The Atlanta Hawks Totally Redeem Themselves on National TV

They had to wait 13 days, but it was well worth it after last night’s 118-83 thumping of the Chicago Bulls on ESPN.

It was less than two weeks ago when the Orlando Magic embarrassed the Atlanta Hawks 93-76 Thanksgiving night on TNT, giving the Hawks their first loss at Philips Arena.

However, Atlanta showed why they only trails Orlando and the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the East.

Last night’s game was never in doubt, as the Hawks had a 56-42 advantage after the first half.

The Hawks outscored the Bulls 31-15 in the third quarter, and again put up 31 points in the fourth. The Bulls just scored 41 points in the entire second half and looked like a high school team begging for mercy while on its way to a 35-point loss.

Jamal Crawford led the way for Atlanta, scoring a season and game-high 29 points. Crawford also played the most minutes of any Hawk last night: 34:26 to be exact. He was one of just four players to play at least 30 minutes; the other three were Chicago’s John Salmons, Derrick Rose, and Luol Deng.

Crawford went 10-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-6 from the three-pointer, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line.

Al Horford and Mike Bibby were the only Hawks starters not to reach double-digits in points. Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson each had 12 points, while Josh Smith went 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe to finish with 18 points.

Maurice Evans joined Crawford in providing heavy offense off the bench. He also drained four three-pointers, finished 6-of-8 from the field, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line to finish with 18 points.

He also had two blocks.

The win moved Atlanta ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third spot in the East. The Cavaliers have dropped two-in-a-row and are a half-game behind the Hawks.

The Hawks are 15-6 overall and 9-2 at home. They trail both Boston and Orlando by two games for the East’s top spot.

With the win over the Bulls, the Hawks improve to 2-1 this season in games on national television, with a plus 29-point advantage over their opponents. The Hawks are 2-0 when playing on ESPN.

Atlanta has seven more games on national television left this season. All are on ESPN and five of them are at home.

Sounds like a winner to me.

Atlanta is off until tomorrow when they will travel to Toronto to play the Raptors, and then are at home again on Sunday against the New Jersey Nets.