Quick Thought: Another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust. Wins over Chicago, Miami, and now Portland.
Game Balls:
Joe Johnson was on it after a sleepy first quarter. Joe was 0-5 in the first quarter, but proceeded to hit 8 of his next 14 shots, including enough killer sauce left in the fourth quarter to squelch Jamal Crawford's personal upset bid. 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists with a single turnover. Typical Joe night and worthy of a game ball for sure.
He played limited minutes, again, 21 in all and only seven and a half in the second half, but Marvin Williams did the work in the first half that helped the hawks establish the lead. His ability to get to the line (6-8 FT), a serious plus on this roster, was the driver behind scoring 12 in such a limited amount of time. Marvin is having his best rebounding rate year, by far, and grabbed another eight tonight.
What would this current winning run be without Josh Smith? Smith seemingly was everywhere, yet quietly amassed impressive stats: 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, two steals. If he had been awarded some deserved calls, especially late, he could have had more than a pair of FT on the night.
Final Thought:
What will it take until the general consensus of this team is that it's near the top of the league? And how soon do you think it would fall apart when they get to that social pedestal? Another amazing, solid, hard fought win. They are, right now --- dare I say it -- consistent. (Dramatic organ music)