Bobcats-Hawks Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Apr 03 2012 11:47PM

A tough slate of games and several injuries led to a difficult end to March for the Atlanta Hawks, but they can put that behind them during a more favorable stretch in their schedule.

The Hawks host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night for the first of two meetings against the NBA's worst team this week.

Atlanta is in a tight race with Indiana and Orlando for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs but lost three of four to close out March, including 95-90 at Philadelphia on Saturday.

The Hawks (31-23) finished the month with a depleted roster. With Al Horford already out, Atlanta also found itself without Jannero Pargo (appendectomy), Vladimir Radmanovic (back) and Jerry Stackhouse (personal).

Pargo, though, has returned to practice and could play Wednesday. Stackhouse may also be available.

The Hawks are trying to boost their record during a favorable stretch in their schedule. Their next three games are against teams under .500, including another matchup with the Bobcats (7-44) on Saturday.

"I think we are in favor coming down the stretch as far as other teams we are competing with," guard Joe Johnson said. "We just have to come out and take care of business."

Of their final 12 games, eight are at home and half are against teams with losing records. The Hawks are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind fifth-place Orlando and 1 1/2 behind third-place Indiana.

"Everybody is right there," coach Larry Drew said. "As I told the coaches, this thing is going to jump around from now until the end with the way we are all bunched up. ... It's going to be interesting to see how this thing shakes loose."

Atlanta has won both games against Charlotte this season, led by Josh Smith's 26.5 points and 13.0 rebounds. Smith finished March strong, averaging 26.3 points over the last eight games, and he scored a season-high 34 against the 76ers.

The league-worst Bobcats have lost eight straight after falling 92-87 at Toronto on Tuesday.

Byron Mullens had 20 points and 14 rebounds and Kemba Walker, starting in place of the injured D.J. Augustin, scored 10 points and added seven assists as the Bobcats shot 40.3 percent.

Augustin came off the bench and had 18 points and seven assists. He hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to cut Charlotte's deficit to 88-87, but after Toronto scored, the Bobcats turned the ball over when Mullens' 3-point attempt was an air ball and went out of bounds.

Mullens was making his second straight start as coach Paul Silas tries to play his younger players more down the stretch. The third-year pro, who is averaging 9.2 points, had 20 points and nine rebounds in a 110-107 overtime loss to Detroit on Saturday.

"He just continues to amaze me," Silas said. "Twenty points and 14 rebounds, I don't think anybody would have guessed he could have done that."

Charlotte, playing the third of a four-game trip, has lost five straight on the road and is 3-24 away from home.

Smith, Teague leads Hawks past Charlotte

By GEORGE HENRY
Posted Apr 04 2012 11:06PM

ATLANTA (AP) Josh Smith was delighted to watch the fourth quarter from the bench.

"It was real important," he said. "It just feels good to get some rest and watch them play a little bit."

Smith scored 24 points, Jeff Teague added 17 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 120-93 on Wednesday night.

Joe Johnson finished with 16 points for Atlanta, which had lost three of four. Hawks coach Larry Drew rested all of his starters in the fourth quarter.

Rookie Kemba Walker came off the bench to lead Charlotte with 21 points. Gerald Henderson added 15 for the Bobcats, whose NBA-worst record dropped to 7-45. They have lost nine straight.

"I was just trying to do whatever I can to help the team," Walker said. "But it wasn't enough."

Willie Green scored 17, Marvin Williams had 14 and Jannero Pargo finished with 12 in reserve roles for the Hawks.

Charlotte never led after Smith's short hook shot put Atlanta up 17-16 midway through the first.

Atlanta pulled away by outscoring the Bobcats 34-19 in the second quarter.

Teague split two defenders to covert a three-point play at the 3:35 mark of the second to make it 53-39.

Driving from left side of the perimeter, Teague left his feet for a layup, but had his first attempt nearly blocked. He pulled the ball back down, though, and floated toward the baseline to bank in the shot.

Smith, who followed with a 20-foot jump shot at the 2-minute mark to give the Hawks a 16-point lead, beat Eduardo Najera for a defensive rebound in the final minute and made a one-handed pass to Johnson at halfcourt. Joe Johnson passed to Ivan Johnson for dunk that made it 59-42.

"At halftime, the message was to start the third quarter very aggressively and let's see if we can create some more separation," Drew said. "I thought our guys did that in the third quarter, and I was really happy that we were able to rest those guys in the fourth quarter."

D.J. Augustin started for the 39th time in his 41 games despite falling and hurting his left knee in the Bobcats' five-point loss Tuesday at Toronto. Augustin, who managed just two points in less than 11 minutes, was already battling tendinitis in his right knee.

Coach Paul Silas said before the game that Augustin is still Charlotte's starting point guard, though Walker got the nod against Toronto. Walker played 33 minutes against Atlanta, second-most on the team.

"They played well," Walker said. "They made all the right plays. They got a big lead on us, and we couldn't come back from it."

Hawks center Zaza Pachulia had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Matt Carroll scored 12 points, Derrick Brown had 11 and Reggie Williams 10 for the Bobcats.

Silas didn't mask his disappointment in taking another loss in a dreadful season.

"Well, it's hard," he said. "You have to look at what you have, but losing is still difficult. I don't care what you have or who you have - injuries or young kids that we have - it's difficult. I hate losing. I've never lost like this in my life, so it's very difficult."

For the Hawks, the game went as smoothly as Smith could've asked.

"It's nice to have a bench as deep as we have," Smith said. "Especially because we've had people out."

Drew had everyone on his roster available except for starting center Al Horford (left pectoral surgery) and reserve forward Vladimir Radmanovich (back). Pargo, who returned after missing 10 games with an appendectomy, played 16 minutes.

"We kind of got off to a slow start," Pargo said, "but the bench players pretty much did what we've been doing all year, which is come in and just try to lift our team and give us some energy."

Notes: Bobcats F Corey Maggette missed his third straight game with a strained right Achilles tendon. He also missed a combined 20 games with strained left hamstring and bruised back. ... Atlanta outscored Charlotte 60-36 in the paint, 36-14 on fastbreaks. ... Charlotte C Byron Mullens, who pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds Tuesday at Toronto, finished with seven rebounds. The third-year center had 20 points in each of the past two games, but finished with eight.

Notebook: Hawks 120, Bobcats 93

Posted Wednesday April 4, 2012 11:59PM

By Jon Cooper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Atlanta Hawks had three days off to stew over their recent stretch of three losses in four games. They took out their frustration on a tired and depleted Charlotte Bobcats team Wednesday night at Philips Arena, routing the visitors, 120-93.

Josh Smith put in a game-high 24 points for the Hawks, who had six players score at least a dozen, and shot a 56.6 percent, while handing out 32 assists, both tied the team's single-game high.

Kemba Walker led the Bobcats, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back, with 21 points and five assists. Walker played the entire second half in place of starting point D.J. Augustin, who left the game at halftime with tendonitis in his right knee.

Atlanta led 27-25 after one, but broke the game open in the second quarter, when they outscored the Bobcats, 34-19. Smith scored seven straight points to blow open what was a single-digit game. The 34 points matched the Hawks' season high for most productive second quarter, and their 73.7 percent in the frame also was a season best. A 20-10 run over the final 5:51 gave the Hawks a 61-44 halftime edge.

The lead never got below 17 in the second half, topping out at 32 with 4:40 to go in the game.

The teams meet again on Saturday night in Charlotte. It'll be the second of a back-to-back for both clubs and the fourth in five nights for the 'Cats.

QUOTABLE: "You have to look at what you have, but losing is still tough. The injuries, the young kids, it's difficult. I've never lost like this in my life."
-- Bobcats Head Coach Paul Silas

THE STAT: 60 -- Atlanta's season-high number of points in the paint scored Wednesday night. The previous high was 58, scored March 25 against Utah. They needed four overtimes to reach that total.

THE STAT II: 47 -- The number of field goals they made Wednesday. The total was one off the season-high, also done in against Utah. Atlanta attempted 83 shots to get the 47 field goals Wednesday. They needed 107 tries to get 48 against the Jazz.

TURNING POINT: Starting the second quarter, Atlanta, leading 27-25, completed the switch out to its second unit by bringing in point guard Jannero Pargo, to join Marvin Williams, Ivan Johnson, Willie Green and Tracy McGrady. The unit responded, jumping going on a quarter-opening 6-0 run in the first two minutes and extending the lead to nine by the 4:35 mark. In that time the unit shot 4-for-6, and 4-for-4 from the line, while forcing Charlotte into 1-for-5 shooting, and forcing turnovers on three straight possessions. The starters returned and quickly got the lead into double digits, where it remained the rest of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "After the first quarter I thought we really turned up our intensity, we turned up our energy. But it started with our bench. I thought the minute we went to the bench, particularly in the second quarter, we started creating some separation."
-- Hawks Head Coach Larry Drew

HOT: After shooting 1-for-7 (14.3 percent) from three in the first half, Atlanta hit 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) behind the arc in the final 24 minutes, including nailing 5-of-7 tries (71.4 percent) in the fourth. Willie Green (3-for-4) and Jannero Pargo (2-for-3) combined to hit all five threes in the final stanza.

HOT: Kemba Walker did his best to keep Charlotte in the game in the second quarter. The rookie scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and was 2-for-2 on three-point attempts.

NOT: While Walker was doing his thing in the second quarter, the rest of the Bobcats struggled. The rest of the team managed eight points on 2-for-11 shooting and were 0-for-4 from behind the arc.

ROOKIE WATCH: Walker ran the point the entire second half, when Augustin was forced to leave the game. He played a game-high 32:59 and led the Bobcats in scoring. He shot 8-for-15, 3-for-4 from three, 2-for-3 from the line, handed out five assists and pulled down four rebounds. The 21 points were two off his career high, set Jan. 14 against Golden State.

NOTABLE: Josh Smith continued to torment Charlotte, putting in 24, while grabbing nine boards. In three games against the Bobcats Smith is averaging 25.7 points and 11.7 rebounds. ...Atlanta's 61 points were two shy of its best half of the year (63 vs. Chicago on Jan. 7). ...Atlanta, which came in shooting 73.1 percent from the line and Charlotte converting at 75.2 percent, combined to make 84.6 percent of their free throws. The Hawks were 17-for-19 (89.5 percent, tied for their second-best game of the year), while the Bobcats hit 16-of-20 (80.0 percent). ...Both teams donned tee shirts on behalf of the "NBA Cares, Three for Trees" program instead of warmups.

UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Friday @ Milwaukee, Saturday vs. Atlanta, Monday vs. Washington. For the Hawks, Friday vs. Detroit, Saturday @ Charlotte, Wednesday @ Boston.

• Bobcats: Higgins
• Hawks: Horford, Radmanovic

• Bobcats: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 13046
• Duration: 2:01