Clippers blast listless Hawks

With starting pointguard Mike Bibby injured and Joe Johnson still less than 100% as he recuperates from the flu, the Atlanta Hawks needed the rest of the team to step up their game against the lowly L.A. Clippers on Saturday night.  Instead, the listless home team was blasted by one of the NBA’s worst road teams 121-97 at the Phillips Arena.

After the game, Hawks coach Mike Woodson was both disgusted and surprised by his players’ lack of competitive fire:

"We were flat from the beginning to the end, and it's unacceptable. We didn't compete tonight. The first time I've seen that in this team all year. We just didn't compete -- at all."

Convalescing Joe Johnson said, in essence, that if he’d have known his teammates weren’t going to exert an effort that he might as well have stayed in bed:

"It was tough, man. I'm still battling a little bit of this cold, but I wanted to be out there for the guys. If I'd have known we were going to stink it up like this, I'd have come in my suit."

The Clippers opened up a 10 point lead after the first quarter and steadily kept building the margin throughout the contest.  A total of six Clippers scored in double figures including all five starters, led by 31 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds from Al Thornton.  Zach Randolph contributed 25 points and 9 boards, while Marcus Canby went for 16 points, 7 rebounds and six assists.  Baron Davis had 13 points and 8 assists, Ricky Davis contributed 12 points off the bench and Eric Gordon chipped in for 10 points.

Not surprisingly, Clips’ coach Mike Dunleavy was pleased with arguably his team’s best all around game this season:

"Tonight was as close as we've been to our normal rotation. We were moving the ball, getting clean looks and getting good shots. Al Thornton was terrific tonight."

Thornton grew up less than 100 miles south of the ATL and was happy that both he and his team performed so well with a number of his friends and family in attendance:

"It was good to have a game like this in front of my family and friends. It's very important for us to get on a roll because we've been struggling all year. Hopefully we can carry some of this momentum into the break."

Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams led the Hawks with 17 points apiece, while Josh Smith had a “double/double” in the losing cause with 16 points and 15 rebounds.  Zaza Pachulia and Maurice Evans scored in double digits off the bench with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Clippers travel to Charlotte for a game against the Bobcats on Monday, followed by a home contest against the New York Knicks that will complete their action until after the All-Star game.  Atlanta, meanwhile, has a Tuesday home game against the Washington Wizards and a road contest at Detroit on the docket before the break.