Hawks 117 Bobcats 109

Boxscore

Gameflow

I found last night's game quite satisfying. My thoughts...

• The first and fourth quarters served as excellent reminders as to why I shouldn't make predictions. (Me, yesterday: "I wouldn't expect much in the way of scoring tonight.")
• There was a spectacular Josh Smith/Gerald Wallace mid-air collision that both escaped unscathed.
• Before leaving the game with a quad injury, Smith was playing his best game of the season. This will only inflame the nickname debate.
• Zaza Pachulia made a triumphant return to the starting lineup (for a quarter at least).
• Salim Stoudamire and Walter Herrmann shared the court (briefly) in the fourth quarter.
• We learned that Jeff McInnis is struggling to come to terms with his receding hairline.
• Tyronn Lue still hasn't made a jump shot since he cut his hair.
• The Hawks sealed the victory comfortably as Sam Vincent chose a relatively close game in which to demonstrate the fundamental flaws of consistent full-court pressure at the NBA level.
• That thought must have emanated from the same portion of Vincent's brain that believes McInnis should play more minutes alongside Raymond Felton than Matt Carroll does (or even Jared Dudley with Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace moving into the backcourt).
• Ryan Hollins doesn't score often but gets his money's worth celebration-wise after every bucket. (Hollins' antics will cease to be amusing if Acie Law IV's ankle is seriously damaged. About which we may not know anything until game time Friday.)
• Mario West entered the game in the first quarter. Unexpected, but not damaging.
• Al Horford really enjoys rebounding. Once he stops traveling so often, he'll be a 15 and 10 guy.

If healthy, the Hawks should be expected to win again Friday night against Seattle, winners of one in a row. If not healthy, the Hawks should still win but expectations should be tempered. Back with links and/or a preview of that game later today (margin of error: +/- 1 day).