Second-half doze can't be overcome By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/03/06 Memphis — Temporary outbreaks of quality play have become the hallmark of a worn down and perpetually undermanned Hawks team this season. They string together enough of those good spurts to occasionally win. More often, the Hawks put together just enough inspired stretches to tease their own fans with what they could be and scare the opposition for a while. Against playoff-level competition this late in the year, though, that won't nearly be good enough for anything other than a loss. And that's exactly what the Hawks left FedEx Forum with Sunday after going down in a heap, 98-87 to the Memphis Grizzlies (42-32). Playing without starting center Zaza Pachulia, who stayed at the team hotel with flu-like symptoms, the Hawks were taken apart i nside and out in the second half, after one of their trademark spurts spiced up an otherwise sleepy first half. With leading scorer and co-captain Joe Johnson struggling through one of his worst shooting nights of the season — he didn't make a field goal until there were 37.2 seconds left in the third quarter and finished with five points on 2-for-12 shooting — it was a minor miracle that the Hawks (22-50) were able to swap blows through the first 24 minutes. "When you got your best player struggling to make shots it's tough," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "We missed Zaza tonight. We had to play small ball, which works for us some nights. But when they keep [Pau] Gasol on the floor, that makes it tough for us." The Hawks rallied from an early 13-point deficit to take an eight-point lead, 39-31 with 6:30 to play in the second quarter, then made like Elvis right after halftime and left the building. The Hawks were buried just after halftime by a 40-6 Grizzlies run, including a barrage of 3-point shots from Chucky Atkins, who had a team-high 19 points and was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. Not even Josh Smith's fabulous night — he finished with a career-high 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five blocks — was enough to sustain the upset bid. "It's always difficult when teams are double teaming Joe and [Al Harrington, 15 points, 10 rebounds] and trying to limit what they do," said point guard Tyronn Lue, who played for the first time since Feb. 4. He spent the past two months recovering from a sprained knee ligament. "But you can't fault the effort. Guys were diving on the floor; we were getting back on defense and doing everything we could. That's a good team. We gave it everything we had. It just wasn't enough. "But you definitely can't fault the effort." The reasonable 49-42 halftime deficit seems all the more amazing after when you factor in Johnson's struggles. He missed his first eight shots. Johnson has been in double figures scoring in all but four games for the Hawks this season. The season-low was a three-point effort in a Feb. 21 loss to Detroit. "I missed a lot of easy shots," said Johnson, who was suffering from similar symptoms as Pachulia but dismissed a suggestion that it had anything to do with his night. "It's always going to be tough to get going for us if either Al or myself is struggling offensively. "Josh played big, knocked down shots and got rebounds for us. But they made that run in the third quarter and we never recovered." 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0403hawks.html --

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