Behind Crawford, Hawks rally down stretch to burn Clippers

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday February 3, 2010 11:17PM

ATLANTA (NBA.com exclusive) -- Stuck in a rut, what the Atlanta Hawks needed Wednesday night was a bit of a kick in the butt. It wouldn't hurt, either, to have a tired opponent and to have Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford get hot at roughly the same time.

Check, check and check.

First, that boot: Trailing the road-weary Clippers 70-57 on Rasual Butler's breakaway dunk with 2:18 left in the third quarter, the Hawks called timeout with back-to-back losses in their collective pockets. "I told Jamal, 'You have to step it up, man,' " said Atlanta center Al Horford. "So he did it."

Indeed. Crawford nailed a pair of 3-pointers over the next 1:23, the home team rode three big spurts over the final quarter-plus and Johnson scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter for a 103-97 win.

The Clippers dictated the pace for well over half the game, but finished a 14-day, eight-game road trip dizzy, out of gas and 2-6 on the trip.

They slipped into spin cycle Wednesday when the Hawks ran off 12 straight points after Horford goosed Crawford.

"We just got up [from the timeout] and put them on a carousel," said Hawks forward Josh Smith, whose team had lost Tuesday in Oklahoma City. "We limited them to one shot, rebounded, and had a couple fast-break points. That's what this team has to do."

Atlanta wasn't doing it for a long time.

Still smarting from their third straight loss of the season to the Magic, whom they're chasing in the Southeast division, and a sweep at the hands of the Thunder that culminated with a 106-99 loss, the Hawks played for quite a while as if in a funk.

The Clippers led 46-41 at halftime, and the home team was probably fortunate to be that close after making just 14 of 39 shots (35.9 percent).

Both teams played as if they were tired, perhaps because both played on the road the night before. The Clippers had won in Chicago.

"Playing back to back had a lot to do with [the shoddy game]," said Johnson, who made 11 of 21 shots and nine of 10 free throws. "We can't afford to have a let-down. We picked up our energy ... I'm just glad we came through."

Horford, Marvin Williams and Smith each had 10 rebounds for Atlanta, but the Hawks' starting frontcourt was still out-rebounded as Clippers forward Marcus Camby grabbed 20 boards, and center Chris Kaman had 10 in addition to 17 points.

It took Kaman 17 shots to get there, though, and Atlanta not only harassed him into missing 11, but forced four turnovers.

Los Angeles pushed the lead back up to 84-75 on a pair of Craig Smith free throws with 8:15 left in the game, but the Hawks had two more spurts.

They ripped off a 9-0 run from that point to tie, and then after the Clippers nosed ahead for the final time 88-86 on Eric Gordon's layup with 4:24 to go, the home team put together an 11-2 run that sealed the deal over the next 2:23. Gordon tied Kaman for team scoring honors with 17 points.

Atlanta's three spurts over the final 15 minutes of the game combined for a 32-2 bulge with Crawford scoring 13 in those sequences, and Johnson nine.

"The Hawks are tough to contain when both of those guys begin to score," said Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. "This was a tough road trip because we felt like we had certain games won. Atlanta is a good team, and good teams know how to turn it up a notch when they need to."

The Clippers had their hands on the switch Wednesday night.

Then came the boot, Atlanta's twin engines catching fire and fatigue.

Los Angeles burned its last timeout with more than two minutes remaining because of a mis-communication on the court. By then, the Hawks were taking advantage of their woozy foe.

"We finally came to play," said Atlanta coach Mike Woodson. "I thought we stepped it up when we had to from a defensive standpoint, and were able to bring it home."

• Clippers: Griffin, Skinner, Telfair
• Hawks: Morris

• Clippers: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #51 Leroy Richardson, #56 Mark Ayotte
• Attendance: 13303
• Duration: 2:21