Hawks vs. Nuggets Score: Joe Johnson and Josh Smith Shine, Lose A Heartbreaker In Overtime

Quick Thought: It was right there, in regulation and, painfully, in the final second of the game. They just blew it.

Deep(er) Thoughts:

Hard to break down a game that was so action packed, so emotional and saw the Hawks play so well. Joe Johnson was on, Josh Smith was banging, both with over 30 points each. Kirk Hinrich had it going on, too -- scoring 22.

Yet, it wasn't enough.

They had 30 assists, made 14 three-pointers, but when they had to they couldn't make the plays needed to get a tough win, on the road against a +.500 team.

Hinrich had a free throw. One free throw to take a one-point lead with 1.1 seconds to go and missed it.

The Hawks were up two with under ten seconds left and turned the ball over on an inbounds play.

And, most sadly, Zaza Pachulia had a wide open layup as time was expiring in overtime to give the Hawks the win.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

It's the kind of game you can't get too riled up about losing -- they had played so well -- but also heartbreaking in seeing all that production go down into the loss column.

Dang shame.

Afterthoughts:

Got to second guess Larry Drew for putting Jannero Pargo in the game for the final minute of regulation. I know Teague has struggled shooting free throws late, but that seemed ill-fitting, especially for a team that plays so well on chemistry. Pargo forced a runner that missed and then was the one who couldn't handle the inbounds pass that gave the Nuggets life late in regulation.

The Hawks have lost three games on this road trip by a total of five points. So, so close to a confidence raising result on the road trip.

If the Hawks struggled defending the Nuggets, and they obviously did at times, they have the fourth most efficient offense hosting them in their next game in L.A. with the Clippers.

At least five times the Hawks went under screens for Ty Lawson and every single time he buried a jump shot to prove why you can't do that.

Have to whistle the officials in this game for some shoddy officiating around the rim. On the manly Marvin Williams dunk, he was clearly cracked on the arm by Andre Miller and got no call. Then Josh Smith was in the air when Nene tried to defend the play and crashed Josh to the floor, drawing a uber-rare Larry Drew technical.

Final Thought:

This team is playing a lot better than I ever thought they would without Horford in the lineup. Huge contributions all around is why the Hawks are very likely to do nothing at the trading deadline -- they are a tough out for any team so far this year (except the Sixers) and if they can get Al back for the playoffs, who knows.