The Hawks were awful last night as they only hit 35.6% of their shots from the floor and were out-rebounded 51-40 by the Bulls.  The Bulls also had an awful third quarter in which the Hawks out scored them 28-8!  Josh Childress led the way for the Hawks with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.  Marvin Williams also had a decent game with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.  Josh Smith only shot 5 of 17 from the floor, but he still wound up with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

The Hawks fell to 21-32 on the season with this loss.  http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270220004

The Atlanta Hawks had been playing poorly all season, but a 6-4 run right before the All-Star break has put them in a position to compete for a playoff spot.  Right now the Hawks are only 5 games behind the Heat with 30 games left to play.  Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have both taken their games up to new levels and the rest of the team is following right behind their lead.  The Hawks should just have Joe Johnson start at point guard the rest of the season so that they can get their best five players on the floor together for maximum minutes.  It’s probably not realistic to target the Miami Heat, but the Hawks are only 5.5 games behind the reeling Orlando Magic and it’s not impossible to think the Hawks can catch them.

The Hawks were down 75-62 after three quarters but then they flipped the switch on and outscored the Clippers 34-18 in the 4th quarter to win last night!  Joe Johnson led the way for the Hawks with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.  Josh Smith also had a great game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocked shots.

The Hawks improved to 21-31 on the season with this win.  http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270214012

If the Hawks are going to continue to start Lorenzen Wright, they need him to step up and do something because he’s taking minutes away from Zaza Pachulia and Shelden Williams.  Wright is averaging 17.4 minutes on the floor per night and he’s not doing much with the time.  He’s only averaging 2.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season and that’s just not enough to keep playing him.  Wright is only shooting 42.5% from the floor and that’s not good enough seeing how most of his shots are putbacks or dunks!  Also, he’s only hit 30.8% from the free throw line this season and that is downright pathetic.

The Hawks fell behind 50-32 in the first half and they never had a chance last night.  The Hawks only shot 37% from the floor and they were outrebounded 52-32 by the Jazz and that didn’t help matters.  Marvin Williams led the way with 15 points.  Joe Johnson had a rough game as he only scored 14 points and grabbed 3 rebounds.

The Hawks fell to 20-31 on the season with this loss.  http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270212026