Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
It was Atlanta's closest loss in over a month. Falling 104-101on Sunday to the Wizards, the Hawks had their closest loss since a one-point disappointment to the Knicks back on November 30th. Since that point, all their losses had been blowouts and none had been by less than five points. To be within one point with 3.1 seconds left to team that is second only to the Heat in the same division is a good way to start the New Year. Not the best, of course, but it's certainly better than getting blown out. Is the chemistry starting to come together?
Antoine Walker shot 50% from the field, going 7-for-14, and also hit 3 of his 5 attempts from three-point land, including two in the final minute to bring the Hawks to within one. He also had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Recently acquired point guard Tyronn Lue came in to lead all players with six assists. His desperation three at the buzzer, had it gone in, would have sent the game into overtime.
Tony Delk led all Hawks in scoring with 19 points despite fouling out after 27 minutes of action off the bench. He and Lue had the tough job of trying to stop Juan Dixon, who simply torched the Hawks in 14 minutes off the Wizards bench with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting including 3-of-4 from downtown. He also somehow found time to distribute a couple assists and grab a couple rebounds. Delk admitted Dixon was the key to Washington's victory, saying he was "huge" and "the key" to them staying in the game. "He came in with a hot hand and we couldn't get to him fast enough," he said.
Walker thinks the Hawks are playing well enough to win but are just not closing it out yet. Such "moral victories" are a problem, of course, but on the other hand, you have to walk before you run. It's still not too late to turn the season around.
NEXT GAME
The Hawks (5-24, fifth in the Southeast) travel to Cleveland on Wednesday, January 5th, 2005 to take on the Cavaliers (17-12, first in the Central). The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WPXA and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
The All-Star nominations are out, and Hawks players Antoine Walker, Al Harrington and Peja Drobnjak are on the ballots. Want to see them in the 2004-05 All-Star contest? Don't forget tocast your votefor your favorite players now. So far none of those players are among the top 10 vote-getters in their categories, but a couple hundred thousand clicks could change that overnight.
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INJURY UPDATE
Chris Crawford(torn ACL) is out for the season and on the injured list.Donta Smith(back) is also on the injured list.
Steve Hummer ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: One minute, [Josh] Smith is spending an evening several feet above the Philips Arena court, collecting an ally-oop pass from Al Harrington, whirling with his back to the basket and throwing down a jolting over-the-head dunk. The finer points of basketball have yet to be sharpened. But the physical exploits already have inspired the Hawks play-by-play man of 15 years to invoke the franchise's most sacred image. "He's the most exciting thing we've had here in a long time. He does bring back memories of Dominique,"said Holman, referring to Hawks superstar Dominique Wilkins. The next night, Smith may be at his parents' house in Kennesaw, just hanging out. Or maybe he shows up at his younger sister's basketball game inside his one-time playground at McEachern High School. Normal stuff.
Karen Rosen ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: "We ran out of time, I say," Hawks forward Al Harrington said."We played hard for most of the game, but the last two minutes we really turned it up. If we could have done that with four minutes to go, we would have probably come out on top."
The Associated Press writes inCapital News 9: Washington broke a two-game skid by handing Atlanta a fourth straight loss.The Wizards beat the Hawks 104-to-101. Reserve guard Juan Dixon made sure the Wizards came out on top by scoring all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter. Larry Hughes led Washington with 26 points while Antawn Jamison added 19 and Gilbert Arenas 17. Antoine Walker, who finished with 18 points, hit a three-pointer to pull the Hawks within one point with three seconds left, but Jamison closed out the win with a pair of free throws. Tony Delk led the Hawks with 19 points.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: While everyone was celebrating the arrival of 2005, Juan Dixon still was trying to forget about his last shot of 2004 — a missed breakaway layup late in the first half of the Washington Wizards' New Year's Eve loss at Boston."I thought about it in the second half of the Boston game, and it was still on my mind in the first half [yesterday] because I didn't play," Dixon said. "But it happens. You hope it doesn't happen again."