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) defends Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague (0) in the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 101-92. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Greetings! The long (very, very long) All-Star break is behind us and the Hawks face a challenging/interesting 3-game slate in the coming week. Let’s take a look.

Hawks vs. Heat — Wednesday, February 20th — 8:00 PM ET

Any time you face off with the defending champions, it’s a big game. However, this time the spotlight is even brighter than usual. LeBron James is in the midst of the best stretch of play in his entire career and the Heat looked for all the world like they were destined to repeat when they demolished Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

Miami leads the league in offensive efficiency, scoring more than 110 points per 100 possessions, and the match-ups will dictate some big time disadvantages for Atlanta. Due to the roster make-up, the Hawks will be forced to use Josh Smith on LeBron for long stretches. This is the type of game where a healthy DeShawn Stevenson should see extended time on either D.Wade or James as well. Chris Bosh is actually a good match-up for Al Horford, but it would help if Big Al could win that face-off decisively to make up for the trouble elsewhere.

If LeBron plays at the same level that he has over the past month, it’s almost impossible to beat Miami. However, if they can slow him a bit and keep Wade in check, there’s hope. At any rate, this is going to be a fun watch.

Hawks vs. Kings — Friday, February 22nd — 7:30 PM ET

Let’s all welcome Sacramento to town! The Kings are 19-35 at the time of this post and they feature the league’s worst defense, allowing over 108 points per 100 possessions. Their roster never made sense from the beginning (a million power forwards, a million combo guards, not much else), and while their overall talent level isn’t disastrous, things don’t match up.

DeMarcus Cousins could pose serious issues up front as an offensively-skilled mauler, but if Al Horford and the Hawks can keep him out of the deep box he can be neutralized. This is also a good match-up (size-wise) on the perimeter for Atlanta, as the Kings deploy several small guards in a similar mold to the Harris/Teague/Jenkins trio. With all of that said, this is the absolute picture of a “letdown” spot and if Atlanta somehow wins on Wednesday night look for some possible early-game struggles against an over-matched Sacramento team.

This is a game you have to win, especially at home. Oh, did I mention that this is the first game after the trade deadline? hmmmmmmmm…..

Hawks @ Bucks — Saturday, February 23rd — 8:30 PM ET

Speaking of teams that may not look the same after the trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks are an interesting case-study. We’ll ignore that possibility for the purposes of this preview, and focus on the “now”.

Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis form the enigmatic, shoot-first combo in the back-court and while they can single-handily lose Milwaukee some games, they are also more than capable of beating Atlanta by themselves if they have it going. Up front, the Bucks will use a lot of defense-only guys (Larry Sanders, Ekpe Udoh, Sam Dalembert), but the Josh Smith/Ersan Ilyasova face-off could be the deciding factor in the game. Fortunately for Atlanta, Milwaukee’s home-court has been virtually non-existent this season (14-12 home record as of posting), and this is the type of road game that is easily winnable. Atlanta has the better roster, but it’s a coin-flip game.

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Any week that features Miami is big, but the Milwaukee game will likely make-or-break the week. The biggest story will likely be off the court as the Josh Smith trade rumors pick up in full effect. However, on the court this one could go either way based on which Atlanta team decides to show up.

At worst, it’ll be interesting. At best? Franchise-altering.

Stay tuned.