NBA Trade Scenarios: The Top 11 Dwight Howard Trades the Magic Can Make

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Jun 132012
 

Dwight Howard needs to go … now!

Orlando Magic owner Richard DeVoss Sr. is 86 years old and wants a championship. The only way DeVoss Sr. is going to be wearing an NBA title ring anytime soon is if the Magic part ways with their indecisive Superman, period.

Dwight Howard has changed his mind about whether he wants to play in Orlando more times than a Ron Artest changes personalities. It’s time for the Magic to move on, do what’s best for the franchise instead of their immature superstar, and trade Howard for the best package they can get before the season starts, the drama starts and their asset starts to depreciate.

Richard DeVoss Sr. owns the Magic and needs to take ownership of the Howard drama. He does not need a coach in place. He does not need a general manager in place. He doesn’t even need a legend like Phil Jackson. DeVoss Sr. simply needs to make it known that Howard is done playing for the Orlando Magic and that he will be traded to the highest bidder, period. Devoss Sr. can start the bidding war himself, immediately.

All of the above said, below are the top 11 trade packages the Magic could realistically hope to receive if they truly put Dwight Howard on the market:

 

Magic trade Howard, Jason Richardson and Quentin Richardson to the Heat for Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh

Others have speculated that the Heat may offer Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh for Dwight Howard if they fail to win the NBA title this season. However, the simple fact is that neither Wade nor Bosh is worth Howard straight up. If the Magic are going to trade the face of their franchise to their state rival, they must receive both Wade and Bosh, period.

 

The above trade is the single best trade the Magic can make and one I believe the Heat would seriously consider agreeing to, especially if the Thunder beat them in the NBA Finals as I expect they will.

 

Magic trade Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis, Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson to the Knicks for Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Toney Douglas and Jerome Jordan

Outside of the first proposed Heat trade, the Magic simply cannot do any better from a talent perspective that being able to acquire the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler and star power forward Amare Stoudemire for Howard. Being able to also dump the horrible contracts of Turkoglu, Duhon and Richardson along with the lengthy contract of Big Baby Davis and receive the extremely inexpensive contracts of young Toney Douglas and Jerome Jordan is mere icing on the cake!

 

Magic trade Howard, Duhon and Quentin Richardson to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum, Josh McRoberts and Christian Eyenga

The above is perhaps the most likely to happen deal out of the eleven listed. The Lakers may be high on Andrew Bynum’s future but are not insane enough to truly believe he gives them a better chance to win a title next year. The Magic could do far worse than trading the top center in the league for the second best center in the league, who happens to be two years younger. Swapping the bad contracts of Duhon and Richardson for the inexpensive and short-term contracts of McRoberts and Eyenga is also a bonus for Orlando.

 

 

Magic trade Howard and Quentin Richardson to the Hawks for Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia and the #23 pick

Dwight Howard is the best center on the planet without doubt. However, Al Horford may indeed be a top three center in the league when fully healthy. Such being the case, trading Howard with the bad contract of Quentin Richardson and receiving the younger Horford, quality backup center Pachulia and the 23rd pick in the draft is a solid deal for the Magic.

 

Magic trade Howard and Turkoglu to the Wizards for Rashard Lewis, Kevin Seraphin and the No. 2 pick

If the Magic decide they want to build around a new young stud, they could certainly do worse than saving over $17 million by swapping the Howard and Turkoglu duo for the Wizards Lewis and Seraphin duo and acquiring the second pick in the draft to use on Kansas power forward Thomas Robinson.

 

Magic trade Howard, Duhon, Quentin Richardson and the No. 19 pick to the Grizzlies for Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol

 

While losing the No. 19 pick in the draft may not be ideal for Orlando, acquiring the Grizzlies duo of Gay and Gasol is more than worth it. This is one trade that immediately makes the Magic a better team with a brighter future than what they currently have with Howard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic trade Howard to the Rockets for Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin and the No. 14 and No. 16 picks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Ingram recently reported in his Hoops World article that the Rockets have no desire to keep either of their two first round draft picks and are looking to trade them for a star player. Dwight Howard could be that star player. The Magic may not be receiving a superstar player in this trade but they are receiving a massive amount of talent. Lowry and Martin would instantly give Orlando one of the best back-courts in the East and the No. 14 and 16 picks could easily be packaged with their own No. 19 pick to move up in the draft to select the new face of the franchise, such as Dwight Howard clone Andre Drummond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic trade Howard and Turkoglu to the Timberwolves for Nikola Pekovic, Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson and the expiring contracts of Martell Webster and Brad Miller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above trade would be a Godsend for the Magic franchise. Pekovic has perennial All-Star written all over him while Williams has the makings of a future star. Dumping the horrid contract of Turkoglu for the expiring contracts of Webster and Miller, while also adding promising young swing-man Johnson is a no-brainer swap as well. Simply put, this is close to a perfect deal for the Magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic trade Howard and Turkoglu to the Jazz for Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap

 

 

 

 

 

This trade makes perfect and I do mean perfect sense for both teams. The Jazz could actually use a two big men for one big man swap in order to free up much needed playing time for both Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. The Magic should be thrilled to trade their superstar big man for two young star big men as well. There really is nothing to dislike about this trade whatsoever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic trade Howard, Duhon and Quentin Richardson to the Spurs for Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter

The above trade would give the Magic a great return on their investment, no doubt about that. Parker and Ginobili, who could step right into his sixth man role with the Magic, playing behind starter Jason Richardson would give Orlando perhaps the best backcourt in the Eastern Conference immediately. Tiago Splitter is also a fabulous young true center that adds great value to this package.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic trade Howard and Turkoglu to the Warriors for Andrew Bogut and David Lee

 

This final trade is much like the proposed trade between the Magic and the Utah Jazz. A simple two for one swap would improve the Magic, yet make perfect sense for their trading partner as well. I personally believe this trade is far less likely than the Jazz trade. This is due to the fact that while both the Jazz and Warriors would be afraid Howard would not sign long-term extensions with them, the Warriors don’t have two young studs waiting in the wings, ready to gobble up extra minutes in the post the way their Jazz do in the aforementioned Favors and Kanter.

Whichever of the above 11 trade proposals the Magic decide to focus on, and no worries Mr. DeVoss Sr., I won’t charge a consultancy fee. I believe it is a no-brainer decision that they must trade Dwight Howard as soon as possible.

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Hawks wait in limbo this offseason

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Jun 042012
 

Larry Drew is coming back. The Hawks picked up the third-year option on their head coach’s contract before Memorial Day.

But Rick Sund’s fate has yet to be determined. The Hawks’ general manager is contemplating retirement, coming back, a consultant’s role and just about any other avenue for staying connected to the organization without fully committing himself to returning for yet another season.

With a first-round draft pick in the low 20s, no big salaries coming off of the books this summer and the bulk of their salary structure tied up in four players — Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams — the Hawks don’t have many options for improving their lot this season other than a change at the very top of their basketball operation.

Since they’ve already decided to roll with Drew for another year, Sund’s chair was the only viable option for some structural change.

And now that’s not even guaranteed to happen.

Sund is a good man, a solid executive and a reliable facilitator of things but hardly a cutting-edge decision-maker known for doing big things in the draft and free agency.

If Sund does decide to ride into the sunset, the Hawks don’t have an internal candidate with any recognizable skills prepared to take over and move this team to the next level. There have been names mentioned as potential replacements for Sund (Oklahoma City’s Troy Weaver and San Antonio’s Dennis Lindsey), but they are also the hot names every other organization looking for a new general manager have at the top of their wish lists.

By the time Sund makes up his mind, the best candidates to replace him could be on their way elsewhere, leaving the Hawks to spend yet another summer in middle-of-the-road limbo.

NOTES, QUOTES

–Josh Smith hasn’t come out and said anything regarding his future since the end of the Hawks’ season. But everyone is expecting his name to surface in trade rumors as free agency approaches.

Smith’s already made his intentions known to the organization and doesn’t plan on vacating his request to be moved. He knows that ownership would prefer to have him remain with the organization going forward.

He also knows that he’s got just one year left on his current contract and is eligible for a contract extension, though those conversations have not been approached by either side just yet.

–For whatever it’s worth to Hawks fans, GM Rick Sund believes the 2011-12 version of this team was destined for the Eastern Conference final if injuries hadn’t sacked the Hawks before they could get there.

Sund claims to have liked his team much more than the Hawks’ critics did.

He’s convinced that if Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia had stayed healthy his Hawks would have played for a chance to win the East instead of Boston.

“We would’ve gotten to that elite level,” Sund said, the power of hindsight being his lone tool for that theory.

The only problem with that is the Hawks weren’t able to reach that level at any other time when this team was on the rise. In fact, the team has regressed in each of the two seasons since Mike Woodson, the new coach of the Knicks, was fired.

So for Sund or anyone else to assume that this team was ready to make some quantum leap into the conference finals this year is beyond disingenuous.

QUOTE TO NOTE

“Going forward, I’ll take some time, talking to my wife, talking to the owners, and in time there will be resolution.” — GM Rick Sund on his future with the franchise.

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Ranking the Worst Clutch Performers in the NBA

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May 182012
 

The Heat may have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season, but when it comes to being clutch, are they really as good as we’ve all become accustomed to believing?

The results of Games 2 and 3 of their series against the Pacers would suggest the answer is no. 

Clutchness is a difficult thing to define, and you could even argue that it’s impossible to articulate using statistics. For example, if you define it as, “Fourth quarter or overtime, less than five minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points,” as 82games.com does, it works and it doesn’t.

It’s important to know how a player’s going to perform when his team is down and there’s no time left, but is a fourth-quarter situation in January really comparable to a fourth-quarter situation in a Game 7 in the playoffs? Some players’ clutchness is off the charts in the middle of the regular season but it disappears when it really matters in May and June. The “clutch stats” sometimes indicate otherwise because most elite players fire away far more in crunch time than they do in regular time, which inflates their points total without necessarily increasing their accuracy. 

Here’s a look at some of the most un-clutch elite players in the NBA, taking account of the statistics and their performances when it really matters in the postseason. 

Dwyane Wade

Even the stats aren’t on Wade’s side here. Wade ranks outside the top 20 in clutch statistics, according to 82games—way behind the ranks of Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki. He averages a .397 field-goal percentage when it matters most, well below his career average of .486, and in the clutch, he averages fewer assists (3.0) than he does in real time. 

But what tells the true story of his clutchness is his performance over the last two games of the playoffs. In Game 2, he missed what could’ve been the deciding layup with less than 30 seconds remaining, and in Game 3, he had one of the worst performances of his career, putting up a meager five points, five rebounds and one assist. 

Paul Pierce

Some of Pierce’s most notable performances of late have been in Boston’s postseason wins, particularly during the Celtics’ 2007 championship run. But according to the stats, he ranks even further down than Wade among the clutch greats. According to 82games, he’s 39th on the clutch list, behind even Al Horford and Blake Griffin. 

Pierce’s field-goal percentage drops to .425 in clutch situations, and he tends to shoot far more frequently, taking 19.1 shots in the clutch as opposed to 16.1 in real time. 

Chris Paul 

Here is a case where the reality and the statistics kind of tell the same story. Paul ranks 62nd among all clutch players, and after his eight-turnover, 10-point performance in the Clippers’ 105-88 loss to the Spurs on Thursday, it’s not hard to see why. 

Paul normally shoots .361 from three-point range, but he shoots .267 in the clutch; from the field, he normally shoots .472, but he shoots .390 in the clutch. Plus, he averages 2.9 turnovers per 48 minutes of clutch time, whereas in real time, he averages 2.5. 

Al Horford

When the Hawks brought back an injured Horford for their first-round playoff series against Boston, they seemed to get a big boost from his return. According to 82games, however, his impact in the clutch isn’t quite as positive as you might expect. 

He ranks 35th on the clutch list, and though he normally takes about 9.9 shots per game, he takes 13.7 in the clutch, and he’s definitely not a guy you’d want shooting the rock from behind the arc when it matters. He’s never made a three-pointer in the clutch, despite shooting .250 from beyond the arc regularly.  

Carmelo Anthony

The Knicks seemed to be doomed this postseason, no matter what. Anthony may have been plagued by injuries during the regular season, but the bug caught up with the rest of his team in the playoffs. Without Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis at times, the onus was completely on him to produce. 

Anthony ranks 23rd on the clutch list, just one slot above Wade. According to 82games, he’s played in 17 career clutch games, and he has a minus-10 plus/minus during clutch minutes. He takes a whopping 27.3 shots—up from 19.3 in regular time—and his field-goal percentage drops from .456 to .417. He also averages over one more turnover in clutch time (4.6) than he does in real time (3.0). 

LeBron James

This is the toughest player to consider in terms of clutchness because despite the fact that he’s ranked fourth on the list (behind Bryant, Rose and Mo Williams), it’s hard to remember the last time he registered a meaningful shot in a meaningful game. 

James regularly takes 20.4 shots and shoots at a 48.3 percent clip, but in the clutch, he takes 27.3 shots at a 43.6 percent clip. He also takes 7.3 three’s in the clutch and makes 23.8 percent of them, whereas he regularly takes 4.0 per game and makes 33.1 percent, and he turns over the ball more frequently in the clutch (3.8 per game) than he does regularly (3.3). 

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NBA admits to blowing crucial call

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May 122012
 

The NBA has admitted that a foul call with 3.1 seconds left in the Hawks/Celtics game 6 was whistled too late. The late whistle resulted in the Hawks getting the ball out of bounds instead of one free throw and possession.
This foul was eventually called against Marquis Daniels as he held Al Horford on an inbound attempt by Atlanta. The Hawks were down 81-79 at this point and Daniels was clearly mugging Horford for a few seconds.

Since Daniels was all over Horford long before the ball was passed into play, the correct call should have been an away-from-the-play foul, which would have given the Hawks one free throw attempt and the ball. Instead the Hawks just in bounded a second time.
If you watch the video closely, it’s an easy call to see that Marquis Daniels has ahold of Horford’s arm well before Marvin Williams passes the ball into play.

Daniels was holding, but the officials don’t have a great of a view as we do from our couch, so it’s very understandable how this foul goes uncalled. It’s a tough break for the Hawks, but these things do happen.
Boston defeated Atlanta 83-80 and wins the series 4-2, advancing into the 2nd round to face the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Celtics Clinch Series Thanks to Clutch KG, Bad Atlanta Decisions

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May 112012
 

Boston also got a little help from the refs and typically bad Atlanta decisions to be sure. With the Celtics leading 81-79 on the Hawks‘ final possession, Paul Pierce did not get whistled for mauling Joe Johnson, a foul call that would have granted the Hawks two free throws from one of their better shooters. Ball out of bounds, back to Atlanta. Then, the Celtics committed a foul prior to the inbounds that was ruled as during the inbounds (a distinction that forced the Hawks to re-inbound, as opposed to getting two immediate freebies).

Despite all that, Atlanta squandered a great chance. Al Horford could have tied the game at the line with less than two seconds left. Instead, he missed the first, and doomed his timeout-less team by making the second shot. Series over. 

But let’s focus on hoops heroism, as delivered by Kevin Garnett, a player who used to suffer the dreaded “choker” label back in Minnesota. Tonight, he made the go-ahead basket on a difficult turnaround. It surprised no one, as Garnett’s been doing this for some years now. 

His success in big moments is a reminder that “choker” is not a predictive description. Guys can learn to get better at the end of games, or more often, they’re unfairly judged, based on a small sample size of situations. 

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NBA Playoffs 2012: Al Horford Is X-Factor in Hawks vs. Celtics Series

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May 102012
 

The Atlanta Hawks got a much-needed boost from their big man, Al Horford, in their Game 5 win over the Boston Celtics. Clearly he will be a vital piece for the Hawks moving forward in this series.

Horford’s energy single-handedly propelled the Hawks to a win and saved the season in the process. The Hawks center contributed with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the must-win situation.

After missing the majority of the season, Horford has finally returned to give Atlanta a huge boost on both sides of the ball.

In his first game, it was clear Horford didn’t have his legs under him yet. But in his second game of this series, Horford’s game was vastly improved and it showed.

What Horford gives the Hawks is a defensive presence all over the floor and especially in the paint.

On the offensive end, Horford gives Atlanta some strength down low. Although he doesn’t have much of a low-post game, the Hawks center is very capable of finishing and can make the most out of solid passing by his teammates.

There’s no doubt that the anchor of the Hawks defense is back and better than ever. Had Atlanta been lucky enough to have Horford this entire series, things might’ve been much different.

It could end up being too little, too late in this case, but if Horford can continue to play the way he did in Game 5, the Hawks could climb back into this series and give the Celtics a run for their money.

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Drew’s new-school approach steadies Hawks

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May 092012
 

Some coaches might have put their teams through a grueling practice. Or a humiliating video session, calling out players mistake by mistake. Or they might have done a little of both and screamed and yelled.

Not Larry Drew. Drew might be 54, but he is new school. He’s also been around the NBA forever as a player and a long-time assistant and now in his second season as a head coach.

So how did the Hawks’ coach get his players to respond after their 101-79 Game 4 loss to Boston in which they trailed at one stretch by 37 points? He held a meeting and he and the players talked it out.

The result? An 87-86 victory in an elimination game in Game 5 on Tuesday in which the Hawks redeemed themselves to a degree. It’s a little more than a moral victory, but only complete validation will come with a series victory, which will not be easy and they still trail 3-2 entering Game 6 in Boston on Thursday.

Nonetheless, the 2009-10 Hawks, who lost by a historic margin to Orlando, would not have been able to pull this off. Marvin Williams, who earned a start and made 3-of-6 three-point shots to finish with 15 points, credited Drew’s approach and said as much.

“We’re not going to fold,” Williams said after the game in a video posted on the team’s Web site. “We folded in the past when we were a younger team, but we are a veteran team now. We’ve been in these situations before, so we just knew not to fold. We kept our composure.

“I think the biggest thing is coach. He keeps his composure and that really helps us, keeps us calm. So that’s always good.”

It seems the low-key coach must have made some points in that Monday team meeting with a certain degree of firmness but also with a level of poise and the significant absence of hysteria.

Joe Johnson complained about his lack of touches in Game 4 that resulted in his getting only eight shots. While not wanting to alienate his highest-paid player and top scorer, Drew conceded that the Hawks could have gone to Johnson a little more often and made an extra pass on some possessions. But he also said that Johnson needed to be more aggressive, a sentiment echoed by two-time All-Star center Al Horford, the team’s true leader who, in just his second game back after four months off with a torn pectoral muscle, showed what he was made of on Tuesday with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 11 rebounds.

Johnson got his touches more than twice as many attempts, although he suffered through a poor shooting night, making 6-of-17 field goals and his 15 points were needed in a one-point victory.

After Monday’s session, Drew said he was anxious to see how the team responded. He reiterated that in his pregame comments to reporters, saying the Hawks had responded to challenges throughout the season and viewed Game 4 as a “bump in the road.”

Game 5 didn’t start out pretty. Drew had to call a timeout just 3:51 into the game to prevent it from going off the rails, as Boston jumped out to an 11-3 lead. The Hawks fought back, but with 8:53 left in the second quarter, the Celtics led by 28-18.

Drew let them play through that sequence and the Hawks had tied the game by halftime and steadily pulled away in the second half before holding on at the end.

Again, the coach’s positive message seems to have played a role.

“We just couldn’t make shots and that’s what I was reminding the guys every time they came to the huddle was don’t get discouraged because defensively we’re doing a good job, our shots will fall,” Drew said. “In the middle of the second quarter, they started to fall.”

Apparently, he understands the psychology of this team, which is no small feat. Coaching in the NBA is a murky mix of ego managing and Xs-and-Os. It’s hard to say which is more important, but perhaps the former. Drew understood this on Monday.

This is just Drew’s third playoff series as a coach. He’s 1-1 so far, but last year few expected the Hawks to beat Orlando in the first round and fewer expected them to make such a competitive series in the second round against Chicago.

If the Hawks manage to come back and eliminate Boston Atlanta is the higher seed but the underdog in the eyes of many then Drew and his squad will truly have pulled off an impressive achievement.

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The Microscope: Ryan Anderson’s Tough Playoff Run and Al Horford’s Resurrection

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May 092012
 

 The Microscope is your recurring look at the NBA‘s small-scale developments—the rotational curiosities, skill showcases, coaching decisions, notable performances and changes in approach that make the league go ’round.

Ryan Anderson, ever the star

After living up to every bit of his per-minute promise, Ryan Anderson has played a stinker of a playoff series en route to the Orlando Magic’s all-too-predictable first-round exit. The Indiana Pacers were fully tuned in to Anderson’s presence and movement at all times, and though his shooting percentage isn’t quite as bad as it looks due to the number of threes made and attempted, Anderson had a miserable series by almost any standard — and particularly so by his own lofty marks.

Yet before we rush to judgment on what such a performance might say about Anderson’s game, I’d urge you to really consider the nature of this Magic roster. It took some ridiculously out-of-character success from Glen Davis, some condensed brilliance from Jameer Nelson and some particularly scrappy execution to even pull Orlando within striking distance of a win in this series.

Anderson thrives off of the shot creation of others, and yet the kind of looks Davis managed to create weren’t particularly conducive to the benefit of an extra pass, and Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu didn’t consistently draw the kinds of defensive attention that would score Anderson open shots.

Anderson is a star, even if he’s not an elite shot creator; that he struggled so much in this series signals that he’s understandably dependent on teammates, but only in the same way that all basketball players are. No low-post savant can go to work without effective shooters on the perimeter, no brilliant playmaker can create flow to an offense without good cutters or marksmen, and no solo shot creator can anchor an offense without credible support. All great players are still cogs in a greater system, and Anderson—despite lacking that fundamental quality that far too many view as a key to stardom—is no different.

The true return of Al Horford

Al Horford officially made his return to the court on Sunday, but the player donning his jersey was a shell of his pre-injury self. Such can be expected when a player — even one as tremendous as Horford —misses three-and-a-half months of action; some rust was to be expected, and considering how noncommittal Horford was about playing in this year’s postseason, the fact that he returned to the lineup at all was a bit of a surprise.

Yet the Horford we saw in the Hawks’ win on Tuesday night easily validated the decision that prompted his return. Horford’s 19 points and 11 rebounds (in 41 minutes!) were impressive, but more so was the resurrection of the Horford we know and love. Even as he shook off rust, Horford remained committed to the game’s nuances. He boasted the kind of all-inclusive impact we’ve come to expect from him, and though he still seemed tentative and unsure at times, Horford looked more comfortably settled into his own skin as he passed, hedged and boxed the Hawks over the top in a tight game.

Welcome back, Al.

Finding balance in Philadelphia

Even during their most successful offensive stretches, the Philadelphia 76ers were a team completely committed to and dependent on the notion of creative balance. There is no Chris Paul or Steve Nash to set up teammates consistently, no Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum to draw double-teams in the post and no LeBron James or Dwyane Wade to draw attention through penetration. There’s merely a group of otherwise supplementary offensive players, functioning in fleeting harmony through smart passing, consistent movement and whatever quality attempts they can manufacture.

Yet when Philly’s offense is forced to face off with an elite defense in game after game after game (as is certainly the case in the first-round matchup with Chicago), the aforementioned balance becomes even more important. The Sixers’ top creators are Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, and though being dependent on four players may seem to glean benefit through diversification, the fact that none of this group is truly elite makes things more than a bit difficult. As we saw on Tuesday, if at least two or three of those four players aren’t generating shots effectively for either themselves of their teammates, Philadelphia’s offense tends to completely crumble.

That doesn’t necessarily guarantee a loss given the strength of the Sixers’ defense, but it puts an interesting offense on a particularly precious perch.

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Horford leads Hawks over Celtics in first start

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May 092012
 

ATLANTA Al Horford wasn’t feeling any pain. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Or possibly he was numb. Most likely he was still in shock.

Some how, some way, the young Atlanta Hawks center shrugged off the rustiness and steadied his legs and found the breath to grind and battle the Boston Celtics for 41 minutes.

And the Hawks needed all of Horford’s seconds and every one of his 19 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and three steals to take an 87-86 victory on Tuesday night and force Game 6 in this first round series, which the Celtics lead 3-2 heading back to Boston.

“Al Horford was terrific,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

Indeed he was, even if his lengthy time on the court seemed to surprise even himself. The Hawks needed a jolt, and they received it in the form of a massive dose of Horford.

“Al Horford was absolutely huge,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “His ability to move around at times when we were forced to make switches on defense, and his foot speed enabled him to stay with the ball. He was a superman for us down the stretch.”

If Horford seemed sluggish at first, it’s tough to blame him. This was only his second game since returning from a torn left pectoral muscle on Jan. 11, and it showed what the Hawks had missed practically all season without their all-star center.

The injury filled his winter with discomfort. Surgery was needed to repair the tear. That led to rehab and sitting and watching his teammates finish strong and make the playoffs.

Horford then gave mixed signals before the series began, going back and forth on whether he was ready to return before deciding he was healthy enough to play. Even then, he sat the first three games, finally returning in Game 4. Horford saw action for the first time in nearly four months in the blowout loss, contributing 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.

He wasn’t sure what to expect on Tuesday, but thought he and Drew had an agreement that he would play only 15 to 25 minutes. They obviously didn’t shake on it.

Horford not only started, he played 20 minutes by halftime. His stats were lackluster at that point, with only two points and six rebounds, but the score was tied.

When the third quarter began, Horford started scoring. He hit a jumper and another, and then a layup. His inspired play invigorated his teammates and the crowd. Soon, the Hawks led 66-54.

“In the second half, I was able to get going,” Horford said. “The guys found me and I was able to hit a couple of jumpers and that got my confidence going again. After that, I felt pretty good.”

The minutes and fast pace took their toll and Horford went to the bench at the start of the fourth. He sat for a few minutes before returning to the court. The short break was all he needed.

Horford began scoring and rebounding and defending, and with the score tied at 83, there he was again.
His dunk on a pass from Jeff Teague gave the Hawks an 85-83 lead.

Horford then scored Atlanta’s last basket, a driving hybrid hook shot for a four-point advantage with 1:34 left.
He wasn’t done. The Hawks needed him one more time.

After Boston’s Rajon Rondo stole the ball on the Hawks’ final possession, Horford was there to cut off his path to the basket. It forced Rondo to lose his balance and attempt a bad pass, which was deflected by the Hawks’ Josh Smith as the final second ticked off the clock.

“I didn’t want to lose the series that way, so I didn’t want to let Rondo shoot a jumper over me,” Horford said. “You’re fighting for your life out there. I wanted to bring energy to the team. We needed to win this game.”

With Horford on the court, the Hawks are a different team. They started Game 5 with the lineup they thought they’d have all season. In reality, it was the first time that Horford, Smith, Teague, Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams were in the starting lineup since Jan. 6.

“This is the team that they thought they were going to start the season with,” Rivers said. “They now have it, and now we have to deal with it.”

And especially with Horford.
Follow Andy Johnston on Twitter @aj_braves

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