Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 111, Knicks 102 pike shume dhe "grushta" shume

Atlanta 111 Knicks 102: The Hawks are a very good team and the Knicks were  
probably due for a letdown after last night, but this one was still  
disappointing. New York played a miserable first half and really didn't start to  
compete until the fourth quarter. That's where things got interesting as the 
 Knicks closed to within five and Shawne Williams and Marvin Williams 
traded  punches. The Knicks still lost and Shawne can expect to hear from David 
Stern  soon.
 
 
 
Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 111, Knicks 102
 
 
Smoove did his thing around the rim. 
    *   The fisticuffs and flexing at the end shouldn’t overshadow the fact 
that  the Hawks nearly blew this game with their usual twin sins of poor 
shot  selection and sieve-like defense on the ball. 
    *   “That was almost a similar situation like we collapsed fourth 
quarter  against Milwaukee,” L.D. said. “Losing focus of what got us  the lead. 
I threw the challenge down at halftime. We played well, let’s see  what we 
are made of the third quarter because we knew that team was not going  to 
quit. But we got into a situation of trading baskets and against a team  like 
New York you can’t do that because they have a lot of firepower.” 
    *   But the shaky play also shouldn’t obscure how the Hawks earned an  
emotionally-charged game in large part because they got plays at both ends  
from Smoove and an unexpected emotional lift from  Al. 
    *   “I’m proud of the way our guys responded,” Drew said. “They did 
not lose  their composure. They got back into a rhythm. Josh Smith did a 
great job when  we were struggling somewhat for a basket and we were able to 
post him and he  took advantage of it, made some really nice moves down low.” 
    *   With all that out of the way. . . Man, I’ve never seen  Marvin so 
mad. “This is the second time,” Josh said. Can you  help me out on that one, 
blog people? 
    *   “I’ve never seen him snap like that,” Drew said. 
    *   Even after Marvin connected on Shawne Williams, he was  raging to 
get another shot at him. 
    *   “It kind of escalated so quickly,” Al said. “I was  running by and 
I tried to get in there without getting hit. Marvin is a great  guy. Shawne 
really had to get under his skin for Marvin to react like that, or  do 
something to him.” 
    *   There’s probably no chance Marvin _doesn’t get suspended_ 
(http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_k.html?nav=ArticleList)  for that punch  since it 
was above the shoulder. 
    *   “I really can’t speak to that; I will let the NBA handle that,” 
Smoove  said. “Emotions was running high and it got chippy out there. It just  
happens.” 
    *   In the end, competent play means more than alpha-male posturing but 
the  Hawks did show some fight. 
    *   “We are definitely a team with a chip on our shoulder,”  J.J. 
said. “You act out of anger sometimes. It is what it  is. 
    *   Al said he didn’t really notice Knicks fans making noise for most 
of the  game (probably because the Hawks dominated for two-plus quarters). 
But he  heard them when he was at the line for free throws with 4:24 to play 
and he  didn’t like it. 
    *   “It was kind of overwhelming,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wait a 
minute, we  are at home. Regardless of if there are a lot of Knicks fans here, 
our fans  have to get up.’ That’s what I tried to do was hype the crowd up. 
They  definitely gave us a lift to get us over the hump.” 
    *   “Al got fired up,” Josh said. “That surprised me. He’s normally a 
calm  dude. That got everyone’s adrenaline flowing, I think.” 
    *   The Hawks are human and have egos so of course it bothers them when 
they  don’t get support in their building. (And yeah, I know J.J. didn’t 
help their  case with this last spring.) 
    *   “It’s a little disheartening being at home and you’ve got so many 
fans  cheering for the opposition,” L.D. said. “I know our guys, they want 
to play  well, they want to give the fans a good show, they want to give 
them their  money’s worth. But when you get the cheering for the home team on 
your court,  it’s a little disheartening. I’ve been in this a long time, and 
it’s been like  that. I just tell them to play through it and just be proud 
of that name  across the chest.” 
    *   J.J. was fantastic in the first half: 16 points, 6 of 10 shooting, 
five  rebounds, five assists, one turnover. Neither he nor the Hawks were as 
 efficient in the second half but he still finished with a nice line. 
    *   “Everyone looks at his scoring but I look at his assists and 
rebounds  because those are areas we really need help in,” L.D. said. “And he’s 
been  defending like crazy. He guards ones, he guards twos. I’ve always 
stated that  he’s a very underrated defender.” 
    *   Smoove showed how much of a force he can be when he decides to work 
over  inferior defenders inside. I didn’t have a problem with the 3-pointer 
he  launched (and made) late in the game. The shot clock was winding down, 
he  caught it in rhythm on a pass from J.J. and, hell, he’s second on the 
team in  accuracy. 
    *   Marvin (six free-throw attempts, four rebounds, 12 points on six 
shots)  was aggressive even before he decided to try to knock out Shawne  
Williams. 
    *   Big minutes for Al (45) and Joe (41) with a game at Dallas 
tomorrow. 
    *   The Hawks dominated the Knicks in the first half using the formula 
that  works best for them: Move the ball for good shots, rebound the misses 
and run.  They also kept Stoudemire from attacking the rim and controlled 
New York’s  shooters. 
    *   “We got the best of them in the first half,” Joe said. 
    *   Then Stoudemire, Felton and Shawne Williams went on the attack in 
the  third quarter, the Hawks had a few bad possessions early in the fourth 
and it  was a game again. 
    *   “As a team that’s just an area where we have to grow,” L.D.  said. 
“We’ve done a lot of good things this year as far as accomplishments.  We’
ve really shown an ability to play on the road. We’ve shown an ability to  
play against good teams. As coach you are always looking for that consistency 
 in putting four solid quarters together and it is not always going to work 
out  perfect. You are searching for it. But I’m proud of how our guys  
responded,”