Analysis: Road trip shows Hawks still learning how to fly

By Rob Peterson, NBA.com
Posted Nov 15 2008 12:47AM

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Like a championship banner, the specter of the Boston Celtics hangs over everything the Atlanta Hawks do these days.

It was the Celtics who dumped Atlanta in a hotly contested first round seven-game series en route to title No. 17. It was the Celtics who, in narrowly beating the Hawks, helped give Atlanta the confidence it could play near championship-level basketball.

And it was the Celtics who, in Boston on Wednesday, handed Atlanta its first loss of the season in the epitome of a heartbreaker. Moments after the Hawks’ Marvin Williams drained a three to give Atlanta a 102-101 lead, Finals MVP Paul Pierce drained a fade-away 20-footer with 0.5 seconds left to give the Celtics a 103-102 win.

So, was the Hawks 115-108 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Nets — Atlanta’s second straight loss after six straight wins — on Friday a result of a Boston hangover? Hawks coach Mike Woodson wouldn’t go there.

“That game was a tough game and we were coming off a back-to-back game the night before,” Woodson said. “We played well that night.

“Tonight, we just didn’t have it from a defensive standpoint. I’m not taking anything away from their team they played well tonight.”

That the Nets did. They got their spark from career nights from two rookies and they closed it out with superstar play from two veterans. Rookie Brook Lopez, starting for injured center Josh Boone, bullied his way to 25 points and nine rebounds in his first NBA start. Ryan Anderson, playing big minutes because Eduardo Najera was out with a strained neck and sore lower back, added 15, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

“I thought we were very lethargic when we came out to start the game,” Woodson said. “We let Lopez establish himself down low. He got going, we couldn’t control him and the kid Anderson.

“Those were two guys we didn’t count on to play big like they did. You gotta give them credit. [Nets coach] Lawrence [Frank] had them ready.”

This youthful uprising may have also been made possible by the conspicuous absence of one Josh Smith, who is out two to four weeks with a sprained ankle. Without Smith, Lopez was able to have his way inside. Without Smith, the Hawks didn’t have a big who could close out on Anderson’s wide open looks from the corner.

Woodson wouldn’t make any excuses.

“Josh is a big part of what we do,” Woodson said. “He’s our starting power forward, any time he’s not in the lineup, it hurts us.

“But we still gotta play ’til he gets back.”

Smith, who was averaging 2.5 blocks and 2.2 steals, would have also come in handy protecting the rim against Devin Harris or on the perimeter against Vince Carter, the two veteran Nets who took over the game late. Harris, playing his first game since spraining his ankle against Detroit — the Nets’ last win — three games ago, and Carter combined for 28 of the Nets’ 42 fourth quarter points. Carter knew the Nets needed every bit of it against a rising Hawks squad.

“”They’re very good,” Carter said of the Hawks, “and they don’t even have their full roster.”

“They’re all playing at a high level and it raised the bar for us tonight. We knew we had to play a near-perfect game to really be in the game in the fourth quarter. We gave our chance to win and we just had to lay it all on the line.”

With their fast start and deep and talented roster, the Hawks will now get every team’s very best effort. Because Woodson knows: you can’t make excuses if you want to get better. You need to look in the mirror and fix what needs to be fixed.

And if you hold up a mirror to the Hawks? You can see both beauty and the beast.

Right now, you’ll see a 6-2 team with a swarming defense, a team that’s deadly from beyond the arc, a team with a veteran point guard who is now more comfortable in his surroundings that he’s had a full training camp with his teammates, a team with a deep bench and a team with an early-season MVP candidate in Joe Johnson.

But you’ll also see a team making mistakes on defensive rotations, on defensive positioning, on making decisions with the ball and with taking wild shots early in the shot clock. You’ll see a team with promise still trying to learn how to play excellent basketball night in and night out. You’ll see a talented young team learning not just to rely on its talent, but learning from not living up to that talent as well.

“I thought we played well in spurts, but I thought we were too cool in spurts, thinking we were going to turn it on and steal a win,” Woodson said. “I’ve got to stress to these guys there’s not a team in this league that can’t beat you.

“Every team is capable of beating you if you don’t come ready to play. And [the Nets] were ready from the start.”

And good teams take care of business wherever they play.

“Make no mistake about it: we’ve got to win on the road to be successful this year,” Woodson said. “Good teams win on the road. We were 2-2 on this road trip and it’s a successful trip. If we had won tonight, it would have been a great trip.

“But I’m still pleased with the way we’re playing and we have to handle our business at home.”

The Hawks don’t have to wait too long to handle said business at home. They get these same Nets on Saturday in Atlanta.

http://www.nba.com/2008/news/features/rob_peterson/11/15/atlnjnpost/index.html