ATLANTA (AP) — There's a tape that Josh Smith's coach wants him to see.
It shows the Atlanta Hawks forward attacking the
basket. And defending. And rebounding. And finding the open man. About the only
thing it doesn't feature is Smith parking himself on the outside, putting up
jumpers beyond his range.
"I've been telling him from day one: just
because the shot is open doesn't mean that's the shot you take," Hawks
coach Larry Drew said.
Smith is frequently criticized by Atlanta fans for
his inconsistent play. He heard nothing but cheers Sunday night, coming up with
a huge game that helped the Hawks even the Eastern Conference semifinal against
top-seeded Chicago at two games apiece.
Largely ignoring the long jumpers that aren't his
forte, Smith had 23 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and a steal
in Atlanta's 100-88 win over the Bulls.
"We're always trying to stay in his ear, but
obviously when he's going to the basket and making it easy for himself, we just
try to keep encouraging him," teammate Joe Johnson said. "He was
All-Star caliber. When he's playing like that, it's almost impossible for a
team to beat us."
Smith will have to keep it up for the Hawks to have
a chance to knock off the Bulls. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Chicago.
"I'm going to bring the tape in and bring him
into the office. And he knows," Drew said. "He has the ability to
impact the game on both ends of the floor. When he's flying around making
plays, he's pretty good."
The Hawks snapped a nine-game home losing streak in
the second round, their misery dating to a May 13, 1996, win against Orlando.
Jeff Teague also played a big role in stopping the
skid.
Filling in for injured Kirk Hinrich, the
second-year guard again directed the team with the poise of a veteran instead
of someone who played infrequently during the regular season and hardly at all
in the first round of the playoffs. He scored 12 points and doled out four
assists, putting the capper on a late 10-0 run that broke open a game that had
been tight and intense all the way.
"He's playing great," said Hinrich, who's
watched this entire series in dress suits because of a hamstring injury.
"Obviously he has ability. He's fast. He's good at finishing up around the
rim."
Driving toward the hoop with Kyle Korver draped all
over him, Teague flipped up a shot as he was falling down. It banked in, giving
the Hawks a safe lead, 94-84, with 1:26 remaining. The second-year player
bounced off the court with a big smile, bumping his teammates on the way to the
bench.
Someone held up a sign, "M-V-Teague."
The actual MVP scored 34 points. But Derrick Rose
needed 32 shots to do it, and he wasn't nearly as effective as he was in
scoring a career-best 44 points in Game 3, leading the Bulls to a 99-82 rout
that restored Chicago's home-court advantage.
The top-seeded Bulls can still close out the series
simply by winning at home, but the Hawks know they'll get at least one more
home game.
Rose turned it over twice during Atlanta's decisive
run, and Chicago also was hurt by an admitted blown call from referee Bennett
Salvatore. He blew his whistle, said he didn't mean to and ruled a jump ball
that was won by the Hawks. Bennett said he watched a replay after the game and
should've called a foul on Jamal Crawford when he blew his whistle.
"It was a tough game but no excuses,"
Rose said. "Put this game on me. Two turnovers at the end of the
game."
Smith said he's not worried about those who boo him
in his own hometown, who feel he's never quite lived up to his enormous
potential even though he's still just 25 years old.
"There are people who don't understand the
game, who don't know the game. That doesn't faze me," he said. "My
teammates matter more than anybody else. They believe in me. They have confidence
in my game. When I was in my rut, they told me to stay positive, to stay in the
game, just do what I'd been doing all season long. I stayed with it and had the
game I had tonight."
After an embarrassing performance two nights
earlier, the Hawks changed up their lineup. They had been dominated on the
boards in the two previous games, so they went back to a bigger lineup that
worked so well against Dwight Howard and Orlando in the opening round.
Seven-footer Jason Collins started at center
between Al Horford and Smith, putting Marvin Williams in a reserve role.
Collins had a couple of early dunks, but he wound up playing less than 12
minutes.
More significant was the way Atlanta changed up its
defense on Rose, charging at him with double-teams — even a few triple-teams —
whenever it looked as though he was about to make a move toward the hoop.
No one stops Rose completely, of course. He still
had plenty of moves for the highlight film, including a soaring dunk of his own
miss when no one blocked him out early on.
But down the stretch, the Hawks clamped down on the
Chicago star. Rose tied it at 84 on a drive with 4½ minutes to go, but he made
only one more basket, a late one that didn't matter, and finished 12 of 32 from
the field.
"I put us in a bad position at the end of the
game," he said. "Turnovers, loose balls. Just learn from it and just
try not to do it the next game."
Watching from the bench, Hinrich noticed a big
difference from Game 3 to Game 4.
"Our second line of defense was so much better,"
he said. "When Derrick got in the lane, we made him play in a crowd.
That's what you have to do."
Horford had his best game of the series, scoring 20
points on 9-of-11 shooting. Johnson led the Hawks with 24 points, knocking down
some early shots to get over a rough showing in Game 3.
Carlos Boozer had 18 points for Chicago, and Luol
Deng added 13. Korver had an especially rough night, going 1 for 8 from the
field. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/John Bazemore)
