Atlanta Hawks ‘Team’ Moves to 3-0
With an impressive 87-79 win over the New Orleans Hornets, one of the frontrunners for the Western Conference crown, the Atlanta Hawks have opened the season undefeated in their first three games for the first time since 1997.
It was also eleven years ago that the Hawks got their last 50-win season, a team goal they set coming into this season.
The word “TEAM” being in bold because that is exactly why Atlanta is currently 3-0. The Hawks are soaring because they are playing well together, particularly on the defensive end of the floor where they are currently the top team in the league allowing only 84 points per game…and that’s against three teams that each made the playoffs last season.
Coming into the game, New Orleans had averaged a league best 106.7 points in their first three games, but they were held to only 79 by the Hawks. How impressive is that? The Hornets scored less than 80 points only four times all of last season.
Josh Smith, shown here blocking a Dwight Howard shot, is the backbone of the Hawks’ team defense. (AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack).
By working together to corral Chris Paul, the best point guard in the game, and forcing others to beat them, the Hawks were able to limit the high-powered Hornets’ offense, which got back both Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler from ankle injuries.
As Joe Johnson stated:
“We wanted to try to contain Chris Paul, let him score a lot, but take a lot of those other guys out, which we did,” Johnson said. “In the fourth quarter, we made a lot of big shots and got a lot of key defensive stops, and that’s winning basketball.”
Speaking of Johnson and big shots, it is again the team concept that is reaping tremendous benefits. No longer is it a must for Johnson to have to take every big shot down the stretch as he did, for the most part, down the stretch and in the playoffs last season.
This season there are other viable and reliable options rather than a shot from JJ or a Josh Smith deep jumper that always made you wince. The biggest addition to the available options is free agent signing Flip Murray. Murray has always been instant offense, which is exactly what the Hawks needed.
There also is the maturity of the Hawks young and athletic front court. The offensive games of Smith and Al Horford are continually being molded as they mature. Smith is not relying solely on an inconsistent jump shot while Horford will be given more offensive opportunities in his second season to display his low post moves.
However, the most important secondary option will ultimately be Marvin Williams. Williams worked all summer on extending his range to include the three point shot as a regular part of his arsenal. He displayed that range on Wednesday night when he was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, including his final crushing basket with under three minutes to give Atlanta an 83-74 lead.
So this season if teams attempt to double team Johnson (as New Orleans did last night and Boston did in the playoffs last year), the Hawks have several legitimate options that they can have confidence in. That is best exemplified by the fact that Atlanta has had 5 players with double digits scoring in two of their first three games, and Joe Johnson is still second in the NBA with 28.0 points per game.
If this squad continues to play as a TEAM, they could easily battle the Orlando Magic (who they defeated in the season opener) for the Southeast Division title.
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