Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Could Atlanta actually be turning the corner, despite their injuries and the pressure of having the second-worst record in basketball? Tomorrow night they face a rematch with the Orlando Magic who they beat by one point a little more than a week ago. After their terrific and short-handed win against an equally short-handed Lakers team on Monday, could the Hawks put together their first set of back-to-back wins of the season? Could Thursday mark the beginning of a winning streak, however long it may last?
The Lakers victory came with Al Harrington injured and on the infamous List. Harrington is still out, as is Ty Lue, as the Hawks have more injured players than they have slots on the List. Even Peja Drobnjak is questionable for tomorrow's game with his hurt ankle.
It'll be up to Antoine Walker, Josh Childress, and Tony Delk to lead the offensive charge against the Magic, who are featuring an All-Star starter in Grant Hill, a Rookie of the Year candidate in Dwight Howard, and a snubbed All-Star reserve and former All-Star starter in Steve Francis.
They'll miss Harrington in tomorrow's game, as he was the key player in the previous matchup, scoring a team-high 19 points and dishing out a game-high (and a season-high for him, as well as matching a career-high) nine assists.
NEXT GAME
The Hawks (10-37, fifth in the Southeast) visit the Orlando Magic (25-23, third in the Southeast) on Thursday, February 10th, 2005. The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WPXA and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
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INJURY UPDATE
Josh Smith(ankle),Al Harrington(knee), andChris Crawford (knee) are all on the injured list. Crawford is out for the season.Tyronn Lue(Achilles) is out at least another couple games.Predrag Drobnjak (ankle) is questionable for Thursday.
Rick Bonnell ofThe Charlotte Observerwrites: Having exhausted efforts to trade him, the Charlotte Bobcats cut forward-center Jamal Sampson Tuesday afternoon. Two NBA sources confirmed the Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks discussed a deal.Hawks general manager Billy Knight was in Seattle on Saturday scouting the Bobcats-Sonics game, but Sampson was out with back spasms. Ultimately, the Hawks passed on sending a second-round pick to Charlotte in exchange for 6-foot-11 Sampson. Bickerstaff said he cut Sampson because of "availability" and "accountability" issues, saying he "just didn't fit the profile" the Bobcats desire. Essentially, Bickerstaff lost patience with Sampson's work ethic and his reluctance to play through pain.
The Miami Heradwrites: Lakers forward Caron Butler, after a 114-108 loss to the last-place Atlanta Hawks, who were playing without three injured starters: ``I advised everybody on my team just to turn off the TV and don't read the paper for the next day or so.''
Mark Montieth ofThe Indianapolis Starwrites: If you didn't play in the NBA, you need a hall pass for admittance to its exclusive coaching ranks. Mike Brown got his from Bernie Bickerstaff... Now in his 13th season as an NBA assistant, Brown is an associate head coach in charge of defense for the Pacers. He interviewed with Toronto and Atlanta for head coaching positions last summer and was the runner-up to Mike Woodson for the Hawks job.
Sekou Smith ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: One team's scouting report on Hawks guard Tony Delk is simple enough."Excellent but streak shooter that hasn't been terribly consistent this season, due to injuries. But more than capable of putting up huge numbers in big-game situations." Much of that description could be used to describe Delk's entire basketball career, dating all the way back to his high school days as a prep All-American at Haywood High in Brownsville, Tenn. "He was our go-to-guy at Kentucky, too," said Hawks forward Antoine Walker, who starred on the Wildcats' 1996 national championship team alongside Delk, the Final Four MVP.