The last time the Hawks went to Indiana, they were without the services of Josh Smith and lost Al Horford early on en route to getting pasted 113-96 back on Nov. 18. This time around both Smoove and Horford were available, and both made a big difference in getting the result the team wanted as the Hawks beat the Pacers 110-104 on Tuesday night, moving their record to 21-10 and running their winning streak to six games for the second time this season.

Smith was a revelation in the second half, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter and setting up Joe Johnson for the biggest basket of the night late in the fourth. After Indiana cut the Hawks lead to 105-104 inside the final minute, Smoove worked his way down into the post before firing a pass crosscourt to JJ, who buried a three with just 32 seconds remaining to finish off a determined Pacers squad.

Horford was big as well, earning his third straight double-double by halftime and finished the Pacers with a block on Jarrett Jack (who single-handedly kept the Pacers in the game in the fourth) in the game's final seconds.

Indiana had its chances, but Atlanta deserves a ton of credit for keeping them at an arm's length for most of the night. The Hawks never were able to build their lead to much more than six or seven points, but they also never let the Pacers get the home crowd too much into it. And after getting outrebounded in the loss in November, the Hawks turned the tables tonight by winning the battle on the glass 48-41.

Much like in the win over Denver Sunday night, every Hawk who played tonight made a contribution. Mo Evans continued to rediscover his shooting stroke, hitting two threes when the team couldn't buy a bucket from outside (his two were the only ones the team made in their first 16 attempts), and Zaza Pachulia had a great impact off the bench early on, getting buckets inside and hustling for rebounds before foul trouble limited his minutes in the second half.

In the end though the team got what it needed from its superstar, as Joe Johnson scored 12 of his 27 points in the final stanza including the three that broke the Pacers spirit.

The win gave the Hawks a measure of revenge as they began a stretch of three straight against teams that beat them earlier this season. Next up on the hit list are the Nets and Devin Harris, who torched Atlanta for 63 points in two games back on Nov. 14-15. With the way the Hawks are playing right now, you have to like their chances.

In addition to those duties though, Pelton has begun to carve a niche for himself in the John Hollinger-esque statistical analysis world, writing for Basketball Prospectus and, recently, SI.com. Kevin is a great guy and a talented writer, and he has turned his attention to the Hawks after last night's throttling of the Denver Nuggets. Specifically, he takes a look at what has caused the team's turnaround from the previous few seasons and reaches a conclusion I'm sure we'll all agree with - it's all about three-point shooting.

It's a great article, and I suggest reading the whole thing, but here is a small snippet:

"With the notable exception of Smith, the other Hawks starters have improved virtually across the board. I suspect we are seeing the benefit of a well-spaced floor and the need for defenses to respect four of the five players beyond the arc. The improvement in turnover rates is especially striking, while Bibby is hitting a career-high percentage of his two-point shots and Williams too has made major strides inside the three-point line as well as outside it. Johnson's two-point improvement is not actually as impressive as it looks; he hit 50.4 percent of his twos in 2006-07 before suffering through a fluky 2007-08 campaign."

I have always skewed towards optimism when it came to my Hawks over the years, and though I generally try to keep it real, I still am bound to look on the brighter side of things most times with them. That's why, in the most recent installment of "Ten Games At A Time", I picked them to win 6 of the 8 games on the December homestand. I wasn't sure they'd hit the mark, but again, with my sunny outlook, I thought they had a good shot at it. Of course, I thought they could do better, but I didn't want to seem like I was too giddy.

Then 7-1 happened, the team is a missed free throw away from potentially a nine-game winning streak, and at 20-10, Atlanta has shown that the 6-0 start they ran out to was no fluke.

As I discussed with Bob Rathbun on the Weekly Podcast on Monday, the game with Denver was kind of a statement game. Yes we beat Cleveland and Detroit, but those were both games you'd circle on the calendar before the season started. All the other wins on the homestand were against sub-.500 teams. Satisfied with 6 wins on the stand already, the Hawks could easily have lost to the Nuggets, one of the best teams in the NBA, if they came out flat.

But this is a new day, and these Hawks protect their home court. It wasn't a case of the Nuggets not playing well either - this game was close for most of the way until Atlanta took over down the stretch, and I like to think the Hawks D played a big role in the off nights had by Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Make no mistake, this was an impressive home win.

Now let's keep the momentum going (not to mention win some more free food for the office) with a revenge win Tuesday night at Indiana.

It's early, but I'd like to go on record as saying I think JJ will hit 50 in a game at least once before he ends his tenure in Atlanta. Could tonight be the night?

Joe Johnson, and it pains me to say this, sorta, kinda, struggled in Tuesday's win over Oklahoma City (I say that delicately, I mean the dude did have his second career triple-double). He made up for that tonight and then some, scoring a season high 41 points and hitting 4-6 three-pointers to lead the team to its 4th straight win and sixth in seven games on the homestand.

This homestand has been awesome so far, if for no other reason than the Hawks are taking advantage. The last few years, it seemed like every time the Hawks had a chance to do something right, something went wrong. Not this year - at 9 games over .500, the Hawks are doing their best to put some distance in the standings in the race for the last home-court spot in the Eastern Conference, and are giving themselves a chance to even challenge Orlando for the Southeast Division title.

Most of the wins of late have been of the grind it out, first-one-to-90-wins kinds of affairs, but it's nice to see the Hawks can go the other way as well.

The Bulls have been frequent tormentors of the Hawks of late, so it's particularly sweet to see them take the first two games of the year against this squad (though it must be said, Derrick Rose can ball).

A great win, and now Atlanta is one win away from a very, very impressive 7-1 homestand.

Bring it on, Denver.

Still, I thought the guys from Golden State of Mind gave me some good responses on the Warriors season so far, and I wanted to share them here in case you are interested. Here are some answers to a few questions I posed, courtesy of Atma Brother #1":

1. Golden State spent a lot of money in the offseason to keep Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins, and to sign Corey Maggette. I know Ellis got hurt, but overall how are those signings looking so far?

Monta Ellis: This $67 million over 6 years signing looked like a pretty fair deal this past summer, but now it looks like a complete joke. The Warriors entrusted the future of the franchise to Ellis. He rewards them and the best fans in the association by violating his contract, lying about it, publicly whining about his punishment, and issuing a weak statement of "apology". As of today there is no team in the league that would trade for Moped Ellis with that contract and uncertainty about his physical abilities when he returns. It looks like a foolish signing a quarter of the way through the 2k8-2k9 season at best. Time will only tell how this fiasco turns out. He could prove to be worth the remainder of his contract, but it's no foregone conclusion whether he can even recover from major surgery and rebound to the quick and athletic player he was in 2007-2008. It's not even a given that he has the professionalism, work ethic, and maturity to even get back to that level. Let's hope he does though.

Andris Biedrins: At the time of this 6 year $54 million (incentives up to $62 million) signing it looked like Warriors VP/GM Chris Mullin and President Robert Rowell got punked again. Biedrins had no reported interested around the league as a restricted free agent and his agent had to use some rumor that Euro leagues wanted him, to get the Warriors to put a deal on the table. Contract negotiation skills don't seem to be a prerequisite for working in the Warriors front offices. Biedrins' ceiling doesn't appear to be that high, but you have to hand it to him for working hard and stepping up his game this season. His defense is still pretty much nonexistent and he's not much more than a finisher on offense- an excellent one though, but this 15ppg - 12rpg (admittedly inflated) young center is the least of this team's worries. He's earning his dough.

Corey Maggette: The general consensus was that the Warriors overpaid and outbid themselves this past summer by inking Maggette to a 5 year 50 million deal. It looked especially curious that the Warriors were ready to open up the pocket books for a very injury prone and fairly one dimensional player, but they irrationally (meaning Rowell) couldn't wait to run Baron Davis, a near-superstar who helped revive this franchise from the laughingstock of the association, out of town. Maggette's performance with the Warriors this season isn't surprising if you've been paying attention to his previous 9 seasons in the NBA. He can slash, get to the rim, and draw fouls, but he's not that interested in passing or playing defense. At this point in Maggette's career his game is what it is. The blunder here is on the Warriors front office (starting to see a trend?).

2. The Warriors are currently 7-19 – what has been the biggest cause of the team's struggles so far?
The biggest cause lies not on the hardwood or even the coaching sidelines, but in the Golden State Warriors front offices and ownership. For the most part these players have given a solid effort, but unfortunately they just aren't that talented of a group relative to the NBA. A big chunk of this roster belongs in the NBDL or in college. Nellie's rotations and decisions haven't been perfect this year (e.g. Biedrins should NEVER be inbounding the ball and the failed Maggette at power forward experiment), but we're talking about one of the greatest coaches to ever walk the sidelines and a man who has rescued this team not once, but twice.

This roster lacks defenders, passers, low post scoring, hoops IQ, fundamentals, and experience in the worst way imaginable. That's a fault of the front office (Mullin and Rowell) who broke up We Believe, to save some dough and build around the mythically bright future this young core has in this league. The players and front office need fixing, but Nellie's the right man to help clean up this mess like he did with the Mavericks who he helped take from worst to first.

Here's a good parallel for Atlanta Hawks fans (not everything is possible here, but just play along): Let's say after last season's fun playoff run that ended an 8 year playoff drought your team traded Joe Johnson this past offseason for an extremely raw, non-NBA ready rookie in Anthony Randolph. Then they still have a very exciting 2k8-2k9 season, but barely miss the playoffs. In the summer following that 9th place finish they let Josh Smith go to the Charlotte Bobcats. Then in a panic move they splurge on Gerald Wallace.

Why would anyone be so dumb to make these moves and breakup a fun playoff team in a town that's just suffered such a long and painful playoff drought? Let me direct your question towards Robert Rowell and Chris Mullin.

Let's not forget the Warriors perpetually clueless owner Chris Cohan who is one of the worst owners in all of sports. How does a big market NBA team in a hoops starved climate that plays in a league where half the teams make the playoffs annually, bat 1 for 15 in post season appearances? It all starts at the top and the top ain't so hot. Too bad Cohan can't sue his way to the playoffs.

At least the Warriors didn't have the biggest season ticket price hike in the entire NBA. Oh wait.

3. Anthony Morrow, a former Georgia Tech standout, amazed people by scoring 37 points in his first NBA start – has he continued to play well since? Was that performance an aberration, or does he look like part of the future for Golden State now?
Morrow's 37 point explosion had us all looking forward to to(morrow)! But sadly he's come back down to earth since those 37 and 25 point back-to-back performances and averaged just 7.53 ppg in the last 13.

There's no doubt about it that this G-Tech alumni can shoot, but is he anything more than a fringe NBA player? We'll have plenty of time to find out this season with the continual struggles and injuries on this Warriors squad.

The man plays hard out there and tries to crash the glass, so folks in the ATL should feel proud of what Morrow's done in the NBA after being undrafted out of college.

Sunday's win against the Pistons saw two franchises normally used to certain roles suddenly swapping them, a la Freaky Friday or Vice-Versa (to name two cheesy 80's movies).

On one side you had the Hawks, so long the suffering franchise with a lack of talent or chemistry or both, a team of inexperienced youth prone to giving away winnable games down the stretch. On the other the Pistons, former world beaters, a veteran team that Knows How To Get It Done, a team that turns losses into wins late in games because of its ability to execute offensively and defensively in crunch time.

Which team was which yesterday?

The Hawks were the team that, despite offensive struggles of their own, put the defensive clamps on Detroit and forced them repeatedly into bad shots, which helps explain how you can score only 33 points in a half and still win.

Though Detroit whittled Atlanta's lead to as little as 4, you never had the sense that they were capable of taking over. I can't remember the last time I felt that way with the two teams in question.

Sekou Smith said it in his blog entry after the game, and I heartily agree with his conclusion:

"After Sunday’s win over Detroit (the current holder of the No. 5 spot in the conference standings and a team, based on what I saw today, that would have a hard time knock these Hawks off in a best-of-seven playoff series - which would be the matchup if the postseason started this morning) it’s become increasingly clear that these Hawks aren’t going anywhere anytime soon."

This Hawks team would be favored to beat this Pistons team in the playoffs, no question, especially given the homecourt advantage which is looking more and more possible with each passing game. At 17-10 and a season-best 7 games over .500, the Hawks are taking advantage of the long homestand and creating some separation between themselves and their opponents as we head into the middle third of the season.

The 4 seed in the East is not going to be handed to the Hawks; they'll still have to work for it. But when I look around the Conference to try to figure out who might make a run at them, I must say Detroit seems way too dysfunctional right now to be one of them. Between Rip Hamilton getting ejected and Allen Iverson sulking on the bench, they showed a decided lack of the poise we are accustomed to seeing. There is still some talent there (young and old - old nemesis Rasheed Wallace and second-year guard Rodney Stuckey did the most damage against the Hawks yesterday), but Sunday's outcome definitely made it seem like the two teams were passing each other on escalators to the opposite ends of the Eastern Conference, and the Hawks are the team on the way up.

I got a good night's sleep, some fresh perspective, and now I'm back at it today and ready to turn the page on last night's game.

I was having a discussion with some co-workers this morning about which Boston loss hurt worse, the Paul Pierce buzzer-beater in Boston back on Nov. 12, or last night's heartbreaker. I said I thought last night's was worse, because for me the anxiety had built and built and built, just waiting to be released, and then after the final buzzer sounded there was nowhere for that stored up energy to go. I have got to learn to take this job less seriously - games like that are going to take years off my life!

Yes, last night's loss hurt, but as I woke up this morning, I remembered that it was only one game. Unlike in the playoffs, where one game can mean everything (or at least 1/7th of everything), last night's game was only one of 82, and the Hawks have 57 more chances to make up for it.

Anyway, as a valedictory, I feel confident in saying this - the talent gap between the Hawks and Celtics is not very wide. Where Boston is beating us right now is in the details - whether it's free throws, or finding ways to exploit mismatches on offense, or making sure they get good shots in late-game situations - that is the biggest obstacle Atlanta needs to hurdle to give themselves a chance to win these games in the future.

Let's shake this one off, and focus on beating Golden State on Friday night.

Besides, even with the loss, at least we still have this:

I'll get more into analysis in the morning, but I am too exhausted from the emotional roller-coaster.

Leave your thoughts here and let's start the healing together.

One compliment I will dole out though is for the defense, which is just playing exceptionally. The Celtics are working hard for every basket (as are the Hawks, in fairness), and the Hawks forced several bad shots. Let's hope we can get a little more offense to go with that defense over the last 12 minutes...

Let's go Hawks!

A special shout-out to Zaza Pachulia and Marvin Williams for their work in the quarter - Zaza for doing some dirty work early to get the Hawks their first lead and Marvin for his aggressiveness which helped the team extend it.

Should be an intense, exciting final 24...

Zaza Pachulia was asked yesterday after practice what the Hawks needed to do to stop the Celtics, and therefore win the game.

"It's not about what we do or don't do to stop them," said Pachulia. "It's about us. If we do what we are capable of doing, play the way we are capable of playing, then we can win."

I couldn't agree with Big Z more. This Hawks team has shown this season that when they execute on both sides of the ball they are capable of beating anyone in the NBA. In Breaking Down The Celtics, Hawks coach Jim Todd basically reiterated that point, saying the Hawks biggest focus needs to be on themselves, not on what the Celtics try to do.

Tonight's game is interesting on many levels. On one level, we are looking at two teams that despite a 29-win difference in the regular season a year ago went toe-to-toe for seven games in the Eastern Conference playoffs last April. The Celtics won the series and eventually the title, but they didn't get a single win here in Atlanta. It was that performance by the Hawks that gave them confidence and catapulted them forward to where they are now, 15-9 and sitting in fourth place in the conference standings. As many Boston fans will tell you, the Celtics were a little more nervous going back to Boston for Game 7 of that series than they'd like you to know.

There are a couple reasons why that series went the way it did, and it bodes well for the Hawks tonight. For one thing, there is the Atlanta crowds. Long the butt of jokes around the league, this city's fans showed what kind of passion they have for winning basketball, and were really the story of the opening round of the postseason. Though it is only the regular season, I fully expect the same kind of atmosphere in the building tonight. Joe Johnson expects it as well. Secondly, the athleticism of this team causes all kinds of problems for the Celtics. The Hawks used that advantage in taking the three games at Philips, and they'll need to do the same to win tonight. The more they can get out and run, especially off turnovers, the better chance they'll have. The more the game slows down into a halfcourt affair, the more it favors the visitors.

The Hawks played well in Boston earlier this season, nearly beating the Celtics in their own building without the services of Josh Smith (and Zaza Pachulia, who got hurt during the game), losing only after a last-second game-winner from Paul Pierce. And as well as the Celts are playing right now (and make no mistake about it, they are playing exceptionally well - you don't get to be 23-2, with an ongoing 15-game winning streak, without playing some tremendously inspired basketball), there are signs that they may be blinking.

Normally, the visiting team holds shootaround at 11:00 am at the Arena on the day of the game. Today, the Celtics chose to go a different route, holding practice at Georgia Tech at 10:00 am. It's probably nothing, and it probably won't have any effect on the game tonight, but NBA players are creatures of routine, and it does make you wonder why Boston would choose to alter that routine at the last minute. Or at least it makes me wonder.

When the schedule came out this past summer, the first Hawks-Celtics home game was the first matchup I looked for, as I imagine most of you did. Now it's finally here. The Hawks are on the big stage, on ESPN, with a chance to show everyone the progress they've made since the end of last season.

Boston's 15-game winning streak is daunting, but the Hawks aren't scared - they snapped Cleveland's 11-gamer just this last Saturday.

Come out tonight for what should be one of the biggest regular season match-ups in Philips Arena history, and cheer on your Hawks to pick up right where they left off last Spring.

Go Hawks!

Good morning! I hope everyone got a good night's sleep and is ready to come to Philips tonight and lose your voice yelling at Kevin Garnett and the visiting Celtics. It's a big day around these parts, with lots of good stuff going on before, during, and after tonight's game. For example:

BEFORE: Tonight's game, if you didn't know already, is being broadcast nationally by ESPN (and I'm totally not bitter it's our only national TV game - not at all), which means all the bells and whistles that go along with being covered by the World Wide Leader. The ESPN NBA Caravan (as seen in hilarious commercials like this one) will be in town today, hanging out outside the Philips Arena box office from 3 pm until after the game tonight.

Definitely check that out if you can get down to the arena early, there is lots of fun and games associated with it.

DURING: Well, there is the game, obviously. That should be reason enough. But if you are greedy and want more, then don't forget that Ludacris will be performing at halftime. Luda!

AFTER: Don't forget Taco Mac has opened at the Arena, and after the Hawks win tonight you should definitely go there afterwards to celebrate and participate in the Hawks postgame show on 790 the Zone.

Got it? Good. Now let's get down to business - after all, there is a game to be played tonight. I've said it many times before, but one of the many things I love about sports is the natural drama that takes place. Unlike the manufactured crap you see on "Reality" TV shows or in movies, nothing about sports is fake. The passions are real. The hatred is real. Rivalries develop of their own volition, not because people want them to be so.

That is what makes tonight's game so interesting - there are legitimate feelings of dislike between these two teams (and I mean that in a good way), and they manifest themselves in the way these teams do battle with each other. The intensity level of those playoff games last season is something I won't soon forget, and I expect tonight's action to have a very similar feel. Make no mistake, it will be a playoff atmosphere at Philips tonight, and the players know it. They said it themselves - here is Marvin Williams from a story by Sekou Smith in today's AJC:

“It might be impossible not to get too hyped up for this game. We played them as well as we ever played them in Boston earlier this year. Now we come back here. They’re playing well and we’re playing well at home. Something’s got to give.”

There are several other good quotes in there from both sides, I recommend reading the whole thing.

I'll be back later with today's Breaking Down The Celtics segment and more.

Feel free to let us know how you're feeling about tonight in the comments.

With the game sandwiched between a huge win over Cleveland and the huge-r game coming up on Wednesday against the Celtics, I know I was worried that we might be overlooking the Bobcats.

When the team came out a little flat I wasn't shocked (frustrated maybe, but not shocked), but I give the guys credit for digging in and never letting the contest get out of hand.

Though we never really clicked offensively the entire game, you have to be impressed with the team's defensive effort, particularly in the fourth quarter, which was a block party hosted by Josh Smith and Al Horford.

Regardless of how many points the Hawks scored in the 4th, any time you can hold your opponent to 11 points over the final 12 minutes you are probably going to have a good shot at winning.

And so Atlanta clinches at least a tie for the season with Charlotte, and will get two chances later in February and March to finally slay that dragon and actually take the season series for once.

And, now that that's over, it's time to focus on Boston. 31 hours and counting...

I admit it - I've got Celtics fever. I've been circling Wednesday's game on my calendar since the schedule was released, and with the way the first game went in Boston this season, my anticipation has only heightened.

However, there is this one annoying thing we have to do before we get there, and that's play the Charlotte Bobcats tonight. As Steve Holman said on the podcast last week, we can't forget about Charlotte. If we lose to the Bobcats and beat the Celtics, we are the same 1-1 as we would be if we beat Charlotte but lost to Boston. So tonight's game is important (and not just because we get free breakfast around the office for the third straight win).

The key to beating Charlotte will be to stop the penetration of its guards, and with DJ Augustin getting more and more minutes, it now means they have two quick PGs to throw at us. Make no mistake - even on a six-game losing streak, the Bobcats can be hazardous to our health. We cannot take this game for granted. Hawks assistant coach Jim Todd spoke to Charlotte's determination in our Breaking Down The Bobcats segment today, and as we all know, we've still yet to take a season series from these guys (last year we pushed at 2-2 on the year, the best results to date).

The Hawks appear to have rebounded of late from the funk they went through in Texas, both literally and figuratively. Who knows what caused the slide - I asked Josh Smith about the ups and downs after shootaround this morning, and he just talked about the team getting refocused. Either way, getting a win tonight will give the team some nice momentum going into Wednesday's showdown with Boston.

Let's get one tonight, and then we'll turn our attention to the Mean Green.

Time for another award-winning installment* of Ten Games At A Time, in which I make predictions on how the Hawks will perform in the next ten games while taking a look back to see how I did on the previous ten-game forecast.

Note: This was written on the plane home Friday night, but I was unable to post it until today. So you will notice that I predicted the Hawks to lose Saturday's game against Cleveland, which I am happy to report they did not.

* - not really

When we last looked, the Hawks were starting yet another brutal stretch of 11 games (if you are just joining us, I am dividing the season into 8 ten-game segments, but there are 82 games, which ended up meaning that I arbitrarily decided to do 11-game blocks right off the bat - it's 10 from here on out), during which they played 7 on the road and only 4 at home. How'd they do?

Looking Back: Can The Hawks Mess With Texas?
Home games: Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, New York
Road games: Cleveland, Toronto, Washington, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami

What happened: Unfortunately the Hawks couldn't quite mess with Texas, though they came closer than they have in a while. The team lost all three games in the Texas Triangle, but they were all close, showing if nothing else that Atlanta has closed the gap considerably with those teams. Maybe one more year? The Hawks did get two road wins, at Washington and Miami, and were perfect at home with wins in all four contests. Overall, I predicted the team would go 7-4, but they instead went 6-5.

Injury report: Josh Smith came back and was rusty for a few games, but appears to be rounding back into shape. Al Horford continues to be bothered by an injured ankle, which caused him to sit out the loss in Dallas. Everyone else is mostly healthy.

In Summary: Overall, you have to be pretty happy with the way things turned out. The trip through Texas was frustrating, but the Hawks still managed to go 6-5 in a stretch that saw only 4 of 11 games in home territory. In particular, the fact that the Hawks are playing so well at home is particularly promising.

Looking Ahead: The Home Stand
Home games: Cleveland, Charlotte, Boston, Golden State, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Denver
Road games: Indiana, New Jersey

Expectations going in: After playing 14 of the first 22 on the road, the Hawks come home for a nearly unheard of 8 straight home games. It's a mixture of good teams and bad teams, and my feeling is that if the Hawks can continue taking care of business at home the way they have, this could be a terrific stretch for us. Charlotte, Golden State, and Oklahoma City are already playing for lottery positioning, while Detroit and Chicago continue to struggle. Really only Cleveland, Boston, and Denver are playing well right now. As far as road games, the Hawks have already lost at Indiana and New Jersey. The Nets have continued to play well since then, the Pacers have not.

Predicted Record: I won't go crazy and predict 8-0 or anything on the homestand, but I'll say that we get wins over Charlotte, Boston (that's right KG, we're coming for you!), Golden State, Detroit, Oklahoma City, and Chicago, while losing to Cleveland (currently destroying everyone in their path) and Denver. As for the two road games, I think we'll get a win in Indiana, but continue to be flummoxed by Devin Harris and the Nets and fall in New Jersey. I see 7-3. NOTE: As predicted, this would mean we'd win six straight games during the home stand, which feels like a bit much to me (at least for a prediction). So while I think we will go 7-3, I'd say it's quite possible my ordering could be messed up.

If the Hawks hit that 7-3 mark, that would put them at 20-12 through 32 games, and would put the team in terrific position in the race for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

A terrific second quarter for the Hawks, as they followed my blueprint to a tee - ratchet up the defense and use it to create offensive opportunities. That's exactly what the Hawks did in outscoring the Heat 23-15 in the second stanza, and they lead at the break, 43-40, as a result.

Neither team is shooting the ball particularly well, and I get the feeling that foul shooting (both number of attempts and percentage made) will play a role in how this game's outcome is determined.

One thing Atlanta is doing much better so far tonight than in the last few games is rebound - they've got a 25-23 advantage on the boards. Keep that up, along with the defense, and we can definitely come out of here with a win tonight.

I am exhausted, I don't mind telling you. It makes me feel like a wuss to admit that, seeing as, you know, I'm not actually playing basketball, merely watching it (though I could claim my fingers are tired right? I mean, these live blogs don't write themselves people).

Miami is usually one of the more fun stops on the season-long tour of the NBA, but I don't know that I'll be doing it up on South Beach this evening. I am meeting up with a few of the Hawks staffers for some dinner, but after that I am probably going to crash. Everyone I've talked to in the last day or so has said this road trip has felt particularly long, though I'm sure the losses have played a role in that.

The Hawks have had success against the Southeast Division this season, going undefeated so far in four games against the Wizards, Magic, and Bobcats. Let's hope that trend continues tomorrow against the Heat. This team needs a boost, and as we all know, winning is the ultimate cure.

More in the morning after shootaround.

I'm sorry to say my refusal to live blog didn't have the intended effect I'd hoped for. Oh well. And so another trip through Texas comes to a close, and though the Hawks played it close in each game, they still came away without a win. What is it about the state of Texas that troubles this team so?

I don't know, and I have already said this season there is no room for moral victories, but I will say that if you want to find a silver lining from the past few games, it's that the gap is closing. The Hawks have been beaten badly in these cities in the past, but that was not the case this time around. Maybe we didn't get to the mountain top this time, but we started the climb.

Onto Miami, where the Hawks will look to continue their impressive play against Southeast Division teams against the Heat.

I talked to Hawks assistant Tyrone Hill about the loss, and his message was pretty simple: "We've got to cut down on the mental mistakes at the end of games," he said.

I asked him what he thought about the fact that the Hawks didn't shoot a free throw after halftime, or that the Rockets weren't whistled for a single foul in the fourth quarter (literally, I have never seen that before). He didn't allow that as an excuse (which I agree with), saying, "That happened, but we still had a lead in the 4th - so it couldn't have affected us that much."

This is the kind of game that can define a season. San Antonio is a mentally tough team, and though I'm sure they are tired after last night's 133-126 double-OT win at Dallas, they aren't going to let that affect them. The question is, how will last night's loss affect us?

I hope the Hawks win tonight, obviously. But more than anything, I hope they don't beat themselves. Atlanta could very easily be 2-0 on this road trip right now but for late-game miscues, as noted by Coach Hill. But if they are going to break the Texas curse, it's going to have to come down to execution and mental toughness. The Spurs have that in spades, and it's part of why they've won four titles in the last decade. The Hawks can learn from that.

In a related matter, I am going to retire the live-blog for the night (I know, I know, devastating news). I live-blogged every road game of last year's playoffs, and the first two games of this road trip, and the Hawks lost every single one of them. Maybe I'm the jinx, maybe I'm not, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help this team win tonight, and if that means silencing my (online) gaping maw, so be it.

I'll check in with anything worthwhile, but maybe this is just the tonic we need to get our first win in San Antonio in 9 years. Go Hawks!

Nothing too much to report from the day in San Antonio, as I spent the bulk of the day working from my hotel room. It was a little chilly outside (apparently, it snowed in Houston), so I decided against touring the Riverwalk (if you've never been here, it's the biggest tourist attraction in the city - even bigger than the Alamo - it's a collection of bars, restaurants, and shops that line the San Antonio river that runs through down downtown). A few of the guys spent some time walking around the famous San Antonio Riverwalk, but mostly they had team meetings to work through what they need to do to get a win tonight.

Mo Evans spent the day with his father, George Evans, who I mentioned came down from Wichita to see the games against Houston and San Antonio. I got a chance to sit and talk with him for a few minutes before last night's game, and it was very reminiscent of my time with Acie Law's mother, Dolores, on Saturday night.

When we see NBA players, a lot of what we see is the larger-than-life lifestyle or bank account, but we sometimes fail to take into account the hard work, determination, and sacrifices that were often made to get them to where they are today.

Listening to George talk about Mo's path to where he is today, you can hear how proud he is of his son's accomplishments and the perseverance it took to get him to this point.

Mo was a high school star in the Wichita area who thrilled his hometown fans by staying in the area to play college ball at Wichita State. However, after two years, he transferred to Texas (woo hoo!), and according to George, the fans have yet to forgive him.

"It's been almost ten years now, and people still complain to me about it," said George, who still works as a plumber in Wichita. "But you have to do what's best for you, you can't worry about pleasing everyone else."

What was best for Mo was declaring for the NBA Draft in 2001, which backfired when he ended up going undrafted. He had a cup of coffee with the Timberwolves, then headed overseas to play for a certain Greek team Hawks fans might be familiar with. He ended up back in the NBA eventually, and his taken a journey through the league in stints with Sacramento, Detroit, LA, and Orlando before signing with the Hawks this past offseason. And now, according to his Pops, he is where he belongs.

"Mo is a great fit with the Hawks," said Evans. "They needed a guy like him, a guy who can play some defense and hit some shots, who doesn't have to be a starter. He just wants to win, and he'll do whatever it takes to help the team accomplish that goal. It was a long road for Mo to get to this point, but it's all part of the journey."

The senior Evans speaks daily with his son, rehashing every game and discussing his performance, good or bad.

"I always tell him, don't worry about how much you score, or how many shots you get up," he said. "As long as the team gets the win, everything else will take care of itself."

In this day and age, with the perception that so many players are trained to think they are better than everyone else around them, and people whispering in their ear telling them what they want to hear, it's refreshing to hear someone speak in such a grounded manner about his son.

"You don't have to worry about Mo," said George, gleaming. "He's always going to do what he's supposed to do."

Here's hoping he does what he's supposed to do tonight, which is help the Hawks pull out a win to salvage this trip through Texas.

I'm just finishing up tonight's Everything You Need To Know and I'm about to go to bed. It's about 2:00 am local time, which is a little later than I thought it'd be, but such is life. Our flight ended up taking about a half-hour longer than expected due to rough weather in and around San Antonio. Let's just say it wasn't the most fun flight I've ever taken and leave it at that.

Much like in Dallas, the team won't have shootaround tomorrow on the back-to-back, so hopefully they'll just rest up and prepare for the Spurs, who should be tired in their own right after a 133-126 double-OT thriller against the Mavericks.

I'll check in tomorrow, hopefully with some ideas on how this team can avoid going ohfer Texas for the fifth straight season...

Goodnight.

10:20 - Did I say Joe was being quiet? He's getting louder by the minute. A drive through traffic for two, then he just pulled up in Shane Battier's face and drilled a 3 to give the Hawks their largest lead of the game, 69-63. He's now got a team leading 16 points.

8:40 - Let me tell you something. Shane Battier is one of the best defenders in the NBA, and he is playing some of the best defense I've seen on Joe Johnson, and guess where it's getting him - nowhere. God it must be frustrating to guard a guy like that. I am glad he's on our team.

7:57 - Flip Murray misses a jam, but the Hawks claim the offensive rebound and get it out to a wide-open Josh Smith. Smoove is 4-16 from the field, so naturally, he takes a three...and swishes it. Booyah! Timeout Rockets, Hawks lead 76-68.

7:15 - Lest you think Houston is going to go quietly, Yao hits a hook and Carl Landry goes and-1 on Smoove (but misses the FT) and it's 76-72. This game is far from over.

5:36 - The Hawks still lead, 76-74, but again the offense has gotten into a funk. The Rockets are helping our cause though, missing free throws and turning the ball over. We need to get the ball back in the hands of Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby, both of whom are shooting the ball well tonight.

5:00 - Blerg. Artest hits a three at the shot-clock buzzer, and Houston regains the lead 77-76.

3:25 - Gut check time. The Rockets run off 6 straight, and they lead 83-78 as the Hawks take a timeout. We have fought hard to get back in this game and take the lead, and it would be a shame to let this one slip away. A basket on this next possession would be a good place to start.

2:00 - Didn't happen. Alston hits a three, and Yao scores, and it's now 88-78 Houston. Boy, take out the first 8 minutes of this game and the last 8, and this would be a Hawks romp, Unfortunately those minutes were played as well, and that's why we are where we are.

1:15 - JJ scores, but it's probably too late now, as it's 90-80 Houston. It feels weird that we are going to lose this game by potentially double-digits given the way we played for much of the night, but give credit to the Rockets - they opened and closed the night with their best basketball. I'm off to get some post-game stuff done, and I'll be back with wrap-up later on tonight after we get to San Antonio.

9:54 - Oh, the defense came to play in this third quarter! The Rockets have turned it over three times in the first two minutes, and a Mike Bibby three pointer has made it a four-point game, 49-45. It's worth noting that the Rockets played last night while the Hawks are fresh - I'd love to see us keep running it and try to take advantage of Houston's tired legs.

9:00 - Game of runs! Marvin hits a three, and the Hawks lead 50-49 (add a Bibby three, 53-49!). The Rockets started the game on a 19-4 tear, and the Hawks have started the second half on a 15-3 blitz. Go Hawks!

8:12 - Yao Ming picks up his third foul, on a Mike Bibby offensive rebound of all things. I can't believe this is the same Hawks team that started this game - we are outhustling Houston, outrunning them, outshooting them, out-everything-ing them (it makes sense). It's 55-51 Atlanta, and if we keep this energy level up, we could start to build this thing out.

5:15 - Joe Johnson, whose been relatively quiet in this game, drops  a tough lay-up in against Yao, which reminds me, Joe has better body control around the basket than almost any player in the league. I am constantly impressed by his ability to finish from a variety of different angles. 57-55 Hawks.

4:18 - Al Horford is being very aggressive on offense and I like it. He's got 10 after a running hook goes in. Yao answers at the other end but misses the FT, 59-57 Atlanta.

3:15 - This is something Josh Smith will have to learn as he gets older in this league - when your shot isn't falling, you gotta get to the foul line. Smoove is 3-13 from the field right now and has only two FTs. Get to the rack, young fella.

2:30 - Both teams have gone into a mini-funk, offensively. It's 59-58 Hawks, as the Rockets turn the ball over again in the third.

:46 - Joe Johnson special, as JJ drains a loooooong three that leaves everyone on press row shaking their head. I'd love to see a shooting contest that measures a guy's range - i.e., his ability to shoot a normal shot (and make it) from the furthest out on the court. JJ could get pretty well close to halfcourt it seems before he'd have to put any extra oomph on it. It's amazing.

:00 - 62-60 Hawks at the end of three. The Hawks held the Rockets to just 14 points in the third, and turned them over 7 times. I don't expect them to do the same in the fourth, but if they give the same effort again, I think we walk out of here with a W.

7:33 - Josh Smith swats a Von Wafer attempt on one end, then throws down the hammer on the other. It's back to 33-22.

6:06-  The defensive effort has picked up some, and if we can just get a few shots to fall, I don't think we are out of this thing. And just as I write that, Mike Bibby gets a jumper and gets fouled, (missed FT), and it's back to nine at 35-26.

4:48 - Houston, we have a problem with your shot selection. The more the Rockets jack unnecessary threes, the more I like our chances of making this a game.

3:06 - Bibby three! Looks like we've got a ballgame folks - Hawks trail 37-32. Sekou Smith, sitting next to me on press row, just said it best: "There's no such thing as a lead in the NBA."

2:18 - Al Horford, back in the game with two fouls, hits a foul line jumper, and Flip Murray scores on a breakaway for Atlanta, but Luis Scola answers on the other end for Houston. Scola has played well against the Hawks in the past and is doing so tonight as well, as he's got 10 points so far.

:00 - In what feels like an incredibly quick first half, Mike Bibby scoops in a basket at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 46-38 at the half. Given the way this game started, I feel much better about the Hawks chances to win this game. Houston has taken many ill-advised shots in this game, and for the most part the Hawks have made them pay for it on the other end. After the slow start, Atlanta has done a  good job of getting out on the break off missed shots, which is something Coach Woodson stressed in game-planning for tonight.

Mission to accomplish for the second half -  get Josh Smith more touches down low, and try to keep Houston off the offensive glass. If the Hawks are going to pull ahead, they can't give up extra possessions. See you after halftime...

9:52 - Hawks can't buy a bucket early, and Houston gets three quick ones. We need to weather this opening salvo...

7:31 - We are settling for jump shots - we need to get something going inside or this game is going to get ugly - 13-0 start for the Rockets.

4:48 - Zaza at the line for a pair, as Mike Woodson has gone to his bench early to try to spark something. It's 19-6 Rockets early, and it's been pretty slim pickings for the Hawks offensively - 1-16 from the field so far. That can't keep up for the entire game, but the defense is going to have to get some stops if they want to get back in this one.

2:08 - Acie finds Marvin Williams for a jumper from the corner, and it's 23-9. It's the first perimeter shot the Hawks have hit, 10 minutes into this game. It's times like this that I'm glad we have guys like Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson on this team. Bibby always says that NBA basketball is a game of runs. Hopefully the Hawks' is coming soon.

:40 - Here comes a little run - a nice drive by Marvin Williams is followed by a three-pointer by Joe Johnson, and it's back in single digits at 25-16.

:00 - Von Wafer hits a pair for Houston, and its 27-16 at the end of one. It was an ugly first 6-7 minutes for the Hawks, but they've found a little rhythm now and gotten a couple stops to get back into the mix. We won't shoot 4-18 every quarter, I promise you that.

I want to see the Hawks come out tonight and play defense - if they are going to get some wins on this trip, they are going to need to start playing the kind of defense that helped lead them to a 6-0 start.

Watch out Yao, here we come!

That is Ron Artest, shooting baskets in warmup clothes right now. It leads me to believe that he will play tonight.

In other news, the trip to Houston is always a good one for Dominique Wilkins, because it provides him the chance to spend some time with one of his favorite players from his era, Clyde Drexler (is it just me, or did NBA stars in the 80s have the best names ever?).

Clyde and Nique have a lot in common, in particular having had rather impressive careers that were overshadowed by a certain bald, tongue-wagging Chicago Bull that played at the same time.

It's always nice to see the living legends get together and reminisce...

Game day here in Atlanta (UPDATE - oops! I mean Houston). The Hawks held shootaround at the arena this morning, going through the game plan of what they want to do tonight against the Rockets. Houston played last night in Memphis and lost to the Grizzlies, though they played without the services of Ron Artest and Brent Barry in addition to the already-injured Tracy McGrady. No word yet on whether those two will play tonight, though the early word is that at least Ron-Ron will give it a go.

Obviously it seems like it's better for the Hawks to catch the Rockets at less-than-full strength, but Zaza Pachulia said something interesting to me about it after practice was over. I was asking him about going up against Yao, and I asked him about Artest maybe being out, and he said he doesn't like playing against teams when they are hurt. His feeling was you don't accomplish as much when you beat a team without its best players - he wants to beat them when they are at their best. Noble thoughts for sure, but I am way more petty - I want anything that gives us a competitive advantage.

I spoke with Hawks assistant Larry Drew in our Breaking Down The Rockets segment about what the team needs to do tonight to beat the Rockets, and it sounds like it begins and ends with the big guy in the middle, Yao Ming. I've talked to all of our big men over the past couple days about the best ways to attack the problem that is Yao, and I think Speedy Claxton may have said it best: "Hope he misses."

It's a good line, and it's mostly true, because honestly, what do you do against a guy who is a good head taller than your starting center? Al Horford, the man who will start off with the task of trying to slow down the Great Wall (and Horford will indeed play tonight - he was in full practice mode today at shootaround), said the important thing is to just try to make him beat you from the outside.

"The best thing you can do is try to keep him from getting position in the lane," said Horford. "He is a good shooter, so even outside the lane he can hurt us, but the further away he is the better our chances are."

Pachulia added that what makes Yao so difficult is that, unlike some of the other dominant big men out there (Shaq, Dwight Howard), Yao is a terrific free throw shooter, so you can't just foul him a bunch and make him earn his points from the line.

Mike Woodson did give one strategy for beating the Rockets, which he closed shootaround with today.

"We have to beat them down the court," said Woodson. "Yao is slow, and we have to use our athleticism to get by him for easy baskets."

Woody is exactly right, of course. While Yao has a huge advantage in height on his opposition, guys like Horford, Josh Smith, Pachulia, and Solomon Jones all have a decided quickness advantage on the big guy. If they can use that effectively, especially in transition, then the Hawks will have a good chance at getting a win tonight.

I talked to Solo about tonight's game, and about how preparation on the road compares to when they have the comforts of home. For him, he said things aren't that much different for away games and home games, he pretty much just tries to make sure to get some rest in.

That's a recurring theme throughout the team, as most players will get a good nap in on game day (I am so jealous of this by the way. If I had to rank the things about the lifestyles of NBA players I am jealous of, I think it would go 1) Financial security and 2) Ability to take naps on a nearly daily basis). The king of naps of course is Joe Johnson, who in addition to having an unbelievable talent for basketball, he also has an amazing ability to sleep wherever, whenever. I think he might be cold-blooded.

Ok, time to pack up my gear and get ready to head over to the Arena. It's been nice being in one place for a few days, but we'll get back to normal (read: normal for them, abnormal for most) as we fly to San Antonio after the game for tomorrow's date with the Spurs.

Feel free to follow along tonight's game with me on the live blog - let's put an end to this losing streak and build some momentum for the rest of this trip!

Sunday was a rare road off-day for the Hawks, as we arrived in Houston late Saturday night in advance of a Tuesday night tilt against the Rockets. It was a nice treat for the team, who originally had practiced scheduled for the afternoon but had it cancelled by Mike Woodson and the Hawks coaching staff. It's little breaks like this that help keep a team fresh during the marathon of a season, and it also helps to engender positive feelings between a coaching staff and its players.

Most of the guys used the day to relax, watch some football, and do a little window shopping at the mall ("We ate at Cheesecake Factory," Al Horford told me, "It's Bibby's favorite place."). Maurice Evans flew his father and some of his family in and spent the day with them.

"This was a good trip to have them come in," said Evans. "With the Houston and San Antonio games so close together, it was a way for them to get to see me play a couple games without too much traveling."

Monday was back to a more normal schedule, as the team practiced for a couple hours at the Rockets facility inside the Toyota Center. The team was ready to get back down to business, but the day wasn't without its moments of hilarity.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson played for the Rockets for a few seasons in the late 80's, and as the team headed towards the practice facility he made sure to point himself out in the team pictures that line the hallway leading to the court. The players, never shy to rib each other or their coaches, made sure to poke fun of Woodson's shorts and the team's improvement once he left (the Rockets won 41 games in his last full season, then won 52 the year after).

But the joking didn't stop there. The Rockets have several retired jerseys on display in their practice court, so some of the Hawks support staff took it upon themselves to add Woodson's name to the list as best they could (see right).

Fortunately Woodson had a good sense of humor about the whole thing.

Once the fun was over an intense practice ensued, as the team prepares for a tough match-up with the Yao Ming-led Rockets. Al Horford, who sat out Saturday's game at Dallas, sat today's practice out as well to continue treatment on his injured ankle. I asked Al about it afterwards and he assured me he will be ready to go once the game starts tomorrow night. That was good to hear, because the Hawks will need all the frontcourt help they can get against Yao.

I asked Josh Smith after practice about what it's like to face Yao, and he said that you never really get over how tall Ming is (he also talked about what a travesty it is that Texas isn't in the BCS championship, but that's neither here nor there). Horford said pretty much the same thing, and agreed with Speedy Claxton's assessment to my question of what is the best defense against him: "Hope he misses."

After we got back from the arena, I sat down with Voice of the Hawks Steve Holman to record this week's BasketBlog Weekly Podcast, and we spent a good amount of time talking about life on the road.

It was interesting to hear Holman talk about the perils of the road (and he should know, he's been traveling with the team for 24 seasons), saying that the downtime in between practices and games can be just as exhausting as the physical stress of playing. Holman says he tries to get out of the hotel to walk around as much as he can, though that is much easier in cities like Chicago or New York than Houston.

So far I've managed to avoid a lot of downtime, as I met up with some college friends who live in the area yesterday, but just working from the hotel room for much of the day today I can see what he means.

I'll get some preview-y stuff up tomorrow,  as the Hawks look to snap a 10-game losing streak here in H-town.

As I mentioned, a trip to Dallas isn't particularly meaningful for most Hawks players, except for Acie Law, who was born and raised there. Coming home is always special for him, and though the Hawks spent a only short time in the Metroplex, Law did his best to make it count.

Law's foundation (the aptly named Acie Law Foundation) hosted over a hundred kids from the neighborhood he grew up in at the game, each wearing red shirts (pictured right) that he purchased for them for the occasion. Before the game, Acie invited them all down to observe pre-game workouts and take pictures, and he took the time to deliver some words of encouragement to them.

"It's important to me to show these kids what you can accomplish if you work hard," Law told me after he was back in the locker room before the game. "I just wanted to show them a good time tonight - most of them have never had the opportunity to even see a pro basketball game before, so this was a special opportunity for them and for me."

Hosting the kids was only a part of the night's efforts for Law though, as he also purchased a suite for the game for many of his friends and family who came to cheer him on. I visited with his mother, Dolores Law, in the suite during halftime, and she talked about what an incredible thing it was to get to watch her son's dream play out right in front of her eyes.

"He just worked so hard to get to this point," she said. "It makes me so happy to see him accomplishing his goals. I don't even think it's all really sunk in yet for me. We used to come to see the Mavs play when Acie was little, he was always a big Mavericks and Cowboys fan, and to see him playing here now, it's just so special."

"It's so nice to have everyone here to root for him," she said. "He's got his grandmother here, aunts, uncles, his fiancee's family, it's been pretty crazy putting all this together - my phone has been blowing up all weekend. First it was people trying to get tickets, and then after he missed the game Friday night with the flu everyone was calling to find out if he was even going to play, and I was like 'Yeah, yeah, he's playing, he'll be fine, come on down'."

While the game didn't turn out quite as Law and his teammates would have liked, in situations like this sometimes the final score doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that it happened in the first place.

Acie talks with his guests before the game

Acie poses with some of his biggest fans

It doesn't seem like much individually, but taken all together, the little things at home that make everything routine are gone when you are on the road, and things that are usually easy somehow become much harder.

For example - at home games, I keep my Hawks media credential in my car. On game day, I take it out of my car and put it with my computer so I'll have it with me when I head over to the arena for game-time. On the odd occasion I forget to do that, it's no problem - I just walk to my car and get it, and the mistake costs me maybe 15 seconds.

Tonight, in Dallas, my media credential was left for me at the front desk of our hotel. As I headed down to check out, I made a mental note to myself to make sure to remember to get it, but of course when I got there I completely forgot it. At home, it would be easy to fix this, but as I had no way to get back to the hotel to get my pass I was potentially in a tough situation. Fortuantely, Hawks PR man Arthur Triche was able to get me another one, but it just illustrates the point.

It just goes to show you what the road can do to you, and the Hawks seemed affected by a similar curse for most of tonight's game against the Mavericks.

Now we are in Houston, and we will be here for nearly three full days before taking on the Rockets on Tuesday night. Maybe that amount of time in one place will allow the team to find a bit more of it's rhythm - they definitely seemed to be missing it tonight.

More tomorrow about Acie Law's night in his hometown...

I slept in this morning, then got up and went to work out in the hotel's fitness center. Let me just say it's way nicer than the complex at my apartment complex's gym. There is no doubt that NBA teams travel in style - but I what I hope to impart over the course of this week is that, despite the many comforts of travel, this lifestyle ain't easy. Yeah, these players are well compensated for their time, but as I'm sure anyone who travels for a living will tell you, it's tough moving from city to city on such a repetitive basis.

I don't really know the area around where we are staying, so I've decided to take the room service route for lunch today. I might venture out more while on this trip, but since we have such little time to spend in Dallas I don't feel bad about sitting this one out.

Dallas probably doesn't have much significance for most players on the Hawks roster, save one. Acie Law is from the Dallas area, starring at Kimball High before going to college at Texas A&M (boo). Acie has a lot planned for the little time he has here today, and I will be documenting much of it later on this evening.

As a rookie last season, Law had one of his better games here in front of several of his friends and family, scoring 12 points and dishing out a couple of assists in 23 minutes off the bench, albeit in a 97-84 loss. That the team lost is sort of a recurring theme of this trip; as I mentioned yesterday, the Hawks will have the opportunity to break several losing streaks while on this trip.

No one on the current roster has ever won a game in this state as a Hawk, but I for one think that is going to change, perhaps as early as tonight against the Mavericks.

The Mavs have been playing better of late, running their record to 10-8 with a convincing win Thursday night over Phoenix, but they are far from the juggernaut that made deep playoff runs over the last several years. And, with an aging (though still talented) Jason Kidd at the point, they aren't blessed with the one weapon that has been so tough on the Hawks this season - a lightening quick point guard who can beat them off the dribble and set up easy baskets for himself and his teammates (they did have one, but they traded Devin Harris to New Jersey to get Kidd - I think you'll agree with me when I say I am happy not to see him tonight).

Later!

UPDATE: I was wrong, the cheeseburger was actually delicious. Who knew?

Anyway, just wanted to illustrate what life on the road is like. I'm not that tired right now, but I'm sure that tune will change as the week goes on.

More tomorrow from Dallas.

The Knicks hung tough tonight, but once again the Hawks were just too good for the opposition at home and won their third straight, getting their record back to 12-6 as they hit the road.

To give you an idea of what it's like to live as an NBA player, I am going to log on and post something when I get to my hotel room tonight in Dallas - I'll set the over/under at around 1:45 am ET...

See you on the ground!

At times in Wednesday's game against Memphis, the offensive effort for the Hawks seemed, well, effortless. There were possessions where we saw several Hawks players find their teammates for easy baskets, and in particular, maybe my favorite play of the season so far, which you can watch right here if you scroll to about the 1:13 mark. Watch it yet? All five Hawks players touch the ball, and it ends with a picture perfect Marvin Williams three-pointer from the elbow. It's that kind of chemistry that I think this team is capable of, particularly amongst the starters, that gives me hope for this season.

Tonight, playing a team perhaps even less attentive to defense than the Grizz were on Wednesday, I am hoping to see this trend continue. In talking to Hawks assistant Larry Drew in today's Breaking Down The Knicks segment, he emphasized that while the team knows it needs to get some stops, it would be foolish to think that this won't be a fast-paced game. I think that plays very well into the Hawks hands. Marvin Williams thinks so too, as he told me after practice that this is a good matchup for the team because of their athleticism. We all know how dangerous the Hawks could be last year when they were playing up tempo. We haven't see that as much this season (though to be fair, this team is capable of putting points on the board when healthy no matter what style they play), but I think tonight's game will be different.

You wouldn't think an early season game against a team like the Knicks could be that important, but I view tonight's contest as hugely vital to the team's chances of putting up a good record this month. Win tonight, and the Hawks have three straight victories to boost their confidence as they start one of the toughest road stretches of the season. Lose, and now your momentum is stunted as you head on a trip that has been barren of victories for a long time - the Hawks have lost 4 straight in Dallas, 10 in San Antonio, and 9 in Houston. Call me crazy, but I think how the team performs tonight will have a definite impact on how they do next week.

Speaking of the road trip, I mentioned earlier this week that I will be putting the BasketBlog on the move for the four-game trek through Texas and Miami. It's my first regular-season trip with the team, and I'm definitely excited, though nervous that I am forgetting something important. I sat down with Zaza Pachulia yesterday after practice to talk to him about life on the road, as he is the team's resident travel and fashion expert. I gotta say, I was a little intimidated by his suggestions of my clothing needs, but I figure if he is the extreme, then maybe if I back it off a little bit I should be good to go.

I will be blogging a lot more during the trip, and hopefully I'll be able to give you a glimpse into what life is like for these guys when they are hitting so many different cities in such short succession. For the record, we will be leaving tonight after the game and flying to Dallas, then traveling to Houston for our game there on Tuesday, on to San Antonio to play on Wednesday, and finally heading down to Miami for next Friday's game - after which we'll return mercifully home to Atlanta. I am tired just typing that sentence.

It should be a lot of fun though, and as I stated in my 10-game preview last week, I am on record as saying at least one of those road losing streaks is going to fall.

Feel free to hang out with me in the comments for the duration of my travels - I'll probably be live-blogging the games and generally trying to keep you up-to-date with what I'm doing for most of the time I'm out there.

In the meantime, let's get this trip started on a positive note by grabbing a win tonight against the Knicks. Josh Smith is back and working his way back into playing shape, and tonight should be a good test for him with the up-and-down style we'll most likely see.

Come down to Philips and catch all the action!

UPDATE: Acie Law is out tonight with the flu - Thomas Gardner will take his place on the roster.

A few rambling thoughts in advance of tonight's home game against the Grizzlies.

Memphis comes to town tonight, and they presumably will begin the game with Mike Conley, Jr running the point. You may remember Conley as the guy many Hawks fans clamored for before the 2007 NBA Draft. In fact, I just did a little search through the ole' BasketBlog Archives, and found this post, which I wrote on draft night. Check out the comments, if you are looking to have a good laugh.

Of course I look smart now that this particular choice (Al Horford over Conley) worked out the way it did, but I do think its funny in this case because for as much grief (some of it deserved) that the previous administration got for their drafts, this one is working out exceptionally well so far.

That's not to say Mike Conley can't or won't blossom into a terrific NBA point guard, but he hasn't so far, which is pretty much normal for most 19-year old point guards who come into the NBA and are not named Derrick Rose.

Horford was the right choice at the time, and he is a cornerstone of this franchise for years to come. Maybe Billy didn't take Chris Paul or Deron Williams (or Brandon Roy), but he definitely made the right call in 2007.

Tonight's game should be interesting, at least in the sense that the Grizzlies of '08 are very similar to the Hawks of say, '05 or '06. A ton of talented young players on this Memphis squad, and while they haven't figured it out yet (4-13 on the season, one win away from home), they certainly have a foundation of players that could see some success in a couple years if they are allowed to grow together the way the Hawks did. I am particularly interested to see how OJ Mayo looks, given my skepticism of his game coming out of college (is he a point guard or a shooting guard?) and given his impressive performance so far.

Tonight also marks the re-appearance of one Josh Smith, who returns from a high-ankle sprain after missing 13 games. We were discussing around the office this morning how many minutes we hoped to see from Smoove tonight, and I said I'd be pretty pleased to see him get in for 20-25 minutes. Memphis (and New York on Friday for that matter) is a team we should be able to beat with or without Josh, so I'd like to see the team ease him back into the action if they can help it.

For what it's worth, both Smith and Coach Woodson said that his conditioning will be his biggest hurdle to overcome on his way back, so it sounds like they are following the same line of thinking.

Memphis may not be a good team, but they definitely have some guys who can make plays, and I expect tonight to be a fun game no matter what.

Come down to Philips to check out the action for yourself, especially since the game isn't being televised locally.

Right now, balloting is open for next Tuesday, Nov. 9, and the Hawks-Rockets game is on the docket.

Log onto NBA.com and vote right now, and help get the Hawks on the air!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and is happy to have turned the page on a brutal November schedule that saw the Hawks go 10-6 (about a game better than I predicted) including 6-6 without star forward Josh Smith. Now, as we hit December, we are faced with a new challenge: expectations.

With Smoove returning to the lineup on Wednesday for the Memphis game and a whole host of home games on tap, the Hawks will have a chance to prove they are the contender we think they are by putting up some impressive win totals. In the season's first month, the Hawks went 5-1 at home and 5-5 away from home, a recipe that gets the team pretty close to the 50 wins they set for themselves as a goal before the season. Extrapolate that into this month's 10 home/5 road slate, and if the Hawks can put up something like an 8-2 home mark and say 2-3 away, then you are looking at an Atlanta team that begins 2009 with an impressive 20-11 record and will be very much in contention for home court advantage in a first-round series.

I spent a couple minutes talking with Josh after practice today, and we talked about how hard it was having to sit this past month as well as what he thought about his teammates' performance without him in the lineup. Sufficed to say, he is ready to get back out there. I can only imagine what it's like to have to sit on the bench and watch your team play without you, especially when you feel like you are ready to contribute again as Smoove has the past few games. However, it will pay off in the long run for the team to have been cautious with Josh, as it's better to lose a few games here and there in the interim rather than risk more extensive long-term damage that might hurt him and the team later on.

I'm sure you feel the same, but I am very excited to have him back on the court and see what this team is capable of at full strength. In the BasketBlog Weekly Podcast I recorded today with "Hometeam" Brandon Leak, we talked about how the two home games this week against Memphis and New York will be great venues for Josh to work his way back into playing shape (he acknowledged himself that getting his wind will be the toughest task he'll face in returning). With a tremendously difficult road trip through Texas coming up next week (PLUG: I'll be heading out on that trip with the Hawks, so by all means let me know if there are things you want me to cover while I'm with the team), the Hawks will need everyone in midseason form if they want to avoid some of the pitfalls they've experienced in the past.

Finally, as the calendar leaves the season's first month, we asked some of the Hawks bloggers out there to hit us up with their thoughts on how the team has done so far. Check out what they had to say in the latest installment of the Blogger Roundtable.