Jamal Crawford-Hawks: Crawford's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Hawks Over Phoenix

The Atlanta Hawks invited the Western Conference into Philips Arena for the first time in 2010.

It was a back-and-forth battle between the Hawks and the Phoenix Suns, coming down to a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Amar’e Stoudemire hit two free throws with only three seconds left on the clock. The fourth quarter had six lead changes, and it looked like Phoenix was going to get the last after Stoudemire hit one-of-two for the 101-99 lead.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, the Hawks have one of the NBA’s best sixth-man, Jamal Crawford.

Following a Mike Woodson timeout, where Crawford told his coach he wanted the shot, Crawford took the inbounds pass from Mike Bibby, took a few dribbles, and buried a 28-footer over Jared Dudley as the clock expired.

The final lead change of the game was saved until the very end. One of the NBA’s top fourth quarter players did what he does best. Crawford had nine of Atlanta’s 24 points fourth quarter points.

The 102-101 buzzer-beating victory is the third straight for Atlanta, and helped preserve their perfect record o 6-0 at home in Philips Arena against the Western Conference. Atlanta has also won five of their last six games.

The Hawks have won three in a row, with two of the five wins over the Boston Celtics to refuel their swagger.

The Hawks are 11-3 against the Western Conference and are 2-1 against the Pacific Division.

The Los Angeles Lakers handed Atlanta its first loss of the 2009-2010 season. They opened the season with two wins at home over the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards, and then traveled to Los Angeles and lost, 118-110.

The Hawks didn’t have to wait long to get revenge on the road against the Western Conference and its Pacific Division. After a Laker loss, the Hawks went to Portland and put up a gutsy performance against the Trailblazers for the win, 97-91. The Hawks would beat the Sacramento Kings the next night to win two straight in back-to-back nights on the road against the Western Conference.

Last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns was their first game against the Pacific Division since the victory over the Kings. The two teams meet up again in February.

Coming up for the Hawks are three more home games, with two against the Western Conference. The Hawks welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder on MLK Day, host the Kings for the first time on Wednesday, and have a division matchup at home against the Charlotte Bobcats next Friday.

Atlanta then goes on a two-game Western Conference road trip with games against the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, before wrapping up January with back-to-back games starting at home against the Celtics and at Orlando against the Magic.

Atlanta’s three-game win streak has catapulted them ahead of the Magic for the third spot in the Eastern Conference. They have a half-game lead over Orlando for the third spot, trail Boston by one-and-a-half games for the second place, and are a full three games behind Cleveland for the best record in the East.

Between the “Big Four” in the East, Cleveland leads the way with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games, while the Celtics and Magic are each 4-6, and the Hawks are 5-5.