Losing in San Antonio has become a painful ritual for the Hawks, one that they renew annually, like a license tag.
In fact, the Hawks would probably prefer doing it through the mail at this point. Because there are only so many different ways you can make that trek to south Texas and get your noses smashed before you start feeling sick to your stomach about it all. Hawks coach Larry Drew was hoping this was the Hawks team that would break the Spurs' spell, but after the Hawks' ugly 105-83 loss at the AT&T Center, he knew there wasn't much to say good about his team's performance.
"We just can't let things get out of hand like that against a team like the Spurs, especially on their home floor," Drew said. "They turned it up, their bench really turned up the energy, and we couldn't match them."
The Hawks knew the road wouldn't be kind to them. They knew every step of their current five-game, 5,800-mile trip around the country would be a grind. And they knew that they'd be operating at a disadvantage on most nights, due to the injury to Al Horford.
They are 1-1 so far, with a chance to improve on that when they head to Detroit for the third stop on the tour.
"I'm looking for that consistency on the road where we can go out, night in and night out, and play smart basketball," Drew said. "We realize when we are on the road, we can't play on the road like we do at home and just go out there and just fire away. We have to be smarter in controlling the tempo and making sure we get the shots that we want and make sure that we keep crowds out of the game."
NOTES, QUOTES
Kirk Hinrich made his season debut against the Spurs, playing 13 minutes and seeing his first game action since suffering a shoulder injury during the playoffs last season.
Drew said that he felt like Hinrich was getting close to being ready after finally recovering from November shoulder surgery. But Hinrich has handled everything in a way that will earn him nothing but praise from his coaches and teammates.
Instead of walking back into a starting job, Drew made it clear that Jeff Teague is the Hawks' point guard and that there would be no controversy.
For his part, Hinrich didn't seem particularly concerned about it. He was solid off the bench, scoring seven points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor.
That smattering that could be heard from the crowd while the Hawks' reserves were on the floor was for one bearded man in particular. It had to be the (Ivan) Johnson family showing their love for the beloved native son, who has made a name for himself as an energy player off the bench for the Hawks.
Johnson grew up in San Antonio and attended Fox Tech High School before playing at Cal State-San Bernardino.
"It never hurts to make it home, especially in a NBA jersey," Johnson said. "That's a nice way to come back."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"You can't explain that one. Those kinds of losses just happen in the NBA. All you can do is put it behind you and get ready for the next one." -- Marvin Williams, after the blowout loss to the Spurs on Wednesday.
