Hawks hand Lakers second straight loss
March 31, 2010
ATLANTA (AP)—The Atlanta Hawks are looking to make a lengthy run in the NBAplayoffs.
Their bench sure appears deep enough for the long haul.
Joe Johnson(notes) scored 25 points despite an aching thumb, but it was the Atlantareserves who came up big against Kobe Bryant(notes) and the Lakers. Maurice Evans(notes)scored 18, Jamal Crawford(notes) added 14 and Zaza Pachulia(notes) chipped in with his firstdouble-double in more than a year, leading the Hawks to a 109-92 victoryWednesday night.
“You can’t win the championship with five guys,” Pachulia said. “We havesome great players on the bench. Why not use them?”
Bryant scored 28 points but only eight in the second half as Los Angeleslost back-to-back games for just the fourth time this season. The Lakers wontwice on a five-game road trip and missed a chance to possibly clinch thePacific Division title before heading home.
“We’re not playing well defensively,” Bryant said. “This trip wasconsistently bad, so we’ve got to get back to work.”
The Hawks moved a game ahead of Boston in the race for the third seed in theEastern Conference with their ninth straight win at home—their longest suchrun since a 20-game streak at the old Omni during the 1996-97 season. TheCeltics lost at home to Oklahoma 109-104.
“Boston lost? Woo-hoo!” Pachulia said when he saw the final seconds tickoff on a big-screen television in the locker room.
Johnson hit five 3-pointers despite spraining the thumb on his right(shooting) hand while tangled up with Ron Artest(notes) in the first quarter. He missed4 of 5 shots in the second but found his touch after the break, knocking downfour shots from beyond the 3-point stripe.
“I didn’t want to shy away from the shots I was getting,” Johnson said.“I just tried to keep it as loose as possible.”
He didn’t have to worry about carrying the entire load, not with the way thebench played. The always-reliable Crawford had his usual double-figure night,but the Lakers surely weren’t expecting Evans to put up 13 more points than hisseason average. He went 7 of 9 from the field, his only two misses coming fromoutside the arc.
“Some games they need you less, some games they need you more,” Evanssaid. “When you get an opportunity to play, you want to take advantage of it.That’s what we did tonight.”
Pachulia scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, his first double-doublesince March 29, 2009, also against the Lakers.
“Basketball is a team game,” he said. “When you play 100 games in aseason, you definitely need everyone to help out. I’m sure the starters don’tmind. When you get to this point in the season, you can’t worry about minutes.”
Atlanta went ahead for good on Crawford’s 3-pointer with 1:35 left in thefirst quarter, stretched it out to 55-45 by halftime and was never seriouslythreatened over the final two quarters, pushing the margin as high as 18 points.
Bryant called it a night with 2 1/2 minutes to go, heading to the bench after aturnover and watching the rest of the game with a towel draped over hisshoulders. Pau Gasol(notes) scored 16 points and Artest had 15, but Jordan Farmar(notes) (16points) made the only significant contribution off the bench.
“It’s hard to digest,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “Everybody gotgoing on their team, basically, at some point.”
The attendance-challenged Hawks drew a full-house-and-then-some crowd of20,190, a team record since their move to Philips Arena in 1999. Among thosesitting courtside were Hall of Famer Julius Erving and Atlanta rapper T.I., whowas recently released from a halfway house after serving prison time on aweapons charge.
Things got testy in the fourth quarter.
One minute into the period, Artest stuck an elbow in Evans’ face as heattempted to block out on Atlanta shot. Evans took exception after Artestgrabbed the rebound, shoving the volatile Lakers’ forward. Evans walked awaywith Artest in pursuit, but teammates stepped in to keep them apart. Bothplayers drew technical fouls.
About 2 minutes later, Gasol took a pass from Bryant and went in for a dunk,only to get fouled hard by Marvin Williams(notes), who got a piece of the ball but alsoa good part of Gasol’s neck. Williams was called for an intentional foul, Gasolmade the free throw, and Farmar swished a 3-pointer to pull the Lakers within85-73.
But the Hawks pulled away from there.
NOTES: Jackson said F Luke Walton(notes) (pinched nerve, back) hopes to play Sundaywhen the Lakers host the Spurs, but added that C Andrew Bynum(notes) (Achilles’ strain)could be out another 10 days. … Hawks coach Mike Woodson said he has nocomplaints about the tiebreaker system that gives the advantage to a teamwinning its division. Atlanta swept Boston 4-0 in the season series, but theCeltics would get the third seed if the teams end up tied for winning theAtlantic Division. … Among the other celebrities attending the Lakers’ loneappearance in Atlanta: Keri Hilson, who sang the national anthem; rapper Jeezy;and NFL linebacker Takeo Spikes. … G Sasha Vujacic(notes) was the only Lakers playerwho dressed out and didn’t play. He sat out his third straight game afterJackson said he had “a little run-in” with the coaching staff last week atOklahoma City.
