Josh Smith said he didn’t take his exclusion from the 2012 NBA All-Star team as personal.
“I was cool. When you accept the fact that this game is more than basketball, and that there is politics involved, you don’t really get your hopes up until your name is selected…It is what it is,” Smith said.
It certainly appeared that he cared Friday night at the Amway Center, the venue where the annual All-Star game will take place on February 26.
Just a day after the All-Star reserves were announced, with Smith being left of the Eastern Conference’s bench, the high-flying forward erupted for 23 points and 19 rebounds to help his Atlanta Hawks escape with a narrow 89-87 victory in overtime.
All-Star snub? Statement made.
Despite Smith’s big game, the Hawks almost let the game slip away from them.
After leading for nearly the entire contest, the Hawks allowed the Magic to go on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes of regulation that tied the game at 78, and sent it into the extra period.
But in overtime, Atlanta was able to take care of business, led by eight combined points from Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams to avert the Magic’s comeback bid, while handing them their second overtime loss in the last week.
“We lost two in overtime, to two very good teams. It’s just tough. We battled back, did a great job,” Ryan Anderson said. “They had a few runs, but we answered. Those are tough losses, this was a tough one.”
With the Magic down two points and 11.6 seconds left, Jason Richardson failed to make his second free throw that could have tied the game. However, on the ensuing possession, after Hawks center Zaza Pachulia was fouled, he also converted just one from the charity stripe to give Orlando one last chance.
But, Richardson missed a long three-pointer that was rebounded by Anderson, who kicked it out to a wide-open Jameer Nelson, but he clanked the shot, and the Hawks escaped with the win.
Although, Orlando had a chance to pull out the W in overtime, they played behind Atlanta for the majority of the game, mainly because of the Hawks strong defense and aggressive play from Smith.
Smith also finished with five assists and three blocks to cap off his monster game.
“When you look up and see 20 and 20, there is nothing to talk about. When you see a stat line like that, it speaks for itself,” Hawks forward Marvin Williams said. “Without him, we don’t win this game tonight.”
Johnson finished with 14 points, while Williams chipped in 13 points and six boards for the Hawks.
The Magic had four players in double figures, led by Ryan Anderson’s 21 points and nine boards, but weren’t able to get enough consistent shooting or solid defensive play to catch up with Atlanta.
After converting a season-high 17 three-pointers in a win over the Miami Heat Wednesday night, the Magic cooled off, making only nine-of-24 shots from the perimeter.
Orlando was also plagued by costly turnovers, including a big one by Hedo Turkoglu in overtime. The Magic finished with 16 turnovers in the game, with six of them at the hands of Turkoglu.
“We just didn’t play very well, that’s the bottom line, we didn’t play very well, but we stuck in there. I liked that, we hung in the game and we certainly had chances,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We just didn’t get it done in the end, and the big thing was the 16 turnovers. We had big ones in the overtime.”
Dwight Howard, coming off a big game against Miami, continued his All-Star play with 18 points and 18 boards. Nelson posted 15 points and five assists, while Richardson chipped in 14 and Turkoglu added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Still, the Magic weren’t able to make most of the opportunites they had to take control of the game. Although they showed poise in making their fourth-quarter comeback, they weren’t able to sustain it when it mattered most.
“It’s definitely tough; we had opportunities, especially tonight. There’s really not too much I can say. We had opportunities, just had to execute a little bit better, obviously make some shots,” Nelson said. “But we played hard I thought, played together, stuck together especially when they made their run in the fourth, took us to overtime.”
Orlando will look to rebound from the tough loss when they travel to Milwaukee to play the Bucks tomorrow night at 9 p.m.
