It’s not the way a team would prefer to start a five-game, cross-continental road trip.
The Atlanta Hawks have followed their impressive 4-1 road trip at the end of January with some wishy-washy play, including a three-game losing streak at home, followed by two wins and then one, big, dud on Sunday.
In a nationally televised game at home against one of the league’s top teams, the Hawks trailed by 22 points at halftime against Miami in a 107-87 loss.
As if to underscore the disappointing nature of the performance were Hawks coach Larry Drew’s pregame comments on Sunday.
“There shouldn’t be any lack of motivation from our players,” he said. “If you can’t be self-driven or self-motivated for a game like this, there’s something wrong. You’re playing against one of the top teams in the league.”
Now, the Hawks (18-10) are charged with lifting themselves off the carpet when they face the Lakers — who bring a record that is surprisingly worse than the Hawks’ at 16-12 — in Los Angeles on Tuesday to start a new five-game trip. The Hawks have not beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles in their last five tries, their most recent victory there coming almost six years to the day (Feb. 15, 2006).
The grueling trip continues on Wednesday in Phoenix (12-16), which just beat the Hawks during their three-game homestand; on Saturday in Portland (15-13), on Monday at league-best Chicago (23-7), and finishes the following Wednesday in New York (13-15), where the Hawks will get to experience Linsanity. (Just for fun, the Hawks get to play the Magic at Phillips Arena the day they arrive home on Feb. 23)
At least when the Hawks visit the Lakers, they will not face the same old purple-and-gold juggernaut. Like the Hawks, the Lakers have been doing their share of soul-searching lately and are fifth in the Western Conference.
The Lakers came off a road trip at 3-3 and have their share of distractions. On Sunday, general manager Mitch Kupchak reportedly attended a workout held by troubled guard Gilbert Arenas.
Center Pau Gasol was asked whether Arenas might be the cure for the team’s play at point guard, as the Lakers, a team accustomed to off-the-court drama, have been buffeted by trade rumors.
“We just need to play better,” Gasol was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. “We don’t need a particular player. As a team and a player, your mindset is to work with what you have. We have enough talent here to be able to play better and more consistent.”
Like the Lakers, the Hawks are grappling with personnel issues. They signed 15-year veteran center Erick Dampier last week to a 10-day contract as a temporary solution with All-Star Al Horford (torn pectoral muscle) and reserve Jason Collins (sprained elbow) out.
Dampier, who has played only eight minutes in two games but has six rebounds in that limited action, will be needed in particular against the Lakers’ combination of Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
Drew had said he wanted to go slow with Dampier’s playing time, as the player was not yet in game shape. (He had not played all season before the Hawks signed him.)
But now the Hawks do not have the luxury of time. They need Dampier and they need the rest of the team to snap out of whatever ailed during those four home losses over the past five home games.
The Miami game was something of a low point. The Hawks’ starters combined for only 40 points and got only 12 from All-Star Joe Johnson.
“We are going out on that road to get well because we weren’t as competitive on this homestand as I was hoping to be after coming off that 10-day trip [in January],” Drew said, “Hopefully, we can go out on the road and get our mojo back.”
