The Hawks haven't had many days like Wednesday this season, the kind where the starters can sit and watch a game during the fourth quarter and not worry about having to return to the floor.
Such is the beauty of a mid-week visit from the Charlotte Bobcats, who were treated like an unruly house guest in the Hawks' 120-93 win Wednesday night.
Hawks coach Larry Drew had his entire starting unit on the bench for the fourth quarter, towels draped over their heads and legs and leaned back in their chairs as the reserves finished the business.
The late-game rest comes after the Hawks received a rare three-day break in game action, something extremely hard to come by during this condensed NBA season. The extra time for the body to heal was not lost on the players.
"It was real important," forward Josh Smith said. "It's been vital, especially this season, having had a lot of injuries throughout the whole season, throughout the whole entire league, it's nice to have a bench as deep as we have. Especially because we've had people out ... it just feels good to be able to get some rest and watch them play a little bit."
Smith took care of his end of the bargain early, leading the Hawks with 24 points as they used a 34-point second quarter to blow the game open. Jeff Teague added 17 and Joe Johnson 16 for the Hawks, who had lost three of four games before this one.
The bench crew was just as solid, with Willie Green scoring 17 points, Marvin Williams 14 and Jannero Pargo 12.
"After the first quarter, I thought we really turned up our intensity, we turned up our energy," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "But it started with our bench. I thought the minute we went to the bench, particularly starting the second quarter, we started creating some separation. Our guys came in ... I thought Willie, Ivan (Johnson), Tracy (McGrady) gave us some good minutes, Marvin, and we started kind of creeping away a little bit. Then when the starters came back, they seemed to put their foot on the gas even a little bit more."
NOTES, QUOTES
-As good as Josh Smith has been since the All-Star break, he was at his careful best against the Bobcats. His 24 points came on just 17 shots, and he added nine rebounds and four assists without committing a turnover.
Smith's refused to indulge his jump-shot passion, passing up those usual shot attempts to swing the ball to open teammates for better, more high-percentage shots, makes him absolutely deadly.
And when he's controlled on the fast break the way he was Thursday, most opponents simply have no answer for him.
-G Jannero Pargo heated up late in the game and reminded everyone, especially college teammate Joe Johnson, of the Pargo who used to tear it up routinely during his Arkansas days. Pargo hit five of seven shots and scored 12 points.
The Hawks loved seeing him get back to his hot-shooting ways just 18 days after he had emergency appendectomy surgery.
"Nothing surprises me," Smith said. "I know that he plays with a lot of energy and effort, he can put the ball in the hole, and he's a pit bull on defense."
Pargo said he was just doing what came naturally.
"I was just trying to take what the defense was giving me," he said. "I'm an aggressive player. If I've got a clean look at a shot, I'm going to take it. In the fourth, it went down for me."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"At halftime, the message was to start the third quarter very aggressively and let's see if we can create some more separation. I thought our guys did that in the third quarter, and I was really happy that we were able to rest those (starters) in the fourth quarter." -- Coach Larry Drew, after Wednesday's blowout of Charlotte.
