Game 1: Indiana @ Atlanta

[Diesel]

Good win for the good guys. If Horf plays like this!!!! Hello finals.

[ATLNY7]

HAWKS 120, PACERS 109

[HawksFan87]

Al and Smoove were beasting the ENTIRE game.. But this was a team effort.. Loved it.

[gsuteke]

25 turnovers for 1 team - you may not see that again this season

I was pleasantly suprised to see Teague in the game during the 2nd half - I guess we can put to bed for now atleast our fears that Woody will treat him like Acie

[TheTruth]

Horford straight beasted everyone tonight...especially offensively. Plus, he grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and 2 blocks. If he plays like that every night, watch out!

Smoove was AWESOME, and his decision-making skills were very good. I saw him pass up a couple 3s...especially that last one in the late 4th quarter where he passed up the 3 with 1 second left, passed off to nearby Bibby and the shot clock expired. He should have taken it (although it tells you how much more mature his awareness is about the long ball).

Williams was very good too!

[TheTruth]

25 turnovers for 1 team - you may not see that again this season

I was pleasantly suprised to see Teague in the game during the 2nd half - I guess we can put to bed for now atleast our fears that Woody will treat him like Acie

Woodson IS going to play Teague (YAY!)...BUT dude REALLY, REALLY needs to work on that jump shot. His passing skills looked decent though. You saw him wide open a heckuva lot, so as soon as he can get that jumper going, it will open up the offense for that second unit.

[DJlaysitup]

HAWKS 120, PACERS 109

I'll take it! One and Oh.....I loved it when they put the camera on Larry Bird in the stands while we were pulling away.

[High5]

Nique in midseason form. Roy Hibbits, Jeff Tig, he got a "heat check" in, he got a "too wide open" in, he got a "that might be the dagger" in, and apparently we'd be in more trouble if the Pacers didn't turn the ball over.

Great game by Horford and great first half from Smith. Crawford didn't look too happy. Hopefully he can handle not playing many minutes some nights.

[buckeye242424]

Just being 1-0 is a nice feeling..

[DJlaysitup]

Nique in midseason form. Roy Hibbits, Jeff Tig, he got a "heat check" in, he got a "too wide open" in, he got a "that might be the dagger" in, and apparently we'd be in more trouble if the Pacers didn't turn the ball over. ..

LOL...plus the timekeeper forgot to turn the clock on to start the game! Gotta love it!

[TheTruth]

Nique in midseason form. Roy Hibbits, Jeff Tig, he got a "heat check" in, he got a "too wide open" in, he got a "that might be the dagger" in, and apparently we'd be in more trouble if the Pacers didn't turn the ball over.

Great game by Horford and great first half from Smith. Crawford didn't look too happy. Hopefully he can handle not playing many minutes some nights.

Heck, he shouldn't be happy...with HIS performance. If he didnt commit 4 fouls in about a dozen minutes, he would have gotten more time.

But dang, if someone told me Horf would attempt 17 shots, I woulda said "No effin way!" But man, that jump shot of his was money.

[capstone21]

Extremely happy with tonight.

Horford was awesome

Smith played well too.

Joe had a slow start but came on at the end. Still too many minutes for him.

Marvin played well on o and d.

I was surprised to see Teague getting minutes early. Good for you Woody.

It was nice to see a complete bench in there at one time (although they did let the Pacers back into the game).

Crawford made some nice passes.

[exodus]

Funny stat. The hawks had 16 steals and the Pacers had only 1. If that isn't the biggest disparity ever it has to be close.

Smith only played 23 minutes which surprised me because all the other starters played at least 30.

[TheTruth]

It looks like he may have re-injured that hand (hope not). That didnt happen until late in the second half though, and he played through it. He had a monster 1st half, and played ALL 12 minutes of the 1st quarter, so I don't know how he only ended up with 23. It looked like he played 33.

[DrReality]

From AJC

There was something old (Joe Smith, who’s 34), something new (Jeff Teague, who’s a rookie), something borrowed (Jamal Crawford, acquired from Golden State) and something blue (the Hawks’ pregame warmup shorts). There was a brand new bench, which did its part, and better balance among the starters. And at the end there was …

Joe Johnson.

He deferred to Josh Smith and Al Horford for a half, and then the Hawks’ best player reminded us that, even though this team has more good players than at any time in two decades, he’s still the Hawks’ best player. And if that’s the new method — let others get involved early and let JJ save it for later — it just might work.

The Hawks weren’t smashing in their opener. They yielded 65 points to tepid Indiana in a half — is Willie Martinez coaching basketball? — and trailed in the fourth quarter. They held — wrong word, I know — Danny Granger to 31 points. But they won pulling away, and en route they dropped powerful hints that this might well be the best Hawks team in … oh, two decades.

Something old: Johnson scoring 17 second-half points. Something new: Horford taking 17 shots. Something borrowed (from John Stockton): Josh Smith making eight assists and five steals and scoring 18 points on only 10 shots. Something blue (presumably): Jason Collins, a veteran big man who signed as a free agent but who went unused.

Before the game, Mike Woodson had been asked about the strange new feeling of having 11 real players at his disposal. Said the coach: “You can’t find 30 minutes a night for 11 or 12 guys.” Also this: “I will not sacrifice games just to satisfy someone.”

Which is why we saw the Hawks’ bench work long minutes in the second and third quarters but only a total of five in the fourth. “I kind of jumped my bench for losing the lead,” Woodson said. Then: “We’re all trying to get used to each other, especially them to me.”

Something new: Johnson having a tepid half and the Hawks still being in position to seize the game. Something old: Johnson seizing the game. He had 10 points and four assists in the fourth quarter, and two of those assists resulted in Mike Bibby treys. Which meant JJ had a hand in 20 of the Hawks’ 25 final points.

“I kind of wanted to get into the flow [earlier],” Johnson said. “But I was feeding off [Josh Smith and Horford]. They carried us in the first half.”

Seventeen shots for Horford? Was this by design? “We were just playing basketball,” he said. And then, sounding like Urban Meyer: “We were taking what the defense gives us.”

Something else new: Ten different Hawks working at least 10 minutes, none exceeding 40. “We are [deep],” said Rick Sund, the general manager who fleshed out this roster. “But it’s going to take some time for Woody to equate the combos.”

Ultimately the Hawks wore down the Pacers. Indiana scored 65 points in the first half, only 15 in the fourth quarter. This wasn’t so much pretty basketball — though there were instances of that, the most notable being a Bibby-to-Johnson-to-Josh fast break — as it was inexorable basketball. And only the best teams can be described as inexorable.

Before the game, Woodson said of his players: “If they continue to grow, we’ve got a chance to be in the hunt the next three or four years.” And they do.

The new Hawks didn’t trip the light fantastic in Game 1, but neither did they trip over themselves. For the first time in two decades, the pieces are in place. These guys could go places.

[Sothron]

If Horford can play even kinda like he did tonight for the rest of the season WOW.

[jy23]

Hate that I didn't get to c the game (was at work) but I was beyond happy after looking at the boxscore n shot chart. Al went crazy n from what I read from u guys it looks like Josh played smart, that's the best news of all. I c that Crawford didn't play much but it seems as tho he was in foul trouble so I hope that this isn't the way we plan on using him n its great that teague actually got minutes, hope woody keeps that up. All in all good game n great start to the season. LETS GO HAWKS!

[Joker]

Players of the Game was Josh Smith and Al Horford. Those two really impressed. While watching the 1st half, I swore Granger was going for 50.

[gsuteke]

did anyone else curse at the TV as Joe shot that ball from 40 feet with 6 seconds left at the end of the 3rd?

I'm just asking.............

It's better to be 1-0 than 0-1, that's for sure.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Before the game, Mike Woodson had been asked about the strange new feeling of having 11 real players at his disposal. Said the coach: “You can’t find 30 minutes a night for 11 or 12 guys.” Also this: “I will not sacrifice games just to satisfy someone.”

AMEN WOODY!!!

Don't let the fact that you can go 10 deep, pressure you into playing someone more minutes than they should be playing. You do like Herman Edwards said . . ."You play to win the game."

JJ played 39 minutes? Oh well. We won.

Just don't play him that many miniutes on those back to back games, and he'll be fine. He should average 36 minutes a night minimum.