Johnson has 42 in satisfying win By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 03/08/06 Quite a bit has changed since the Hawks last saw Golden State, most of it for the better. Today, the Hawks (20-39) have hit the 20-win plateau for the first time in two years after a 113-106 win over the Warriors Tuesday. On opening night this season in Oakland, the Hawks traded blows with the Warriors for about 20 minutes before being run out of the building 122-97. At the time, the Warriors appeared to be headed for big things, perhaps even a playoff berth to end the longest postseason drought in the NBA. The Hawks, on the other hand, seemed like a team destined for another down stretch. And for a while they were, starting the season 2-16. But that was months ago, before Joe Johnson found his groove and before the Hawks turned their season around with resilient performances like the one they delivered Tuesday at Philips Arena. Johnson scored a career-high 42 points to lead the Hawks back from a 13-point, first-quarter deficit. They also erased some of the nasty memories from that season opening loss, one that both coaches and players talked about. "It's funny because we're not even close to being that team anymore," Johnson said after the game. "When the season first started a lot of guys didn't know their roles. We were just playing off of energy. We got an early lead then they turned up the pressure in the second half and we buckled. But tonight we jumped on them early, got down and then came back and finished." Rarely have the Hawks finished as methodically as they did Tuesday, scoring all but three of their final 13 points from the free-throw line. They started the game even more efficiently, with Johnson scoring the Hawks' first 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the floor. Other than Johnson early, though, the rest of the Hawks were moving in slow motion as Golden State's Jason Richardson matched Johnson shot for shot. He finished with 42 points as well. One minute the Hawks were ahead 16-12 and a 14-0 Warriors run later they were dragging and on the verge of being drummed again. "I can say for myself that my legs and my mind weren't in the game early," said Hawks forward Josh Smith, who rebounded to finish with 12 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists. His bank shot buzzer-beater at halftime pulled the Hawks within a basket, 54-52, as they closed the half on a tear. "I went in at halftime and [assistant coach David] Fizdale talked to me and then [assistant coach Larry] Drew told me to play my game. Run the floor and do what I do. "That's what got me going. And I think we all needed to remember that we weren't the same team that they blew out all those months ago. Coach [Mike Woodson] reminded us of that at halftime. And we needed to hear it." Al Harrington (21 points, seven rebounds), Marvin Williams off the bench (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Zaza Pachulia (11 points, 10 rebounds) all heated up in the second half, to help Johnson after his 26-point, first-half showing. It was the kind of collective performance no one, not even team members, were sure they were capable of in November. "We're a totally different team," Woodson said. "Our young guys are growing up right before our eyes and we have to keep working with them and pushing them to be the best they can be. That first game we played two and a half quarters of good basketball and then the bottom fell out. . . . "But we've come a long way since opening night." 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/stories/0308hawks.html --

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