Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Many questioned the high draft pick that Atlanta used to draft Josh Childress and though he has led the Hawks in rebounding eight times, last night he finally broke out of his 8 point per game average to lead Atlanta with 21 points in a 74-96loss to the Jazz.
Most of Childress's points came at the line, which bodes for a terrific career. He was 5-of-7 from the field but 10-of-12 from the line. Al Harrington was the second-leading scorer for the Hawks with 12 points. It was a good night for both rookies named Josh: the other one, the slam dunk champion, Josh Smith was the leading rebounder with 7 rebounds.
Other than that, the only good thing that can be said about this seven-game road trip is that it's over. It included the loss of Antoine Walker halfway through and involved zero wins for the Hawks but it is finally over. The Hawks are home again. At least for one day. After the Philadelphia game on Saturday, they go back out on a three-game road trip.
Hopefully it'll be a little more successful than the last one.
NEXT GAME
The Hawks (10-47, fifth in the Southeast) host the Philadelphia 76ers (27-30, second in the Atlantic) on Saturday, March 5th. The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WPXA and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Atlanta Hawks guard Tyronn Lue was suspended one game without pay for punching Denver’s Eduardo Najera in the midsection, it was announced yesterday by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations. Boris Diaw started at the point in his place and got 3 assists.
Lots of teams are interested in Gary Payton but it appears he will return and re-sign with the Boston Celtics as soon as he clears waivers.
INJURY UPDATE
Kevin Willis(back),Tony Delk(hand), andDonta Smith(knee) are on the injured list.Tyronn Lue(suspension) sat out last night's game.
Phil Miller ofThe Salt Lake Tribunewrites: After Wednesday's game, Atlanta executive vice president and general manager Billy Knight lingered outside the Hawks' locker room and visited with University of Utah coach Ray Giacoletti.Considering the Hawks' likelihood of owning one of the first couple of picks in this summer's draft, Ute center Andrew Bogut's name presumably was mentioned at some point during the 10-minute chat.
Jason Williams ofThe Pioneer Presswrites: Coach and vice president Kevin McHale didn't deny Wednesday he is interested in signing veteran point guard Gary Payton, waived this week by the Atlanta Hawks."There have been a lot of teams talk to Gary," McHale said. "He's a very good player, no question. He's going to make a decision, and I guess everybody will know here pretty soon."
Jackie MacMullan ofThe Boston GLovewrites: In spite of himself, Walker found himself missing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Boston. You think your basketball team has been irrelevent the past couple of years? The Atlanta Hawks have been obsolete for almost a decade."Atlanta was a different city," Walker acknowledged. "It was hard to get anything going there. I told them, `If you don't think you want to re-sign me, them get me someplace meaningful."' Boston qualified. So did Indiana, Philly and Seattle.
Sekou Smith ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: Hawks general manager Billy Knight went around the locker room congratulating each player for his effort after a narrow loss to Portland last Friday.After the same game Hawks coach Mike Woodson couldn't get past the crucial mistakes his team made in the closing seconds of the one-point loss, one of their many excruciating defeats this season.
Sekou Smith ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: Boris Diaw started at point guard for the Hawks on Wednesday night against Utah, an understandable situation with starter Tyron Lue serving a one-game suspension. But Diaw's backups, rookie Josh Childress and power forward Al Harrington, forced Hawks coach Mike Woodson to pause for a moment before saying the names out loud.