ATLANTA – There are bad games. There are horrible games. There are those types of games that warrant a death penalty in certain Third World countries.
And then there is the game Steve Smith endured for Atlanta last night when the Hawks fell into an 0-2 ditch to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semis.
The Hawks’ leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs was beyond wretched. This was a game that would have drawn boos, if not compassion, in the Meadowlands. Yeah, he was THAT bad. Smith was 1-of-7 in the first half. And that was when he was hot. He was 1-of-9 in the first half, finishing at 2-of-16 with nine points. It was his worst shooting performance of the season and only the second time he failed to register double-digit points. In the two games against New York, both Hawk losses (including last night’s 77-70 clunker), Smith is 8-of-33.
“I had open looks,” said Smith, who refreshingly made no excuses and didn’t scream “foul” and simply said the obvious – he stunk. “They played pretty good defense, they always play pretty good defense, but I just didn’t hit shots.”
“I haven’t had one of those shooting nights all year. And it had to come in the playoffs,” sighed Smith, whose lone second-half basket came from the left wing with 5:08 left and pulled the Hawks within 69-60. “I had one of these [games] before. I just haven’t had one in a while.”
His worst game this season was a 2-of-14 on April 25 against Milwaukee. But he scored 13 points in that one. Obviously, Smith a 44 percent career shooter and 17.4 ppg scorer, is better than he showed. Teammates and coach Lenny Wilkens offered their theories.
“They [the Knicks] do a lot of holding but he had some good looks, a lot of good shots” Wilkens said. “He wasn’t feeling too good and in that type of game you have to be healthy.”
Smith quickly shrugged off any notion that his miserable shooting night had anything to do with subpar health other than “maybe a little fatigue.”
Teammate Ed Gray, summoned to bring some shooting relief, claimed that Smith looked “anxious” all game.
“I think he was trying to give us a lift and he just forced some things,” said Gray, a 13-point scorer.
If there was any consolation for Smith it was that his counterpart, Allan Houston, struggled as well. The Knick two-guard was just 1-of-8 from the floor.
“Allan was right there with me,” Smith said with a weak smile.
The Hawks, obviously, are in a dangerous position. They may never get back here with the Knicks holding a sweep potential as Games 3 and 4 are in the Garden. If Smith is the Smith of last night, the Hawks will not see the inside of the Georgia Dome again.
“We’ve got to keep our heads up and we’ve got to win in New York and just keep playing,” Smith offered.
But they can’t play like last night.
“We play as a team,” Smith said. ‘It’s not an individual thing where I’ve got to go out and outscore (Latrell) Sprewell and Houston. Those two guys definitely can play and score but we’re just trying to win a game no matter what happens.”
