Josh Smith would probably be the first to tell you that he didn't have a great game on Friday against the Rockets. But he was there at the end when it mattered most, and hit the game-winner with 0.7 seconds left to power the Hawks to their 11th win, tops in the league at this early point in the NBA season.
Smith finished with a pretty solid line of nine points, eight rebounds, four blocks, and three assists, but was limited by foul trouble to just 24 minutes of action. In fact, he had played just 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, before being inserted with 34 seconds remaining, and his team clinging to a five-point lead.
After the exceptionally gritty Rockets came from 10 points down with under two minutes remaining to tie it at 103 with five seconds left, Smith was there to clean up Mike Bibby's missed jumper for the win. Video after the jump.
Every few weeks, FanHouse will offer a writer's opinion on the current NBA MVP Rankings. This time, Tom Ziller gives his top 20 through the season's first four weeks, as well as an assessment of the multitude of rookie point guards.
The surprising Atlanta Hawks -- and the way they were built -- should become required study for those NBA general managers who wheel and deal too fast, making change for the sake of change, always searching for the quick fix.
The Hawks are proving that patience does work.
The Hawks (9-2) have become the top team in the East, quietly moving past the freer spending Celtics, Cavaliers and Magic, the high-profile contenders who previously thought it was a three-team race to the top of the conference.
Hawks buzzard Josh Smith has famously wasted quite a few Atlanta possessions over the years by taking ill-advised three-pointers. That phraseology is actually redundant when it comes to Smith: it would be considered ill to ever advise Smith to take a three.
Thankfully, someone showed Josh the light, and he hasn't attempted a trey all season. He convinces when he tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he hasn't even felt tempted to fire up a bomb. He found Basketball Jesus! Like a good son of the word, he should spread his experience. Which players would most benefit from a Brother Smith knock at the door?
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
If you're not a close follower of the NBA, then just six games or so into the season, we can't necessarily hold it against you if the name Tyreke Evans doesn't ring a bell. Besides being a rookie, Evans plays for the Sacramento Kings, a team that won just 17 games a season ago, and figured to be about as bad this year with stud scorer Kevin Martin sidelined indefinitely with an injury.
But after what Evans did to Deron Williams in leading his undermanned team to a road win in Utah on Saturday, he won't remain anonymous to basketball fans for much longer.
FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.
Forget the out-of-this-world athleticism. Forget the alley-oops (difficult, I know), forget the jumping out of the gym and forget the slam dunks that make you think "You know, I wouldn't necessarily give a T-Rex the edge in a fight with this guy." Forget the worrisome shot selection and coach clashes and the immature behavior. Forget all that for a second and get used to a new set of ideals.
Josh Smith is turning into a pretty great basketball player. And he's only 23.
The Hawks played hardball this summer with restricted free agent Marvin Williams, just as the Hawks do with most restricted free agents. Last year, Atlanta GM Rick Sund allowed Josh Smith to hang in the RFA win, only bringing the electric forward back when Memphis got Smith to sign a reasonable offer sheet.
It didn't come to that this season -- Marvin apparently talked to no other team seriously -- but it still worked out for Atlanta. Marc Spears of Yahoo! reports Williams will stay in the ATL for $40 million over the next five seasons.
The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor over Orlando's affections. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.
Whomever the Magic passed up would land in the lap of a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Those two players appeared to be the only sure things in this draft. It was littered with early entries, unproven players and talented youngsters who might have bolted college a year too early. And making decisions more difficult was a slew of high school players who were years away from making an impact.
The Atlanta Hawks are considered one of the NBA's rising teams, as evidenced by consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 10 years. The Hawks, however, were easily swept in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who spent four games exposing Atlanta's numerous flaws and weaknesses. The Hawks are approaching a critical time for their franchise, with Mike Bibby a free agent and third-year forward and former lottery pick Marvin Williams seemingly without a role.
Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, the team's vice president of basketball, said the Hawks need two key components to challenge, Boston, Orlando and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.
By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET) is left to randomness. But what if basketball karma dictated the results? Good triumphs over evil. Fairness and compassion reign. Robert Horry does not exist. It's a wonderful world.
Close your eyes and imagine how the ping pong balls would bounce if karma ruled tonight's lottery ...
Josh Smith would probably be the first to tell you that he didn't have a great game on Friday against the Rockets. But he was there at the end when it mattered most, and hit the game-winner with 0.7 seconds left to power the Hawks to their 11th win, tops in the league at this early point in the NBA season.
The surprising 
Hawks
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. 
FanHouse previews a 
The Hawks played hardball this summer with restricted free agent 
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
The Atlanta Hawks are considered one of the NBA's rising teams, as evidenced by consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 10 years. The Hawks, however, were easily swept in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who spent four games exposing Atlanta's numerous flaws and weaknesses. The Hawks are approaching a critical time for their franchise, with 
By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET) is left to randomness. But what if basketball karma dictated the results? Good triumphs over evil. Fairness and compassion reign. 
