ATLANTA (AP) — Larry Drew is returning for his third season as the Atlanta Hawks’ coach despite the team’s first-round exit from the playoffs.

The Hawks announced Friday the team is exercising its option on Drew’s contract for next season.

“Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” said general manager Rick Sund.

“The Hawks have reached the postseason in each of his years on the bench, and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

Drew led the Hawks to a 40-26 regular-season record before the team lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the first round of the playoffs. It was a step back for the franchise after three straight second-round appearances.

Atlanta had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference despite losing All-Star center Al Horford for all but 11 games of the regular season. Horford returned in Game 4 of the Celtics series.

The Hawks also lost Joe Johnson, Zaza Pachulia, Kirk Hinrich and other players for stretches of six or more games.

“This group, we never really got to show what we’re capable of,” Horford said last week.

Pachulia, who was Horford’s top backup, missed the Celtics series with a chipped bone in his left foot. Third-string center Jason Collins started the first four games of the series.

Drew said he and his staff “endured a lot of unexpected things.”

“Obviously when you lose an All-Star at the beginning of the season, you have to make some adjustments and you’ve got to kind of change your way of thinking of how you deal with the team now,” Drew said last week. “Certainly when you have factored a guy in for the entire season and then he won’t be there, you’ve got to change some things around, particularly the mindset of the rest of the team.”

Drew said he did a good job of keeping the team playing hard.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in and spend a lot of time on,” he said. “Player relationships are very important and how you deal with it, how you deal with your best player all the way down to the guy who may not dress out during games.

“I thought I did a good job with that. I thought my staff did a good job with that. We can only control so much, but the one thing we tried to control is that those guys when they come to that gym they come out and play hard for you every single night, and I thought we got that.”

Drew is 84-64 in two regular seasons and 8-10 in the playoffs. The Hawks were 17-16 on the road this season, the team’s first winning record away from Atlanta in 13 years.

The team’s five starters and Pachulia are under contract for next season. Nine players are free agents, and Sund’s contract expires on June 30.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ATLANTA, May 18 (UPI) — Larry Drew will be back next season as coach of the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA team said Friday.

General Manager Rick Sund said the team was exercising its contract option to retain Drew for at least the 2012-13 season. Financial terms weren’t released.

“Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” Sund said.

“The Hawks have reached the post-season in each of his years on the bench and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

Drew just completed his second season as the Hawks’ coach. Atlanta was 40-26 and advanced to the playoffs but was eliminated by the Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Hawks were 44-38 last season under Drew and were ousted in the second round of the playoffs.

ATLANTA (AP)

Larry Drew is returning for his third season as the Atlanta Hawks’ coach despite the team’s first-round exit from the playoffs.

The Hawks announced Friday the team is exercising its option on Drew’s contract for next season.

”Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” said general manager Rick Sund.

”The Hawks have reached the postseason in each of his years on the bench, and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

Drew led the Hawks to a 40-26 regular-season record before the team lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the first round of the playoffs. It was a step back for the franchise after three straight second-round appearances.

Atlanta had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference despite losing All-Star center Al Horford for all but 11 games of the regular season. Horford returned in Game 4 of the Celtics series.

The Hawks also lost Joe Johnson, Zaza Pachulia, Kirk Hinrich and other players for stretches of six or more games.

”This group, we never really got to show what we’re capable of,” Horford said last week.

Pachulia, who was Horford’s top backup, missed the Celtics series with a chipped bone in his left foot. Third-string center Jason Collins started the first four games of the series.

Drew said he and his staff ”endured a lot of unexpected things.”

”Obviously when you lose an All-Star at the beginning of the season, you have to make some adjustments and you’ve got to kind of change your way of thinking of how you deal with the team now,” Drew said last week. ”Certainly when you have factored a guy in for the entire season and then he won’t be there, you’ve got to change some things around, particularly the mindset of the rest of the team.”

Drew said he did a good job of keeping the team playing hard.

”It’s something I take a lot of pride in and spend a lot of time on,” he said. ”Player relationships are very important and how you deal with it, how you deal with your best player all the way down to the guy who may not dress out during games.

”I thought I did a good job with that. I thought my staff did a good job with that. We can only control so much, but the one thing we tried to control is that those guys when they come to that gym they come out and play hard for you every single night, and I thought we got that.”

Drew is 84-64 in two regular seasons and 8-10 in the playoffs. The Hawks were 17-16 on the road this season, the team’s first winning record away from Atlanta in 13 years.

The team’s five starters and Pachulia are under contract for next season. Nine players are free agents, and Sund’s contract expires on June 30.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — Larry Drew is returning for his third season as the Atlanta Hawks’ coach despite the team’s first-round exit from the playoffs.

The Hawks announced Friday the team is exercising its option on Drew’s contract for next season.

“Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” said general manager Rick Sund.

“The Hawks have reached the post-season in each of his years on the bench, and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

Drew led the Hawks to a 40-26 regular-season record before the team lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the first round of the playoffs. It was a step back for the franchise after three straight second-round appearances.

Atlanta had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference despite losing All-Star centre Al Horford for all but 11 games of the regular season. Horford returned in Game 4 of the Celtics series.

The Hawks also lost Joe Johnson, Zaza Pachulia, Kirk Hinrich and other players for stretches of six or more games.

“This group, we never really got to show what we’re capable of,” Horford said last week.

Pachulia, who was Horford’s top backup, missed the Celtics series with a chipped bone in his left foot. Third-string centre Jason Collins started the first four games of the series.

Drew said he and his staff “endured a lot of unexpected things.”

“Obviously when you lose an All-Star at the beginning of the season, you have to make some adjustments and you’ve got to kind of change your way of thinking of how you deal with the team now,” Drew said last week. “Certainly when you have factored a guy in for the entire season and then he won’t be there, you’ve got to change some things around, particularly the mindset of the rest of the team.”

Drew said he did a good job of keeping the team playing hard.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in and spend a lot of time on,” he said. “Player relationships are very important and how you deal with it, how you deal with your best player all the way down to the guy who may not dress out during games.

“I thought I did a good job with that. I thought my staff did a good job with that. We can only control so much, but the one thing we tried to control is that those guys when they come to that gym they come out and play hard for you every single night, and I thought we got that.”

Drew is 84-64 in two regular seasons and 8-10 in the playoffs. The Hawks were 17-16 on the road this season, the team’s first winning record away from Atlanta in 13 years.

The team’s five starters and Pachulia are under contract for next season. Nine players are free agents, and Sund’s contract expires on June 30.

ATLANTA (AP) — Larry Drew is returning for his third season as the Atlanta Hawks‘ coach despite the team’s first-round exit from the playoffs.

The Hawks announced Friday the team is exercising its option on Drew’s contract for next season.

“Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” said general manager Rick Sund.

“The Hawks have reached the postseason in each of his years on the bench, and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

Drew led the Hawks to a 40-26 regular-season record before the team lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the first round of the playoffs. It was a step back for the franchise after three straight second-round appearances.

Atlanta had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference despite losing All-Star center Al Horford for all but 11 games of the regular season. Horford returned in Game 4 of the Celtics series.

The Hawks also lost Joe Johnson, Zaza Pachulia, Kirk Hinrich and other players for stretches of six or more games.

“This group, we never really got to show what we’re capable of,” Horford said last week.

Pachulia, who was Horford’s top backup, missed the Celtics series with a chipped bone in his left foot. Third-string center Jason Collins started the first four games of the series.

Drew said he and his staff “endured a lot of unexpected things.”

“Obviously when you lose an All-Star at the beginning of the season, you have to make some adjustments and you’ve got to kind of change your way of thinking of how you deal with the team now,” Drew said last week. “Certainly when you have factored a guy in for the entire season and then he won’t be there, you’ve got to change some things around, particularly the mindset of the rest of the team.”

Drew said he did a good job of keeping the team playing hard.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in and spend a lot of time on,” he said. “Player relationships are very important and how you deal with it, how you deal with your best player all the way down to the guy who may not dress out during games.

“I thought I did a good job with that. I thought my staff did a good job with that. We can only control so much, but the one thing we tried to control is that those guys when they come to that gym they come out and play hard for you every single night, and I thought we got that.”

Drew is 84-64 in two regular seasons and 8-10 in the playoffs. The Hawks were 17-16 on the road this season, the team’s first winning record away from Atlanta in 13 years.

The team’s five starters and Pachulia are under contract for next season. Nine players are free agents, and Sund’s contract expires on June 30.

by

By Jimmy Golen, Associated Press

Atlanta Hawks

BOSTON — The banged-up Celtics and Hawks took Wednesday off to rest up for Game 6 of their first-round playoff series in Boston tonight.

The Celtics lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series after missing a chance to close out the Hawks in the fifth game on Tuesday.

Al Horford scored 19 points, including Atlanta’s final two baskets as the Hawks beat Boston 87-86.

Rajon Rondo made a steal in the final seconds, then Horford trapped him and prevented Boston from making a potential game-winner.

Rondo had five steals to go with 13 points and 12 assists.

“I hate that the game ended the way that it ended,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after Atlanta held on for the victory in Game 5.

“I thought that Rondo willed us back into the game. He really did.”

Rondo already had 13 points and 12 assists when he grabbed his fifth steal of the game, intercepting an inbounds pass from Al Horford to Josh Smith with 10.9 seconds left and Atlanta leading by one.

Boston had no timeouts left, so Rondo moved up the court along the left side, where Horford trapped him.

Kevin Garnett stepped back to receive the pass, but Rondo lost control of the ball and Smith tipped it away as the buzzer sounded.

“My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour on the last sequence,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said.

“We didn’t make a smart play inbounding the ball, but I’m glad (Smith) had the presence of mind on the last play to step up on Rondo when he came flying up the court.”

The Celtics have a record 17 NBA titles and a lot of history over the years, and steals are prominent among their most memorable plays.

Johnny Most’s call of “Havlicek stole the ball!” in the 1965 Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia is one of the most famous in sports history, and Larry Bird’s steal against Isiah Thomas to beat Detroit during the 1987 playoffs was just as impressive.

Rondo’s steal had the potential to be remembered just as fondly, especially after he took control of the game during a 10-0 run that cut as 12-point deficit to a single basket at the end of the third quarter.

Instead, it all went for naught.

“I cornered myself,” Rondo said. “Give Al credit. I just didn’t come up with the shot.”

Although Rondo’s outside shooting has always been the weakest part of his game — he was 6-for-17 from the floor on Tuesday — he made 8 of 11 shots in Game 4 and Horford considered him dangerous.

“I didn’t want to lose the series in that way, with him hitting a jumper over me or something like that,” Horford said.

“So you’re fighting for your life out there. My thing was to force him to pass the ball, to bottle him up the best I could and then Josh made a great deflection.”

Rivers, a former point guard himself, said he thought Rondo should have gone up the middle of the court instead of the sideline. And he wanted Rondo to drive toward the hoop, instead of setting up on the perimeter.

“I was hoping he would attack the basket, but he lost control of the ball and that blew up any chance that we had,” Rivers said. “We didn’t capitalize on the situation.”

The Celtics will have another chance on Thursday night, and this time they can close the Hawks out in Boston. Game 7 would be in Atlanta on Saturday, if necessary, but the Celtics would surely like to finish it up early to rest their aging stars.

Rivers and Drew both gave their teams the day off on Wednesday to rest.

After missing almost three weeks with bone spurs in his ankle, Ray Allen returned for Game 3 and has avoided any setbacks. Paul Pierce tweaked his left knee in Game 4, but he said it wasn’t bothering him much on Tuesday.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are getting healthier.

Horford played in Game 4 — his first action since January — and was back in the starting lineup for the fifth game, scoring 19 points with 11 rebounds. Smith, whose sore knee knocked him out of Game 3, had 13 points and 16 rebounds.

“I know Josh is still having a little discomfort in his knee but he is playing through the pain,” Drew said. “I think everybody else is fine.”

After winning a pair of tight games to take the series advantage, the Boston Celtics put the Atlanta Hawks on the brink of elimination with a dominant 101-79 win in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Playing at full strength for the second straight game, the Celtics took care of their home court behind outstanding efforts by Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. They propelled the Celtics to a 23-point halftime lead and never gave the Hawks a chance to come back.

This is the kind of game the Celtics were waiting for from Rondo. While his overall numbers were outstanding in Game 3, he didn’t really hit his stride until the fourth quarter and overtime. In Game 4, he dissected the Hawks early and never let up. He finished with 20 points, 16 assists, just one turnover and three steals in 35 minutes.

Pierce started the game shooting hot and got into a groove quickly. He knocked down ten of 13 shots for 24 points in fewer than 17 minutes of court time. He walked off the court gingerly in the first half after he and Josh Smith got their feet tangled in the second quarter, but he was able to return and continued his hot night in the third quarter. Boston’s huge lead, which ballooned to as many as 37 points, allowed Pierce to rest for most of the second-half rather than risk his availability going forward.

Beyond the Celtics’ phenomenal offensive performance, the key to the series continues to be the dominance of their defense and the inability of the Hawks to score in the half-court game. The Celtics have turned the ball over just 44 times through the first four games of the series and since the midpoint of Game 1, they have done a great job of limiting the Hawks’ opportunities in transition.

During the regular season, the Hawks were the NBA’s sixth most effective team at forcing turnovers, but going against a disciplined veteran team playing its most important basketball of the season, that strength hasn’t been able to manifest itself. If they are unable to force more turnovers and they can’t find a way to revitalize their transition game, the Hawks’ season will likely end in Game 5.

Game 5 will take place in Atlanta on Tuesday, May 8, at 8:00 p.m.

Sources:

Boston Celtics, Yahoo! Sports

Basketball-Reference.com

William Menna is a native New Englander and longtime Boston sports fan.

More from this contributor:

Celtics even series with Hawks in Game 2 win

Red Sox win sixth straight, get to .500

Celtics clinch fifth straight division title

Bruins take playoff opener over Capitals in OT

Bradley and Stiemsma giving Celtics a boost

The Boston Celtics won a very close Game 3 at home by the score of 90-84 in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead. It appeared too close for comfort at times as Boston had all the advantages coming into the game. Josh Smith was out of action for the Atlanta Hawks and the Celtics were playing on their home court. Still, Atlanta took them into overtime, where they narrowly escaped with a victory.

The matchup on Sunday will be crucial for Boston. If they win, they take a 3-1 series lead before heading to Atlanta for Game 5. If they lose it becomes a best of three series with home court in Atlanta’s favor.

Now is the time for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo to show what they are made of. The playoffs will not get any easier moving forward and they know it. They have the talent and experience; they just need to prove it.

The matchup:

The Boston Celtics will take on the Atlanta Hawks at the TD Garden located in Boston, Mass. on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 7 p.m. EDT.

The standings:

Boston comes into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarters finishing the regular season with a 39-27 record. They were 24-9 on their home court this year.

Atlanta enters the matchup having finished the season with a 40-26 record. They were 17-16 on the road this year.

The playoff series:

The playoff series is currently stands at 2-1 in favor of the Celtics.

Where to watch:

The game can be watched live nationwide on TNT.

The playoff statistic leaders:

Boston: Paul Pierce- 23.0 points per game, Rajon Rondo- 11.5 assists per game, Kevin Garnett- 12.3 rebounds per game.

Atlanta: Joe Johnson- 20.7 points per game, Josh Smith- 4.5 assists per game, Josh Smith- 15.0 rebounds per game.

Injuries to note:

Boston: Avery Bradley (left shoulder), Chris Wilcox (aortic abnormality), Jeff Green (aortic aneurysm).

Atlanta: Al Horford (torn left pectoral muscle), Zaza Pachulia (foot), Josh Smith (Patellar tendinitis in left knee)

More Boston Celtics Commentary from Paul Rados:

Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics, Eastern Quarters Game 3: Fan Playoff Preview

Boston Celtics should dominate with Miami trio likely to rest: Fan Preview

Boston Celtics prepare to take on Atlanta Hawks: Fan Preview

Takeaways from the Boston Celtics 102-98 win over the Orlando Magic: A fan’s perspective

Fan Preview: After a tough loss in New York, are the Boston Celtics ready to face the Magic?

Sources:

All data provided by NBA.com

Paul Rados is an avid Boston Celtics fan and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook.

by

Paul Newberry
Associated Press Sports Writer

Associated Press