The Hawks outscored the Raptors 20-13 in the 4th quarter last night to pull away from the pesky Raptors.  Josh Smith (28 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot) and Joe Johnson (27 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots) led the way for the Hawks last night.  Jeff Teague pitched in with 13 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 1 blocked shot last night.  The Hawks are now 10-4 on the year.

The Hawks outscored the T-Wolves 30-20 in the 4th quarter to defeat the very pesky Timberwolves.  The Hawks hit the boards tonight as they outrebounded the T-Wolves 51-40 and it helped them win this game.  Joe Johnson (25 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists) and Jeff Teague (20 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot) led the way for the Hawks in this game.  Willie Green (10 points and 1 assist in 18 minutes) and Ivan Johnson (10 points, 11 rebounds and 2 steals in 26 minutes) also pitched in for the Hawks off the bench tonight.  The Hawks are now 9-4 on the season.

The Hawks outrebounded the Bobcats 55-30 last night and it was a big reason for the win.  Josh Smith (30 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal) and Joe Johnson (23 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal) led the way for the Hawks in this game.  Jeff Teague also had a solid game with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot last night.  Ivan Johnson (12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 21 minutes), Willie Green (11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in 21 minutes) and Zaza Pachulia (10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot) also had solid games for the Hawks last night.  The Hawks are now 8-4 on the season.

25-year old starting center Al Horford is going to miss the next 3-4 months due to a torn left pectoral muscle that will require surgery.  Horford has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Hawks this year and he is averaging 31.6 minutes, 12.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  The Hawks are holding out hope that he will be able to return to action sometime in the playoffs…..but that could be wishful thinking.  27-year old Zaza Pachulia will replace Horford as the starting center for the rest of the regular season, at least.  Pachulia has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 15.9 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Pachulia is not in Horford’s league as a defensive player but he should be able to rebound and give the Hawks a presence offensively around the basket.

The Hawks were outscored 27-9 in the third quarter tonight and they couldn’t recover from it.  The Hawks only shot 37.5% from the floor tonight and that’s pretty pathetic.  Josh Smith (16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Joe Johnson (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal) led the way for the Hawks tonight.  Zaza Pachulia finished up with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 1 steal in 30 minutes off the bench in this game due to Al Horford’s injury early in this game.  Willie Green pitched in with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 29 minutes off the bench.  The Hawks are now 7-4 on the year.

27-year old power forward Ivan Johnson has looked pretty good when he has been on the floor for the Hawks so far this year.  He has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 9.3 minutes, 3.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Johnson is going to have a hard time getting consistent playing time with the Hawks as they have a lot of veteran depth on the frontline.

The Hawks shot 53.8% from the floor tonight to help them surge to victory.  Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks again with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.  Joe Johnson (22 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists) and Jeff Teague (20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot) also had solid games for the Hawks tonight.  Vladimir Radmanovic (14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) and Al Horford (14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) also pitched in for the Hawks tonight.  The Hawks are now 7-3 on the year.

With Kirk Hinrich out of action to start the 2011-12 season, the Hawks handed 23-year old Jeff Teague the starting job at point guard and he’s doing a good job so far this year.  Teague has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 11.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game.  If Teague keeps playing well, Kirk Hinrich will be the #3 guard when he returns to action.

The Hawks shot 56.6% from the floor last night as they bolted out to a 85-62 lead after three quarters before essentially calling off the dogs a little bit.  Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks with an amazing game as he finished up with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 6 blocked shots.  Josh Johnson (17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals) and Vladimir Radmanovic (17 points, 1 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) also had solid games for the Hawks last night.  Al Horford (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots), Jeff Teague (12 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals) and Willie Green (10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal) also pitched in for the Hawks in this game.  The Hawks are now 6-3 on the season.

The Hawks outscored the Bobcats 11-5 in overtime last night to put them away.  Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks in this game with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.  Marvin Williams (15 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) and Al Horford (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shots) also had very solid games for the Hawks last night.  Joe Johnson only shot 6 of 17 from the floor as he finished up with 14 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.  Vladimir Radmanovic also pitched in with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot in only 22 minutes on the floor.  The Hawks are now 5-3 on the season.