The Hawks Blog: Grading the 2011-2012 Season: Josh Smith

*Team/NBA Leaderboard ranks are qualified players only.

*The Floor Time section includes both qualified and unqualified players in rankings.

*Remember to check the Glossary at the end of this entry for stat/abbreviation explanations.

PF Josh Smith (8^th season with Hawks/8^th season overall)

Age: 26

Draft History: 17^th pick in 2004 by Atlanta

Acquired: 2004 draft

2012 Salary: $12.4 Million

2013 Contract Status: $13.2 Million

2012 Regular Season Grade: B+

Grade Explanation: Played big minutes every game and was team’s best overall player. Huge part of offense. Best defensive player and rebounder. High energy despite occasional attitude issues. Took way too many bad shots and continues to frustrate. Justified salary. 

Overall: Josh Smith remains a fascinatingly frustrating player. He is, at the same time, both undoubtedly the team’s best and most talented player, as well as, in the eyes of many, the biggest thing holding the team back from becoming a true contender. Interestingly, the things which make Josh such a polarizing figure in Atlanta are not quite as obvious to those who don’t follow “Smoove” and the Hawks on a nightly basis. I have had discussions with basketball fans who don’t understand why Josh is not more of a beloved figure in Hawks circles. 

For example, I spoke with some fans who—like Josh himself—were surprised that there wasn’t a bigger push in Atlanta for Josh to make the All-Star game. Many of these “unenlightened” fans may better understand the situation at this point, but for those who may don’t, this entry will hopefully help summarize why Josh has been such a polarizing figure in Atlanta. 

Let me start by saying that when I call Josh a “polarizing figure” I don’t mean that in the way the term is most commonly used. There’s no real argument between Hawks fans over what kind of player Josh is. Normally, the term “polarizing” would imply fans gathered on opposite ends of the argument, with one side supporting the player and the other side being critical. It may have been that way in Atlanta concerning Josh Smith at one point, but those days are over. Josh’s harshest critics have been forced to admit that for all of his problems, he remains the team’s most talented player, and has become the team’s best overall player. More importantly, even Josh’s biggest supporters have grown tired of his antics and his short comings. 

Thus, the term “polarizing figure” as it applies to Josh Smith, is more about the way all Hawks fans view Josh on a nightly basis. Almost without exception, in every single game, there will be a moment in which all Hawks fans love Josh Smith, as well as a moment in which Josh drives those same fans absolutely crazy. 

The only way in which fans are in disagreement over Josh at this point is about how the team should deal with him moving forward. There are those who are not at all blind to Smith’s failings but have more-or-less come to accept that Josh is who he is, and that while he continues to be an immensely frustrating player, the good does—in the end—outweigh the bad. There are also those who say that regardless of how important Josh has come to be in the team’s success or failure, his problems are still too maddening to be considered “worth it” and that the best thing to do would be to move on. 

Hardly anyone remains among the camp which feels that Josh will eventually outgrow his problems and become the player everyone wishes he would be. At this point, most everyone feels that Josh will continue to be a very good yet extremely frustrating player. The only difference of opinion now concerns whether the Hawks would be better off sticking with Josh and his failings, or being rid of both Josh’s short comings and his numerous assets. 

Because Josh’s assets are obvious to just about any basketball fan, any discussion of Smith has to start with the negatives. At this point, the greatest frustration for Hawks fans concerning Smith’s game would have to be the uncanny level of unawareness with which he continues to take what would have to be considered “bad shots.” For years now, Smith’s slow, awkward, and badly timed long jumpers have routinely coincided with an audible groan from the home crowd. In fact, it’s a bit misleading to call it a groan, for that would imply a sound that didn’t distinctly resemble a word. This is not the case, however. The sound emanating from crowds at Phillips Arena whenever Josh “rises” to take one of his random long jumpers has been a very clear “no!”

Yet Smith has been undeterred by this. It’s almost as if he doesn’t quite understand that no one thinks it’s a good idea for him to be taking these shots. This is why I describe Smith’s outside shooting as “unaware.” I can only assume that Smith’s coaches and teammates have tried to reason with him on the issue, and that at some point in time they all basically gave up and have tried to live with his insistence on taking so many long jumpers. 

Josh’s habit of taking outside shots is also the one negative aspect of his game which can’t be said to have improved over the last few years. Josh clearly grew tired of hearing Mike Woodson’s complaints about his 3-pt shooting, as his 3PA fell from 87 in 2008-2009, to just 7 in 2009-2010, Woodson’s final year as head coach. However, Smith’s 3PA shot back up to 154 in Larry Drew’s 1^st season as head coach (2010-2011) and 109 this season. 

Actually, if it was just a problem with 3PT’s it would be somewhat less of an issue. However, Smith doesn’t just take 3’s; he also takes plenty of long 2’s, a much worse shot in the grand scheme of things. Another problem seems to be that Smith isn’t quite bad enough at outside shooting for negative reinforcement to have any kind of effect. He seemingly takes and makes just enough of them for it to seem like a good idea. 

This is a bigger problem than it might sound like. When Smith’s long jumpers do go in, it’s huge, because no one was counting on it, and because—just like any other shot—it means a successful offensive possession. However, when Smith’s long jumpers don’t go in it can be devastating, because it brings down the entire team (and the crowd if the game is at home). In addition, Smith’s misses rarely lead to anything good (such as an offensive rebound) and often become almost like a turnover, as the opposition may be able to start a break back the other way. 

The biggest problem with Smith’s outside shooting isn’t even the fact that they don’t go in at a high enough rate for them to be considered good shots. They are often awkward and ill-timed, and thus become possession killers. Overall, I feel like Josh’s “form” has improved. When he’s set up and open, and fires quickly enough he almost looks natural. When he has the ball and ends up creating his own shot he looks much less clownish than before. The problem is that many of his outside shots are still indecisive and awkward. The ball comes to him on the outside and he surveys the scene, slowly sets up, and then takes an awkward set shot that rarely goes in (these are the ones that, when taken at home, are accompanied by shots of “no!” from the crowd). 

Before moving away from the outside shooting problem I do want to say a few things in Josh’s defense about the issue. These words will no-doubt be of no use to those who have become so frustrated with “Smoove” that they want the team to be rid of him. Whether or not Josh’s biggest detractors want to admit it, it was necessary for Josh to become more of a factor on offense this season due to the loss of Al Horford. In the end, taking more shots was just a part of that. He had to be more assertive offensively, and sometimes that meant taking more outside shots than fans would like. 

There are 2 other points I must make in Smith’s defense which, again, not everyone is going to accept. The 1^st point is that, to be fair, Josh is open a lot on the outside when the ball is passed to him. Here Josh’s biggest critics will excitedly point out that there’s a good reason for this, and that is that other teams want Josh to take outside shots if he will. While I obviously understand this, my point is that there are times when simply moving the ball along or driving the ball inside into the defense may not be any better than taking the shot. Again, this becomes a much better argument when Josh actually makes the shot, but I still think it’s a valid point. 

And this leads into my other point in defense of Josh’s outside shooting. Simply put it is this: at least he’s always willing to take the shot. Whether people want to admit it or not, you do have to have some guys on the team who are willing to take the big shot, and fortunately or unfortunately, Josh is one of the very few players on the Hawks roster who fits that category. 

At times Josh is crushed for taking what appears to be an ill-advised shot at a big moment in the game. Certainly there are times when he simply can’t be defended for this. However, there are times when the criticism is not entirely fair. Just one example of this would be the shot he took late in game 6 against the Celtics. When it first occurred I was as frustrated as everyone else, particularly because it was the worst kind of shot that Josh takes: namely, a decisively indecisive, slow to develop, awkward set shot from just inside the 3-point line. However, when I went back and looked at it, I started to feel that this was one of those “at least he’ll take the shot” moments. 

There may originally have been a clear play that, for whatever reason, the Hawks never actually ran, but I don’t have any reason to blame Josh for that. What I do know is that when Josh received the ball from Al a few feet in front of the 3-point line there was 14 seconds left in the game, 7 seconds left on the shot clock, and the Hawks were down a point. The other 4 Hawks players on the floor were either straddling the 3-point line or behind it, and none of them were doing anything. They were all standing and watching and they were all more closely guarded than Josh. 

Perhaps it would have been better for Josh to attempt another pass around the perimeter to Joe, but that would have been risky considering the time remaining. Perhaps it would have been better for Josh to try and drive inside, but that wouldn’t guarantee success, as the Celtics were an excellent defensive team at the rim. Even if he drew a foul, the Hawks wouldn’t have been in great position due to Josh not being a good free throw shooter. He ended up taking an uncontested set shot and missing, and the immediate reaction was to howl “that is why the Hawks will never be true contenders with Josh Smith!” but in reality, he was merely willing to take a shot when nothing else was happening. 

Taking “bad shots” is not Smith’s only problem. I will say, however, that in my mind it is the only problem area at which he has not improved over the years. He still shows a lack of self control at times. This can be seen most obviously in his incessant arguing with officials which never leads to anything good. He drew a career high 11 technical fouls this season, almost all of which were for jawing at officials. He is still compulsive at times, as seen by his missed dunks in the postseason, and there is no way to defend him in this. 

You might be wondering where the “improvement” part comes in, but for me it is his overall attitude. Josh still argues too much when he doesn’t get a call at the offensive end, and sometimes this leads to him not getting back on defensive, but in my opinion this occurs much less than it did in the past. I don’t have any way of backing this up with stats. All I can say is that Josh played with great energy every night this season, and I never felt like he was giving it any less than 100%. 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t something I could have always said in the past, but at least he’s getting better in that regard. Even if Josh still gets too caught up in whatever calls he feels like he isn’t getting, he doesn’t allow it to frustrate him to the point of giving up the way he did at times in the past. Josh did not take any plays or possessions off this season. There were probably times when he didn’t get back quickly enough on defense due to complaining, but there were far fewer occurrences of this than there have been in prior years.

The problem area in which Josh has made the most improvement, in my mind, is in “randomly trying to go full court.” This is something Josh used to do all the time, and it rarely ended with good results. That same “no!” from the crowd that often accompanies his jump shots used to come whenever he got a defensive rebound and didn’t immediately give the ball up. When he tried to dribble the ball up the court it invariably ended with him getting the ball stolen, making a bad pass, or trying and failing to take the ball coast to coast. The best thing that could happen would be him jumping in the air and passing to another teammate, which rarely led to anything good. The number of these types of plays by Josh has dropped dramatically over the last couple of years, to the point where he basically doesn’t do it now unless there’s a good reason for it. 

To be sure, there are still times during the game where you say to yourself, “okay, Josh clearly decided that on that possession if he got the ball he was going to do something.” However, this isn’t nearly as bad a thing as it once was for a few reasons. For one thing, Josh is just a better offensive player now, so the chances of a positive outcome are better than they used to be. For another, there are fewer capable offensive players on the team than there once were (or at least that was true this season with Al injured and Jamal Crawford gone), so Josh is often one of the two best if not the best offensive option. Lastly, Josh has gotten better at picking and choosing when those moments of “I’m doing something now” occur. At this point, he rarely seems to make this decision out of boredom. It usually seems to come out of a frustration with a stagnating offense

Josh is still awesome in transition and he’s gotten even better in terms of not making overly risky plays. It is in the half court offense that Josh is still lacking. His inside game still needs work. One of the things that came along with Josh being a bigger part of the offense this year was an increase in the offense running through Josh or plays being ran for him. This had both good and bad results. There were times when it was effective, but it often led to turnovers, tough shots, passes out too late, or Josh getting fouled (which was not always that good because his FT shooting wasn’t great). 

At times, Josh can be a “ball stopper” in that when the ball is passed to him he tends to hold the ball and waste time before moving the ball along or eventually forcing something. Josh’s offensive game has become more perimeter oriented, which can be seen not just in the increase in outside shooting, but also in the decrease in offensive rebounds. Again, however, this is not entirely Josh’s fault, as the absence of Al Horford led to Josh being a bigger part of the offense, which inevitably led to him possessing the ball a lot outside the painted area.

For all of Josh’s annoying weaknesses, he still does a lot of good things. He is still a good passer, finisher, defender, shot blocker, and rebounder. He played great defensively this season and was better about doing it without fouling. He was a much better defensive rebounder this season (although certainly the absence of Al Horford accounted for much of that). He has also learned to take better care of the ball and avoid overly risky plays.

While he still does many things to irritate fans and clearly doesn’t shoot well enough from outside to be taking so many long jumpers, Josh has become a very productive offensive player while remaining a force defensively. You have to give him credit for stepping up and becoming much more of a factor offensively this season in the wake of the injury to Al Horford. While he may have been a bit “over ambitious” at times in attempting to have more of an impact on the offensive end, it was probably worth it. The Hawks needed somebody to pick up the slack when Al went down, and no other regular player was both willing and able to do so. 

The one area of the game in which Josh’s 2011-2012 season would have to be considered somewhat of a disappointment would be overall shooting. While his 3PA/G dropped from 2.0 to 1.7, Smith was still even less effective when he did shoot from behind the arc, as his 3PT% dropped from .331 to .257. While Josh’s FTA/G increased from 4.1 to 4.9, his FT% dropped from .725 a year ago to .630. 

61% of Smith’s FGA came on jumpers, as opposed to 39% from inside. It’s quite clear which was the most effective shot, as he had a .388 EFG on jumpers and a .600 EFG from inside. Josh was also much more effective taking shots early in the shot clock as opposed to late. 33% of his FGA came within the 1^st 10 seconds of the shot clock and he had a .572 EFG on those shots. Just 18% of his FGA came with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock and he had just a .381 EFG on those shots. 

Josh was also not as good during CLUTCH as could be hoped. He played in 85% of the Hawks CLUTCH minutes and his P/48 was 26.0 in those situations (up from 25.5 overall). However, his FG% in CLUTCH was just .402 (down from .458 overall) and he made just 14 of 27 FTA (.519 FT%, down from .630 overall). 

Josh shot slightly fewer jump shots during CLUTCH (59% jumpers/41% inside), but he was even less effective shooting jumpers during CLUTCH (.385 EFG, down from .388 EFG on jumpers overall). What’s more interesting is that he was also significantly less effective from inside during CLUTCH (.500 EFG on inside shots, down from .600 EFG on inside shots overall). This difference came about exclusively on his “close” shots (meaning non dunks or tips). Overall, 33% of Josh’s FGA were “close” shots and he had a .540 EFG on those shots. During CLUTCH, 33% of Josh’s FGA were “close” shots but he had just a .370 EFG on those shots. 

In addition, Josh had just 13 assists against 12 turnovers during CLUTCH. He was also more inclined to take shots late in the possession during CLUTCH, with 24% of his FGA coming with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock (as opposed to just 18% overall), and he was even less effective on these shots in CLUTCH (.375 EFG as opposed to .381 EFG overall). 

Josh greatly out-produced his counterpart on the floor overall this season. He played a miniscule amount of time at small forward, playing primarily power forward or center. He played the great majority of his minutes at the 4 position. Regardless of where he played, Josh easily out-produced the opposing player at his position when on the court. 

Josh led the Hawks in minutes this season, playing 72% of the team’s available minutes. He also led the Hawks in +/- Per 48 at +5.6 and he had by far and away the best ON/OFF 48 on the team at +8.1. The Hawks outscored the opposition by 5.6 points per 48 minutes with Smith on the court and were outscored by 2.5 points per 48 minutes with Smith off the court. The Hawks were much better both on the offensive and defensive end with Smith on the court. 

The bottom line remains that Josh was the Hawks best overall player this season. He was a huge part of the offense and was without question the team’s best defensive player. He played big minutes and gave great effort in every game. 

Statistics: In many ways 2011-2012 was the best all-around season of Josh Smith’s career. Obviously this was a shorter season than usual, but this was the 1^st time Josh did not miss a single game all year. He produced night in and night out, putting up 28 DD in 66 games (he would likely have matched or surpassed his career high of 32 DD if it had been a full season). The injury to Horford created room for Josh to increase his total and per game numbers, but you have to give him some credit for stepping up and getting it done. 

Smith’s numbers improved from the previous season in P/G (+2.3), R/G (+1.1), A/G (+0.6), S/G (+0.1), B/G (+0.1), and even TOV/G (-0.1). Josh established career bests in P/G and R/G, and he had the 2^nd best A/G number of his career. His 1.57 ATO was also the 2^nd best of his career. 

True, Josh’s shooting numbers were down across the board. He has taken a step back as a free throw shooter and he still takes way too many long jumpers. In trying to assert himself offensively, Josh ended up shooting much more than he ever had before, and his percentages went down.  

His FG% decreased .019 from the previous season and was his worst since 2007-2008. His 3PT% dropped .074 from the season before and (excluding 2008-2009 when he attempted only 7 3’s all year and didn’t make any) was his worst since 07-08. His FT% plummeted .095 from the year before. 

As you might imagine, Josh’s advanced metric shooting numbers were also down. His TS% fell by 4.1 from the season before and was the worst of his career. Smith’s EFG dropped .032 from the year before and was his worst number since 07-08. 

Despite the dips in shooting, Josh’s production numbers were up this season. Josh’s 21.14 PER was up 1.83 from the season before and was the best mark of his career. His WS/48 (.139) was up .023 from the previous season and was the 2^nd best of his career. Josh’s per 48 minute numbers were all up from the previous season. He improved from the year before in P/48 (+2.4), R/48 (+1.1), A/48 (+0.7), S/48 (+0.1), B/48 (+0.2), and TOV/48 (-0.2). He established career highs in P/48 and R/48, and his A/48 number was the 2^nd best of his career. 

Floor Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)

MIN%: 72% (1^st)         

+/- Per 48: +5.6 (3^rd)

ON/OFF 48: +8.1 (2^nd)

+/- W-L-T: 44-20-2

WIN%: 68.8 (3^rd)

ON/OFF OPHP: +6.6 (4^th)

ON/OFF DPHP: -1.6 (7^th)

ON/OFF NPHP: +8.2 (2^nd)

Team Leaderboard: Josh led the Hawks in MIN (2329), FGM (504), FGA (1101), FTM (203), FTA (322), DR (496), REB (632), BLK (115), PTS (1239), FGM/G (7.6), FGA/G (16.7), FTM/G (3.1), FTA/G (4.9), DR/G (7.5), R/G (9.6), B/G (1.7), P/48 (25.5), 2PM (476), 2PA (992), 2PM/G (7.2), 2PA/G (15.0), B/48 (2.37), BPF (0.67), DD (28), DR% (24.8), B% (3.8), USG% (28.4), DRAT (96), DWS (4.9), WS (6.8), PER (21.14), VA (335.1), EWA (11.2), MIN% (72%), +/- (+274), DEF-PPP (1.02), +/- Per 48 (+5.6), WIN% (68.8), PRO/OPP (+7.1), ON/OFF 48 (+8.1), and SIMRAT (+7.5). 

Josh was tied for 1^st on the team in GP (66), GS (66), and OFF-PPP (1.08).

Josh was 2^nd on the team in FG% (.458), OR (136), AST (257), STL (93), MPG (35.3), OR/G (2.1), A/G (3.9), S/G (1.4), P/G (18.8), R/48 (13.0), A/48 (5.3), S/48 (1.92), STO (0.57), R% (15.9), and A% (20.6). 

Josh was 3^rd on the team in ATO (1.57), PPS (1.125), EFG (.470), OR% (6.9), S% (2.1), and TOV% (11.7). 

On the negative side, Josh led the Hawks in TOV (164), PF (172), and Techs (11).

  

NBA Leaderboard: Here are Josh’s NBA Leaderboard appearances. 

DWS (1^st)

GP (T-1^st)

GS (T-1^st)

DR (5^th)

DRAT (5^th)

FGA (6^th)

DR/G (6^th)

2PA (6^th)

FGM (7^th)

2PM (8^th)

BLK (T-8^th)

MIN (9^th)

B/G (9^th)

B/48 (9^th)

REB (10^th)

PTS (10^th )

DD (T-11^th)

R/G (13^th)

DR% (13)

VA (13^th)

EWA (T-13^th)

FGA/G (14^th)

BPF (14^th)

USG% (14^th)

FGM (15^th)

FTA (16^th)

STL (T-18^th)

P/G (19^th)

B% (19^th)

S/G (20^th)

MPG (23^rd)

P/48 (24^th)

+/- (24^th)

R% (25^th)

FTA/G (29^th)

WS (29^th)

PER (29^th)

A/G (31^st)

FTM (33^rd)

R/48 (34^th)

STO (34^th)

OR/G (35^th)

OR (36^th)

AST (37^th)

S/48 (37^th)

S% (37^th)

FG% (45^th)

A/48 (45^th)

A% (46^th)

SPF (47^th)

FTG (49^th)

Here are Josh’s appearances on the NBA Leaderboard in negative stats.

Techs (T-3^rd)

TOV (17^th)

PF (T-25^th)

Season Review: Josh played and started in all 66 games for the Hawks. He was fairly consistent all year, but he was better in the 2^nd half (after the ASG), especially as a scorer. 

In the 1^st 24 games of the season (December 27^th through February 4^th) Smith averaged 33.5 MPG and shot .460/.167/.518 while producing 15.0 P/G, 9.0 R/G, 3.2 A/G, 1.3 S/G, and 2.1 B/G with 2.4 TOV/G. 

In the final 42 games of the season Smith averaged 36.3 MPG and shot .457/.275/.690 while producing 21.0 P/G, 9.9 R/G, 4.3 A/G, 1.5 S/G, and 1.5 B/G with 2.5 TOV/G. 

2012 Postseason Grade: B

Grade Explanation: Was team’s best overall player. When in game was driving force on both ends of the floor. Very productive and high energy. Had good-to-great performances in games 1, 2, 5, and 6 overall. Unable to stop the train in blowout loss in game 4. Could not contain KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, or Rajon Rondo but played well defensively. Did not shoot many 3’s and did okay at FT line. Some costly turnovers and defensive mistakes. Some foul trouble. Much too perimeter oriented offensively. Get’s downgraded primarily due to missing end of game 2 and all of game 3 with injury, but also for a pair of idiotic missed dunks and an unacceptable technical foul. 

Statistics: Josh played in 5 of the 6 games against Boston (all as a starter), missing game 3 with an injury. He averaged 39.2 MPG and shot .386/.000/.762, producing 16.8 P/G, 13.6 R/G, 4.8 A/G, 0.6 S/G, and 1.0 B/G. Unfortunately, he also averaged 3.0 TOV/G. 

Despite missing all of game 3, Josh led the Hawks in total rebounds (68) and was tied for the team lead in blocks (5). He also led the team in R/48 and A/48. 

Josh played 196 total minutes in the series (3^rd most out of 13 on the team) and had a 15.80 PER (2^nd). Smith’s +/- number for the series was -8 (6^th) and his W-L-T was 2-2-1. He amassed 0.2 WS (tied 5^th) and had .059 WS/48 (7^th). 

Postseason Review: When able, Josh was huge for the Hawks at both ends of the floor during the series with Boston. Unfortunately, he missed the end of game 2 and all of game 3 with a knee injury. His turnovers and fouls also increased from the regular season. He shot okay from the free throw line but overall he did not shoot very well. His offensive game was much too perimeter oriented. He played strong defense but had a few mental lapses. Like most players, he could not contain Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, or Rajon Rondo. Smith also had a couple of idiotic plays which really put a damper on his overall performance. 

Josh played extremely well in game 1. He played a big role on both ends of the floor as the Hawks built a huge lead. Unfortunately, he was also a big part of what was looking more and more like a collapse until Rondo’s blowup ended the matter. Josh played 42.5 of 48 minutes in game 1, scoring 22 points on 8 for 20 shooting. He was 0 for 1 on 3’s and 6 for 9 from the line and had 18 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block with 3 turnovers. He had 1 personal foul and drew 10 fouls. Smith finished game 1 with a +/- number of +17. 

But while Smith’s overall game was brilliant, the number of outside shots he took was a bit troubling to some extent. 14 of Josh’s 20 FGA came from at least 18 ft away from the basket (he made 5 of those). Early on Josh hit a few long jumpers and it was a big part of the Hawks building their lead. Conversely, when he went cold from outside it had negative effects on the team. Josh was 3 for 6 on his other FGA, all coming within 6 ft. While the outside shooting numbers might be troubling in a way, you can also see from early on that scoring from inside wasn’t going to be a walk in the park either. 

Like most Hawks players, Josh got off to a good start in game 1. He played the entire 1^st quarter (+13) and scored 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting (0 for 1 on 3’s, 1 for 1 at the line) with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 turnover. He also drew 3 fouls in the 1^st quarter. 

Josh assisted on Joe Johnson’s bucket that opened the scoring and put Atlanta ahead 2-0 on the Hawks 1^st possession. Josh missed his 1^st shot of the series (a 20-footer) but assisted on Kirk Hinrich’s 3-pointer that made it 13-4 Atlanta with 8:51 to play in the 1^st. Josh then got on the board, grabbing the defensive rebound, and scoring while getting fouled by KG at the other end. He hit the FT to make it 16-4. 

Josh knocked down a 20-footer to make it 20-6. He was called for goal tending at the 5:00 minute mark, but then scored at the rim to make it 22-10, and drew a charge on Paul Pierce with 3:28 to play in the opening period. In the final few minutes Josh missed a 3-point attempt (his only one of the game) and got his pass stolen by Greg Stiemsma, but then hit another long jumper (this one from 20 ft) to put the Hawks up 31-16 with less than 25 seconds to play in the 1^st quarter. 

Josh stayed “hot” in the 2^nd quarter, playing 9:24 of the period (+5), and scoring 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting. He had 6 more boards in the quarter, along with 1 turnover and 1 personal foul. He also drew another foul.

He started the quarter on the bench and came on with 9:24 left in the half and the Hawks leading 33-24. Smith grabbed a defensive rebound at one end, and then hit a 19-footer from the left corner late in the shot clock to make it 40-25 with just under 5-and-a-half to play in the 2^nd. Josh then drew a foul on Stiemsma, and later in the possession Stiemsma was called for goal tending an inside shot by Smith that counted to make it a 19-point Atlanta lead. 

Boston made a push after that, as Josh missed a long 2-pointer and a shot at the rim, and then threw the ball out of bounds at the 2:41 mark. But then Josh nailed a 22-foot jumper in KG’s face while falling over backwards to end an 8-0 Boston run with 1:14 to go before halftime. That made it 48-35. That was also a sign of how good things were going for the Hawks early on in game 1. 

The Hawks and Josh Smith were very hot early on in game 1 but actually shot poorly for most of the final 3 quarters. Josh’s luck from outside deserted him in the 3^rd quarter. He played the entire quarter (-2) and went 0 for 4 from the field. However, he still managed to have a somewhat productive period, scoring 3 points (3 for 6 at the FT line), and grabbing 5 more boards with 1 assist and 1 turnover. He also drew 4 more Celtics fouls. 

The 3^rd quarter didn’t start out well for Josh, as he missed from 21 ft on the opening possession of the 2^nd half and then had his pass stolen by Paul Pierce a few possessions later. But while the Hawks cooled off from outside, they were still maintaining some distance from Boston. Smith drew a foul on Brandon Bass and hit a pair of free throws to make it 62-45 Atlanta with 4:16 left in the 3^rd. On the next Atlanta possession, Josh ran pick-and-roll with Jeff Teague and drove the ball in from the left before dishing to Ivan Johnson for a layup that pushed the lead back to 19 points. 

Josh ended the 3^rd by sandwiching a pair of missed jumpers around 1 for 4 shooting at the FT line over the final 2-and-a-half minutes. This helped Boston go on a 9-1 run to close the 3^rd, cutting the deficit to 12.

Josh’s 2^nd half struggles would continue in the 4^th. He played the final 9:14 of the quarter (+1), scoring 4 points on just 1 of 4 shooting (2 for 2 at the line). However, he did record 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and no turnovers in the 4^th, while also drawing 2 more key Boston fouls. 

Josh started the 4^th on the bench and entered the game with 9:14 to go and the Hawks lead down to 67-59. He missed another long 2-pt at the 7:38 mark and missed from inside with less than 6 minutes to go and the C’s within single digits. But he came up big at the defensive end, blocking Pierce from inside, and then finally hitting a 19-footer with 4:26 to go that extended the Hawks lead back to 7 points. A 7-0 Boston run and an Atlanta scoring drought of 3:09 had closed the gap to just 5 points with plenty of time to go, so Josh’s long jumper was a huge one. 

Moments later with the C’s back to within 5, Josh drove to the free throw line to draw a couple of defenders, and then dished to the right to set up Teague for an open 3, which he nailed to make it 76-68 with 3:06 left. That brought a big sigh of relief from Hawks fans who had gotten a little tight along with the team. There was still too much time, however. The Hawks were attempting to shorten the game as much as possible but they needed to make a few more shots. Josh missed from 20 ft out with 80 seconds left, and the Celtics got a quick 2 to make it a 4-point game. It was now that the crucial moment in the game occurred. 

The Hawks still had not allowed the Celtics to pull within 1-possesion, but there was a touch of panic in the air as Boston continued to close the gap. Adding to this was the fact that the many Celtics fans—who had been relatively quiet for most of the night—were getting louder. The Hawks continued to go to the “dribble out the shot clock” strategy offensively, but one of the problems was that “Iso” Joe Johnson could not hit a thing. And the dribble drive/ in and out thing can be dangerous against a team like Boston trying to make a late push. 

With just under 45 seconds to play, Joe was trying to dribble out clock and decide what move to make when he got the ball knocked away.  Josh was standing at the 3-point line at the top of the key as the ball was suddenly loose inside the circle. He knocked the ball away from KG (which was huge) and then went to the floor to try and cover the ball and save possession. Brandon Bass then went to the floor on top of him and the refs called a foul with 41 seconds left. 

It was the right call, but still a fortunate one for the Hawks, as a jump ball could have been called and no one would have been in a position to complain much. Rajon Rondo didn’t like the call and quickly picked up not one but two technical fouls for vehemently arguing. Just like that the Hawks had gone from panic, to momentary reprieve, to a chance to put the game away. 

But they still had to take care of business at the line. Joe Johnson made only 1 of the 2 tech FT’s, sending Josh to the line for 2, with the Hawks only up by 5 with still 41 seconds to go. But Josh hit both FT’s, essentially icing it for the Hawks.  

Lost in the aftermath of Rondo’s meltdown (and the eventual 1-game suspension) was the fact that Josh had nailed 2 fairly huge FT’s. Even if Rondo hadn’t been called for any technical fouls, assuming Josh still made both FT’s, it would have put the Hawks in very good position up 6 with only 40 seconds to play. But for awhile it looked like Rondo’s blowup might be the enduring moment of the series (at least on a national level).

Everything appeared to be set up for the Hawks heading into game 2, with home court advantage intact and both Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen out for Boston. Of course no true Hawks fan thought it was going to be easy. There was a lot about game 2 that was different, and to be sure, there was a lot about game 1 that was unlikely to be repeated (the difference in energy between the two teams at the start; the Hawks red hot shooting to start the game). Still, when you look at Josh’s line score in game 2 it seems apparent that either he changed his plan or the C’s changed their plan against him. 

Josh had another productive night in game 2, although he would have to end it much earlier than expected, and he wasn’t quite as good overall as in game 1. He was injured late in the 4^th and he had a major blunder in the 1^st, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Aside from those two elements, Josh’s line score looks similar to his game 1 line score, but there were some subtle differences. 

In game 2, Josh played 37 minutes and scored 16 points on 8 for 21 shooting. He had 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks against only 1 turnover. However, he committed 4 personal fouls and drew only 3 fouls. He had a +/- number of +4 for the game. His overall shooting numbers look very similar in games 1 and 2: 8 for 20 in game 1; 8 for 21 in game 2. However, after drawing 10 fouls and shooting 9 free throws in the opener, Josh drew only 3 fouls and did not go to the line once in game 2. In game 1, Josh played 42.5 minutes and was called for only 1 personal foul. He played 37 minutes in game 2 and was called for 4. 

Interestingly enough, Josh took fewer outside shots in game 2 and made fewer, taking 9 shots from 13 ft out or farther in game 2, after taking 14 shots from at least 18 ft out in game 1. He made only 1 of his 9 shots from at least 13 ft out in game 2, as opposed to 5 of 14 from at least 18 ft away in game 1. He was 7 for 12 on shots within 10 ft of the basket in game 2, after going 3 for 6 on inside shots in game 1. So, Josh wasn’t taking or making as many shots from outside, and he wasn’t much more effective inside either. 

I think we can say that something changed here: perhaps a combination of Josh changing his game based on less success from outside; the C’s changing their defense of him and the way they attacked on offense; and a change in the way the refs called the game. Of course we’ll never know how different Josh’s final line score might have been if he had been able to play the final 4:20 of the game. And Josh should have at least been 8 for 12 on shots from within 10 feet, as we shall shortly see. 

Josh did not have anywhere near as good an opening quarter in game 2 as he had in game 1. He played almost 11.5 minutes of the period (+2) and scored 4 points on just 2 of 7 shooting, with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 PF, and 1 foul drawn. 

The game started out as usual for Josh, as he scored at the rim for his 1^st points of the night to tie the score at 4-4 just over a minute in. But he missed a couple of long jumpers after that as the Celtics took an early 9-4 edge. Then, a little more than 3 minutes into the game, Josh made an inexcusable and totally unacceptable mistake. It was, without question, a tremendous boner. And while that description may draw some laughs now, it was not at all funny at the time, and even now as I type this I find that I cannot yet forgive Smith for his gaff. 

With the Celtics holding the ball and leading 9-6 at around the 8:52 mark, Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass were trying to run a pick to allow Pierce to get by at the 3-point line. Joe chased Pierce around Bass, trying for the steal from behind, while Josh stayed in front of Pierce and disrupted his dribble. Josh then slid past Pierce towards the opposite end of the court just as Joe knocked the ball away from him. Joe hustled to get to the loose ball before KG could grab it and deftly shoveled it one-handed to Josh headed the other away. 

Josh received the pass at the opposite 3-point line, with Bass the closest man to him about 1.5 feet past midcourt. Josh put the ball on the floor and this allowed Bass to close the gap, but as Josh went into takeoff Bass pulled up, realizing that even if he fouled Josh it wasn’t going to stop him from scoring. But instead of flying in and stuffing, to cut the lead to 1 and bring the crowd to its feet, Josh tried to do a reverse dunk to the right side of the rim, and ended up missing badly. 

On the attempt, Josh didn’t just try to dunk behind his head; he pulled the ball all the way down first for more power, but he didn’t come anywhere close to completing the dunk. Instead of throwing it down, Josh threw it out to the side. With his hands hitting the right side of the rim, the ball hit across the top of the left side of the rim, then off the backboard and halfway to the FT line at a diagonal. 

It bounced on the court once before Josh—who snapped out of his fantasy and moved extremely fast toward the loose ball, obviously fueled by embarrassment and hoping to lighten the repercussions by keeping the possession from being a total waste—snatched it up just in time between Bass and Avery Bradley who were converging on the ball. Smith got to the ball in between the painted area and the 3-point line and turned to face the basket. 

Josh did make the quick dart to save the possession, but he didn’t react quickly once he got to the ball. Despite some amazingly heads up defensive positioning by KG, if Josh had fired the ball to Joe right away he would probably have set Joe up for an open 3-pointer from the right corner that might have made things significantly better. Instead, Josh dicked around; dribbling the ball until he was bailed out by dribbling it off of Bass’ foot out of bounds. Josh then put his hands to his head as if to say “oh no, I can’t believe I did that.” The entire Hawks crowd had made a similar gesture seconds earlier. 

The Hawks would not end up scoring on the possession, as Teague missed from inside moments later. Smith’s blunder didn’t totally let the air out of the building, as the Hawks would soon recover, and would find things going their way late into the 2^nd half. But it certainly set the tone for what would turn out to be another night of failure in Atlanta Hawks history. And while in the grand scheme it may have been a small play, in my mind, it certainly warranted this lengthy breakdown, as well as a few more comments. 

First off, the ball got to Josh in such a clear breakaway position that there was a moment when he had a chance to think. It wasn’t strictly impulsive. But that urge to do something wild was an impulsive thought that he couldn’t control. Then he had another split second to both decide what to do and complete the dunk, and the result was almost like he was in a dunk contest and went into a move not exactly sure of what he wanted to do. 

I have to wonder if Josh would have done the same thing on the road. As much as Josh has always tuned out the negatives from the home crowd, he has always fed off the crowd’s energy and has seemed at times to be consciously trying to send the crowd into a frenzy. I think that’s what his idea was here, but he ended up trying to do too much. 

This was different from his missed dunk against Miami back in the 2008-2009 playoffs. That miss had come late in a blowout win. To be sure, that dunk showed a lack of maturity, but the only real risk was that such a “disrespectful” act would fire up the Heat (which is a silly concept but it’s the sort of thing that goes through your mind). By contrast, this was early on in a close playoff game in which the Hawks were still the underdogs and could not afford to give up opportunities. And, quite frankly, it occurred while he was being chased down. Yes, Bass had pulled up, but Josh didn’t know that for 100%. 

It was also interesting to see the reactions of the players. I didn’t see any of the Boston players react. Strangely, the Hawks players and coaches were similarly unmoved. On one hand you could see this as good. They kept their cool, as there’s no use in freaking out about it in the middle of the possession when it’s already happened. On the other hand, you would hope that the players would have enough passion to maybe slip up and show some emotion at that point. What I fear is that it was so wholly unsurprising that it was almost as if he had merely blown a layup. 

What’s interesting is that while I’m sure there have been several times over the years when I have witnessed Josh miss a dunk due to over exuberance or being too cute, I can only think of two times when he’s flat out botched an attempt at showboating, and both of them have come in the playoffs (or in other words, the worst possible time). Now, the importance of the game may actually be the reason I remember these two incidents, but I seriously can’t think of another specific example. 

Two other points must be raised here, and both of them have to do with Josh’s physical ability as opposed to the mental ones we’ve been discussing. First off, this was hardly the only time in the series when Josh was unable to score at the rim. In fact, it wasn’t even his only unforced error on a missed dunk during the series. I’m not a good judge of things like when a player is performing at 90% rather than 100% or when a player has lost a step gradually over time. I just don’t have that kind of eye. But I’m wondering if Josh’s days of over-the-top high flying maneuvers are somewhat in the past. Perhaps it wasn’t just a hasty decision; perhaps it wasn’t just a momentary lack of coordination; perhaps it wasn’t just far too difficult a maneuver to pull off. Could it be that—unlike the failed dunk against Miami a few years ago when he attempted something you wouldn’t think he’d complete in a dunk contest—this really wasn’t that difficult a dunk but that he simply isn’t that guy anymore?

The other point is one which I myself am highly skeptical of and only bring it up because there are some unanswered questions. I did hear it said by one person—not anyone who should or even could be quoted—that they felt Josh’s knee was originally injured when he landed after missing this dunk. We all know when Josh aggravated the knee to a point at which he could no longer stay in the game: this came late in the 4^th quarter when he stepped on KG’s foot. However, people mentioned afterwards that he had appeared to be struggling in some way before that occurred, and no one seemed to know when the problem originated. 

Obviously Smith was able to move quickly to track down the ball after he missed the dunk and he showed no signs of being hurt at the moment. However, it’s possible that adrenaline and embarrassment could have covered up any discomfort at that time, and maybe it just got worse as the game went on from there. This is probably worse than pure speculation, but it’s something I’ll wonder about until someone with more knowledge convinces me that there’s absolutely nothing to it. 

And now, back to the game. Josh assisted on a score by Hinrich moments later to tie it up at 9-9. Josh missed another long jumper but then assisted on a 3-ball by Joe that got the Hawks within a point with 5:35 left in the 1^st. Josh missed from inside with less than 3 minutes remaining in the quarter, but he would successfully dunk before the quarter was over. Marvin got back and blocked Bradley at the rim, Teague drove the ball back and into the middle and then dished to Josh coming in along the right baseline, and Smith threw down a quick left handed jam before Sasha Pavlovic could get to him from the other side of the rim. That put the Hawks ahead 19-18 with 2:36 left in the 1^st. 

Josh played a little over 7.5 minutes in the 2^nd quarter (+4) and was much more effective on the offensive end, scoring 6 points on 3 of 4 shooting with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. However, he did pick up another foul and drew only 1 foul. 

Josh exited with 36.9 left in the 1^st and the Hawks up 24-22 and reentered with 8:35 remaining in the 2^nd quarter and the Hawks now down 27-28. The Hawks found themselves trailing by 5 points with less than 7 minutes to play in the half, but over the next 4 minutes Josh would spearhead an attack that saw the home team take over. From the 6:43 mark to the 2:43 mark in the 2^nd, the Hawks went on a 13-2 run. During that stretch, the Hawks made 6 baskets, with Smith scoring on 3 of the 6, assisting on 2 others, and picking up a “hockey assist” on the other one. 

Josh dished to Jason Collins for a score at the basket to cut the deficit to 3. Then after missing another long jumper, Josh got a board at the defensive end and ran a brilliant 3-man weave with Teague and Joe, passing the ball from the backcourt to Joe on the right of the paint, with Joe then hitting up JT behind the arc for a 3 that tied it. Those same 3 ran the break to perfection on the next possession, with JT driving middle, kicking to Joe on the right side, and Johnson dishing to Josh cutting down the middle for a 2-handed slam that put Atlanta up 36-34 with 5:08 to play before half. 

Next, Josh hit his first jumper of the game, a 10-footer to make it 38-34. Josh passed it to Joe for a dunk to make it 40-36, then blocked Pierce from inside on the other end. Eventually Josh got the rebound and scored at the rim on the other end to make it 42-36 with 2:43 left in the half. 

Josh played the entire 3^rd quarter (+2), during which there were moments when it looked as though the Hawks were in complete control and that Smith’s earlier gaff would become just an embarrassing footnote. 

Actually, Smith’s earlier gaff would be greatly overshadowed by night’s end, but not for any good reasons. Smith scored 6 points in the 3^rd on 3 of 7 shooting and had 6 more rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block against 1 turnover. He also committed another foul and drew only 1 foul. 

The 2^nd half didn’t start well for Josh, as he missed a 13-foot jumper and (after the ball was knocked out of bounds off of Boston) a 19-foot jumper on the 1^st possession of the 3^rd quarter. But things went Atlanta’s way for most of the 3^rd, and Josh would score 6 points in a row at one point.

With 9:30 to play, Josh tried to hand the ball off to JJ around Mickael Pietrus and the ball got knocked away. Joe went down, but Hinrich chased the ball down on the other side of midcourt and stole it back from between Pietrus and Bass, and then turned and threw it to Teague, who drove middle and dished to Josh coming in from the left baseline. Smith jump stopped and made the catch under the basket and then went up on the right side for a layup to make it 51-43. 

Moments later Josh grabbed a defensive board at one end and nailed a 20-footer at the other end (the only shot from over 10 feet that he made in the game). He grabbed the defensive board on the next Boston possession and scored from inside the paint on the other end to make it 55-46. Unfortunately, that was to be Smith’s final made shot of the night (7:52 left in the 3^rd), although he did grab the defensive board and then dish to Ivan Johnson for a layup at the other end to make it 57-49 with 5:44 to play in the 3^rd (the 4^th straight basket that Smith had either scored or assisted on). 

Over the rest of the 3^rd, Josh drew a foul on Pierce, missed from 21 feet, blocked Pierce’s 3-point attempt to force a shot clock violation, fouled Pierce, and missed from inside. The Hawks 11-point lead was cut to 5 over the final 3 minutes of the period. 

Josh was only able to play about 6 minutes of the 4^th quarter (-4) and this might have been the difference in the series. Even in the 6 minutes that Smith did play in the 4^th he contributed little, going 0 for 3 with no points and a 1 foul. For whatever reason, Smith started the 4^th quarter on the floor while the rest of the starters were getting a breather. He missed from 17 ft and came out of the game with 11:13 to play and the Hawks up 66-61. He reentered the game with 9:37 on the clock and the lead down to 66-64. After fouling KG (his 4^th PF of the night) and seeing the C’s go up 72-70 on a score by Pierce, Smith missed from inside the paint, but the Hawks got a couple of offensive rebounds on the possession and scored to tie the game a little over halfway through the 4^th. 

The C’s scored on their next possession to retake the lead, and on the ensuing Atlanta possession Josh drove to the rim and was turned away. At the time, I remember thinking that Josh was frustrated and looking for a call and wasn’t getting back on defense (it turned out okay because Pierce lost the ball and had to foul Marvin). Later, however, I read that Josh appeared to be bothered by the leg injury on that play. 

After a timeout and a charge by Joe, Pietrus fired up a 3 that missed and was rebounded by Marvin. It was during that Boston possession with 4:43 on the clock that Josh’s left knee appeared to bend awkwardly as he brought his foot down on top of KG’s foot while trying to front him down low. Following the miss and rebound by Marv, JT got his shot blocked, and Marvin drew a charge on KG. At that point, with 4:20 to go in the 4^th and the Hawks down 72-74, Josh was replaced by Ivan Johnson, and he headed back towards the Hawks locker room. 

Things were going badly for the Hawks before Josh left the game, but it got worse afterwards, as the Celtics pushed the lead to 7 over the next 90 seconds. The Hawks would close to within 3 but would never get a chance to take a tying shot before the Celtics put it away. 

I must now admit something that will sound a little strange. I actually didn’t understand what had happened to Josh until the game was almost over. I did not see him head toward the tunnel and I watched the game with the sound off (while also watching the Braves lose a close game to the Phillies on my other TV). In my commentary (recorded live) I keep saying how I don’t see Josh anywhere. Finally with Pierce at the line with 1:15 to go, putting the Celtics up 7, I mention that Josh is sitting on the bench with all of his warm-up clothes on. At this point I somehow became aware of what had happened. 

And even then, I have to admit that I was somewhat incredulous. I could not understand how he would just walk off the floor and then never come back until the game was basically over. I was so frustrated with Josh’s dunk-fail, with his missed long jumpers, with his sulking and pouting during the 2^nd half (I make several references to this in my live commentary) that I was too angry to accept that maybe he was hurt and knew he was hurt. 

However, the small amount of info that we got later that night and early the next day did not really do much to convince me. Coach Larry Drew said that he really never knew anything about Josh’s injury during (or after) the game other than that “he did hurt it” (meaning his knee). We were told that Josh walked out of the facilities (without speaking to reporters) and did not appear to undergo any sort of treatment or anything like that. It was unclear if Josh would be able to play again in the series or if he would have to miss any additional time at all. 

Eventually he could not go in game 3, which I only begrudgingly accepted. He played the final 3 games of the series, performing well, and while there were some moments when he looked to be moving gingerly, you pretty much forgot about the whole thing by the end of game 5. 

I realize that I have never played in the NBA or suffered this knee injury, so it may be something that I simply cannot understand. Others who are more knowledgeable might understand right away how a guy could be unable to finish a game or play in the next one but could then play huge minutes in the next 3. To be honest, I’ve never quite accepted it, and that may be wrong on my part. 

The one thing that tells me I’m being an idiot is that there doesn’t appear to be any reason why Smith would have acted as he did if he didn’t have to. But there’s just something about it that I still don’t really like. I just wish he’d stayed on the sidelines in game 2. I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling that everything the training staff could do for him back in the locker room could have been done for him on the sidelines. And then I wish he’d have been available for game 3, to at least play a little, as the Hawks were extremely shorthanded and had to play into overtime on the road. 

Again, I admit that I’m talking out of my ass a bit here. Perhaps he somehow did act in the team’s best interest, but to me it just seemed like his attitude wasn’t great. I don’t believe I’m crazy in thinking that guys like Garnett, Duncan, Bryant, etc. would have acted differently. 

Regardless, amongst all of the many factors in the series, I think Josh’s injury was the biggest, as his presence over the final 4:20 in game 2 and throughout game 3 could easily have changed the outcome of either or maybe even both of those games. 

After missing all of game 3, Josh was back for game 4, along with Al Horford, but it didn’t matter. In fact, nothing seemed to matter in game 4. The Hawks were simply obliterated. 

Josh played just 32 of 48 minutes in game 4, but the lack of PT wasn’t so much due to the injured knee as it was to the game being completely out of hand, so that all the starters sat the entire 4^th quarter. His overall production was close to what it had been in the 1^st two games: 15 points on 5 of 13 shooting (0 for 2 from behind the arc, 5 of 6 at the line) with 13 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. 

However, Josh did not play very well overall in game 4. He committed 6 turnovers and had a +/- number of -20. Strangely, he was called for only 1 foul while drawing 4 fouls and getting to the line for 6 FT’s, but it didn’t help. He was just 1 for 8 on FGA from 11 ft out or more. He took 5 shots from within 3 ft and made 4 of them. 

On this night the Celtics had all the momentum, had all of their guys back, and were firing on all cylinders. The Hawks were down after 2 close losses, exhausted from playing overtime on a short bench in game 3, playing on the road, while trying to include Al Horford back in the mix. It was a dangerous situation and in this game Josh’s long misses and bad turnovers were killers. 

It didn’t start off that badly for Smith. Josh started and played a little over 8 minutes in the 1^st quarter (-6), scoring 4 points on 1 of 3 shooting (0 for 1 on 3’s, 2 for 2 at the line) with 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, and 1 drawn foul. He assisted on Joe’s jumper to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead on the 1^st possession of the game. He missed from 19 ft but then grabbed a rebound at the defensive end and scored from inside to tie the score at 4-4 nearly 2 minutes in. 

Josh lost the ball out of bounds a minute later, and then a few possessions later he got the ball stolen by Rondo. At the other end of the floor following that 2^nd turnover, Rondo burned Smith on an absurd 1-handed bounce pass to KG for a dunk that made it 13-6 Boston. It was early, and Josh’s body language did not look good. 

Smith drew a foul on Rondo and hit a pair of FT’s to cut the deficit to 11-17 almost halfway through the 1^st. On the next ATL possession Josh missed from 3-point range, but he later stole the ball from Paul Pierce, leading to a score by Marvin that got the Hawks back within 6 with less than 5 to go in the quarter. Josh exited with 3:54 remaining in the 1^st and the Hawks down 15-21.  

By the time Josh got back on the floor to start the 2^nd quarter the Hawks were down 13. Josh would play the entire 2^nd quarter (-10) but it wouldn’t help. He scored 5 points in the 2^nd but was just 1 for 4 from the floor (3 for 4 on FT’s) with 2 turnovers and 1 personal foul. He did have 5 rebounds and 3 assists and also drew 2 fouls. 

Josh missed a long 2-pointer early in the 2^nd and then—after the Hawks got the offensive rebound--had the ball stolen by Keyon Dooling on the same possession. Moments later Josh rebounded a missed 3-pt try by Jannero Pargo but then got it stolen by Marquis Daniels. Smith drew a foul on Pierce and went 1 for 2 at the line to make it a 27-39 game with 8:19 left in the half. 

Josh missed a mid-range jumper and was then slow to get back on defense as Paul Pierce hit a wide open 3 to put the Hawks behind by 17 at the 7:30 mark in the 2^nd. Smith scored from inside with less than 6 minutes left in the 2^nd but by then it only made the score 29-51. 

Josh grabbed a defensive rebound and drew a foul on Stiemsma at the other end, hitting both FT’s to get the Hawks within 20 with 5:12 to play in the 2^nd. On the next Hawks possession he passed to Johnson inside and Joe had his 3-footer goal tended by Stiemsma, again cutting the deficit to 20. Later Josh grabbed a rebound at the defensive end and fed Al inside for a score at the other end to cut the deficit to 18. 

But the Hawks just couldn’t slow down Boston. Ray Allen scored to put it back up to 20, Josh missed a long jumper, and Allen hit a 3-bomb at the other end. Just like that the Hawks were down 23 with still over 3 minutes to go in the half.  

With under a minute remaining in a terrible half, Josh made a sick lob pass from behind the 3-point line to Al on the right side of the rim for a dunk. Unfortunately that left the Hawks trailing 41-62. As you can tell by the score, it wasn’t so much Atlanta’s offense as it was their porous defense (as well as turnovers) that led to this startling blowout. 

Despite playing with that knee injury, Josh played the entire 3^rd quarter as well (-4). It was another decent quarter, as he scored 6 points on 3 of 6 shooting (0 for 1 from 3-point land) with 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and another drawn foul. Unfortunately he also had 2 more turnovers. 

Josh missed from inside early in the 3^rd. He assisted on an Al Horford score from inside at the 9:54 mark. Josh had a pass stolen by KG before getting on the board with 7:52 on the clock with a jam. Unfortunately that made the score 45-80. With the game now far out of reach, Josh missed a midrange jumper on the next Atlanta possession. He grabbed an offensive board and scored from inside to make it 51-82 with a little over 5 minutes left in the 3^rd. Another bad pass by Smith was stolen by Stiemsma on the next Atlanta possession. 

Josh hit his only outside shot of the game with just over 3 minutes left in the quarter, a 19-footer that made it 55-82. Finally, Josh missed another 3-pointer (who really cared at this point?) with under a minute to play in the quarter that would have cut the deficit to 22. The Hawks trailed by 27 at the end of 3 and Josh sat out the entire 4^th quarter.

Following the hideous performance in game 4, the Hawks returned home facing elimination. They responded with an inspired effort in game 5. For Josh it was another productive, if uneven performance. He played 46:23 of 48 minutes, scoring 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting (0 for 1 on 3’s, 1 for 2 at the line) while grabbing 16 more rebounds and dishing out 6 more assists. He also had a block. On the other hand, he only drew 2 fouls, committed 4 fouls, turned it over 4 more times, and had an even +/- number for the game. 

Josh got off to a horrible start offensively. He wasn’t just missing from outside; he was also having very little success scoring from inside. 8 of Josh’s 16 FGA in the game came from within 6 ft, but he went just 3 of 8. He was 1 for 2 on midrange shots (8-10 ft) and 2 for 6 on long jumpers (19 ft out and farther). This time he started cold and picked up late, finally hitting some shots when the Hawks desperately needed it late in the game. 

With no guarantee of further games, Josh played the entire 1^st quarter (-6) and it was easily the worst of his postseason. He did grab 5 rebounds and had an assist, but he went 0 for 7 from the floor and picked up a foul.  

Josh picked up a foul less than 30 seconds into the game. His 1^st two shots were from long range (20 ft and 19 ft respectively) and he missed both of them within the 1^st two minutes of the game. He missed the 1^st one late in the shot clock, but the 2^nd one came after he grabbed a defensive rebound and dribbled up the court. 

Josh missed at the rim on Atlanta’s next possession and then missed a shot from inside the paint a couple of minutes later, with the Hawks down 6 points early. With 3-and-a-half left in the opening quarter Josh got the ball inside to Erick Dampier for a layup that cut it to 11-15. At the 2-minute mark the Hawks had the ball in position to tie or take the lead. With great ball movement the Hawks looked assured of tying the game, but Josh once again blew it by trying to put something extra on a dunk attempt and failing. 

Hinrich passed to T-Mac on the right side of the lane, McGrady passed to Dampier just inside the FT line, and Dampier hummed a pass to Smith coming in from the left. Josh made the catch, let his man pass, then picked up his dribble under the basket and tried to step out and then throw down a power left handed jam all in one-motion. He banged it in and out, got his own rebound, went back up and was blocked by Stiemsma. 

Regardless of anything else, all Josh had to do was either place the ball in the hoop or simply stuff it with a moderate amount of force. Once he was in position to go up for the dunk there was no one who could even foul him really. If he just hadn’t cocked back and tried to fire it down with authority it was a sure thing. 

Now, beyond that, we can discuss whether this was an example of the sort of return to gravity that I spoke of earlier, or perhaps was effected by the knee injury. Again, there’s no question that he could have easily completed the jam if he hadn’t gone for the cock back power slam. However, maybe in the past it wouldn’t have even be an issue, because he would have gotten so high, so easily that he would have just thrown it down, and not thrown it down and out or come up short or whatever. And perhaps if his leg was completely healthy he would have been able to get it done more “smoothly.” 

Those same questions of possibly depleting athleticism and the injury possibly leading to athletic limitations could be applied to what happened next when he tried to go back up and was flat stuffed by Stiemsma. And again, these same issues could apply to Josh’s final FGA of the 1^st quarter, a shot from inside with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock that was rejected by Ryan Hollins. 

Josh played nearly 10.5 minutes of the 2^nd quarter (+5) and finally got on the board, scoring 2 points (1 for 2 from the floor) with 2 boards and 1 assist, though he did pick up another foul. He began the 2^nd on the bench but came on very quickly, with 10:56 remaining in the half and the Hawks down 18-23. Josh went back outside and fired up a 21-footer (another of those “terrible 2’s”) and missed. Just about a minute later he picked up his 2^nd foul of the game, on Ryan Hollins of all people. The C’s would build a 10-point lead.

With about 6-and-a-half to go in the 2^nd Josh fed Joe inside for a score that cut the deficit to 5. Finally at the 4:14 mark, Josh got on the board, rebounding Joe’s miss on the right block, waiting, and then laying it softly up and in to cut the score to 26-29 (thankfully Josh didn’t let frustration get the better of him here). Josh came out of the game with 33.3 seconds left in the 2^nd and the score tied 37-37. The Hawks then took a 3-point lead before heading to the break tied 40-40.

With no tomorrow without a win tonight, Josh would play the entire 2^nd half. He had a +/- number of +2 in the 3^rd quarter, scoring 4 points on 2 of 4 shooting (0 for 1 on 3’s) with 5 rebounds. He had 2 assists but also 2 turnovers and another personal foul. Josh missed an 8 ft jumper early in the 3^rd, but made his first non-tip in shot of the game with 8:24 remaining (a little 6 footer) that pushed Atlanta’s lead to 50-44. On the next Atlanta possession he dished to Marvin for a score at the bucket that made it 52-46. Moments later Josh went up and slammed a short miss by Al back down with the left hand to make it 56-50 with less than 6 minutes to play in the 3^rd. 

But then Josh had a little spell of poor play. Teague blocked Rondo on the ensuing Boston possession, but Josh lost the ball, and Rondo grabbed it and dished to Avery Bradley for a score to cut the Hawks lead to 4. Josh missed another 3 on the Hawks next possession (albeit very late in the shot clock) and the C’s got a couple of FT’s at the other end to make it a 2-point game. 

The Hawks would respond, with Josh finding Joe open for a jumper that pushed it back to 4 points. That started the Hawks on a 10-0 run that made the score 66-54 with less than 3 minutes to go in the 3^rd. But it came unraveled quickly. A shot clock violation followed by Rondo scoring made it 66-58, then Josh’s lazy pass was picked off by Rondo and he hit a jumper at the other end to make it a 6-point game all of the sudden. 

Late in the 3^rd Smith had another bad experience with Hollins. Whether Smith was tired, showing the effects of the knee injury, or just not being tough enough, Hollins punked Smith, out-physicaling him for an offensive board on a missed 3-pointer by Rondo with 25 seconds remaining in the 3^rd. Hollins essentially threw Josh on his ass, grabbed the rebound, and gave to a driving Rondo for a layup that cut the Hawks lead to 4 all before Josh even got back on his feet. The Celtics would go on a 10-0 run of their own to bring the Hawks edge down to 2-points heading to the 4^th. 

Once again Josh would play the entire 4^th quarter (-1). It wasn’t his prettiest quarter of all time, but it was good enough. He scored 7 points, hitting all 3 of his FGA in the 4^th and going 1 for 2 at the line. He had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and drew his 1^st two fouls of the game. He also had 2 more turnovers and picked up a 4^th personal foul. His final turnover was nearly disastrous. 

The 4^th quarter began inauspiciously for Smoove, as he picked up an offensive foul (his 4^th) on ATL’s 1^st possession to turn it over to Boston with a chance to tie or take the lead early in the final period. With the Hawks now behind, Josh finally drew a foul (on Hollins) but could only make 1 of 2 at the line, leaving the Hawks down a point with 8:53 to play. A Ray Allen 3 at the other end put the Hawks down 73-69. The game was starting to turn Boston’s way. 

But then, out of nowhere, Smoove ran into a hot streak on his outside shooting wheel of fortune. Perhaps inspired, this fueled Josh on a 3-and-a-half minute stretch of brilliance at both ends of the floor. 

At end of the shot clock Josh put up a 10-footer that went down to get the Hawks within 2 again with still over 8 minutes to play. The Hawks got a stop, and Teague dished to Josh who took yet another long 2-pointer, this one from 21 ft, but this one went down, tying the game. The C’s got a FT to go back ahead by a point, but Al Horford scored to put the Hawks in front. Back at the other end, Josh blocked Ray Allen’s shot from inside, ran down the board, and fired up ahead to Marvin for a jam that put the Hawks up 77-74 with less than 6-and-a-half to go. 

That led to a Boston timeout, but the Hawks got a stop after the break. On the ensuing ATL possession, Josh held the ball outside the left block, guarded closely by KG. Garnett poked his arm around from behind and nearly knocked the ball away, but Josh recovered, backed up, and drilled a 19-footer that put the Hawks in front by 5 with less than 6 minutes to go. 

KG scored at the other end to cut it to 3 again, but on the ensuing Hawks possession Josh came with a nice hard pass from the top of the key down the middle to Al under the basket for the stuff to make it 81-76 with 5:16 to go. From the 8:53 mark to the 5:16 mark in the 4^th, the Hawks outscored Boston 13-6, with Josh contributing 3 baskets, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 FT during that stretch. 

Unfortunately, Josh was not at his best in the closing minutes of game 5. With the Hawks milking clock and not making shots, the C’s erased Atlanta’s 8-point lead, tying it up 83-83 with 2:09 to play. Josh did grab a couple of big boards over the next minute, as the Hawks went back ahead by 4 points. 

But out of a Boston timeout with 59.6 seconds on the clock, Josh made a critical defensive error that got the C’s right back in it. The Celtics took the ball up court and Josh was assigned to Paul Pierce who was out on the right wing. Josh bit hard on Rondo’s minor fake of a pass down the middle to KG, leaving Pierce alone, and Rondo got him the ball and Pierce knocked down the 3 to shred the Atlanta lead to 1-point in less than 10 seconds. 

The Hawks forced a missed jumper by Paul Pierce with under 20 seconds to go and Allen had to foul Josh with 10.5 seconds left and the Hawks ahead by a point. It appeared the Hawks had hung on for the moment, but they would have to get the ball inbounded and then hit some FT’s to cinch it. Josh would attempt to inbound the ball from the Hawks side of the court. 

He tried a bounce pass to Joe in the near corner--which even if completed might not have worked out all that well as it left Joe vulnerable—that was cut off by Rondo. To Josh’s credit he recovered quickly to harass Rondo down the court. Once on Boston’s side of midcourt, Josh started to follow Rondo through a KG screen, but when he saw that Horford had picked Rondo up on the left side he stopped and didn’t allow a clear pass back to KG. Josh stayed in good position, Rondo briefly lost control, and Smith knocked away Rondo’s last second pass out to KG to seal the 1-point victory. 

The Hawks tight victory in game 5 set up game 6 in Boston with the Hawks fighting to take it back to Atlanta for a winner-take-all game 7. For Josh, game 6 would be another productive effort, but also another game filled with frustration. 

He got into foul trouble which limited him to playing just 37:19 of 48 minutes in the final tilt and he had a terrible +/- number of -9 for the game. He was charged with 4 fouls and was also hit with a costly technical foul for barking at the officials from the scorer’s table. However, Josh had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block with only 1 turnover, and he drew 6 Boston fouls. He shot 7 for 18 from the field and hit all 4 FT attempts. 

Josh reverted to much more of an outside offensive attack in game 6 (perhaps spurred on by his relative hot streak in the 2^nd half of game 5), taking 11 shots from 17 ft away from the basket or farther and making only 3 of them. He missed his only midrange jumper (8 feet). He made 4 of his 6 other FGA, all of which came within 5 feet of the basket.  

Just played about 10 minutes in the 1^st quarter (-1), going 3 of 6 from the floor to produce 6 points with 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal against 1 turnover, while also drawing a foul. Unfortunately he picked up 2 personal fouls. 

Josh started the night by assisting on Marvin’s midrange jumper on the 1^st possession of the game that put the Hawks ahead 2-0. He missed his first FGA of the game (a 20 footer) and made a poor pass that was stolen by KG. But he scored from inside to put the Hawks ahead 8-7 with 7:13 to go in the opening quarter. Josh then took another of those terrible 22-foot 2-point shots, but he hit this one to put the Hawks up 10-9 with 6:44 on the clock. About halfway through the 1^st, Josh made a nice left handed tip in of a miss by Al to again put the Hawks ahead by a point, 12-11. 

The Hawks pushed their lead out to 19-13 before Josh picked up his 1^st foul, and Pierce hit a pair of FT’s to stop a 9-2 Atlanta run. Moments later Josh stole the ball from Allen and drew a foul from Bass but then took a 17-foot jumper and missed. The C’s got a Pierce 3 to make it 19-18, and then Josh missed another 17-footer, fouled Pierce, and Pierce hit 2 FT’s to put Boston ahead. With the Hawks trailing 19-20, Josh exited the game with 1:50 to play in the 1^st quarter, having picked up his 2^nd foul. 

Josh would play nearly 9 minutes in the 2^nd quarter, going 3 for 4 from the floor to score 6 more points, while also grabbing a rebound. However, Josh had a +/- number of -11 for the period. 

He reentered the game with 8:55 to go in the half and the Hawks having regained the lead, 28-23. That lead was erased post haste. Halfway through the period, with the Hawks trailing by a point, Josh had his little 5-foot shot blocked by Rondo, leading to a score by KG at the other end and a Hawks timeout. That timeout was futile, however, as this wasn’t even the end of the beginning of Boston’s run. The Celtics would go on a 14-0 burst to put the Hawks behind by 10 points on the road. 

Finally, Al got the ball to Josh at the rim and he jammed to end the 14-0 Boston run with 3:31 left in the half. That basket ended a scoring drought of 4:48 for Atlanta. A minute later Josh took an 18-footer late in the shot clock and hit to again pull the Hawks within 8 points. Then with less than 40 seconds remaining in the half, Josh again took a very long jumper (this one 22 ft) late in the shot clock and made it to get the deficit back down to 8. He exited with 5.2 seconds on the clock and the Hawks having cut the deficit to 41-47. 

Having avoided a 3^rd personal foul in the 2^nd quarter, Josh was in good position to play the entire 2^nd half if need be. In addition, Josh was having his best game in terms of offensive efficiency, scoring 12 points on 6 of 10 shooting in the 1^st half. Unfortunately, Josh would suffer further foul trouble in the 3^rd quarter which would once again interrupt his playing time. Perhaps even worse, Josh’s shot was as cold in the 2^nd half as it had been hot in the 1^st half (perhaps even colder if that makes any sense).

Josh played just under 9 minutes in the 3^rd quarter (-1) and scored 2 points with only 1 rebound. He was 0 for 4 from the floor during the period but made both FT attempts. He did have 2 assists and 1 block with no TOV’s and he drew 2 Boston fouls, but he picked up 2 more costly personal fouls. 

Early in the 3^rd Josh made a nice play and got the good end of a huge call, drawing a charge on Paul Pierce. Smith missed another of his ridiculously long 2’s (this one from 22 feet) at the 10 minute mark and then had his shot from inside the paint blocked by KG on ATL’s next possession. Smith quickly returned the favor, blocking Brandon Bass’ shot from inside a minute later. But with just under 8 minutes to go in the 3^rd Josh was called for his 3^rd foul of the game (the 2^nd drawn by Pierce). 

With the Hawks down 8 points, they couldn’t afford to think of being overprotective of Smith’s foul situation, and on the ensuing Atlanta possession Smith set Teague up for a trey-ball that got the Hawks back within 7. Josh missed a 15-footer a minute later, but with 5:47 to go in the period he drew a foul on Bass and knocked down 2 FT’s to make it a 4-point game. Unfortunately, Josh fouled KG on the ensuing Boston possession. Garnett made 1 of 2 at the line, but more importantly Smith was now in a bit of jeopardy, with 4 fouls and still over 17 minutes of game time remaining. 

Josh assisted on a Marvin Williams score from inside that brought the Hawks within 3 on their next possession. Josh took one more long jumper (21 feet) and missed at the 4 minute mark and then came out with 3:10 remaining in the 3^rd and the Hawks down by 7 again, 55-62. 

Josh’s 4^th quarter both started and ended badly. He played 9.5 minutes in the final period of the series (+4), scoring 4 points, but hitting just 1 of 4 shots from the field (2 for 2 at the line). He did post 3 boards, an assist, a steal, and draw 3 fouls without committing a personal foul or a turnover. Unfortunately, he picked up a technical. 

That’s how Josh’s final quarter began. He went to the scorer’s table to check in, but ended up having to wait there through 2 Hawks misses and a long KG jumper. Eventually he ran his mouth enough to get T-d up; a foreseeable, highly irritating, and in the end, completely unacceptable mistake to make at this point, with the Hawks down by 6 points and less than 10 minutes to play. 

It was foreseeable because you could see Smith fuming and barking and there were no stoppages of play to allow the situation to end. He simply could not control himself, nor did anyone on the team have enough influence to stop him. It was highly irritating in that the official, regardless of how insolent Josh was behaving, could have and should have simply swallowed his whistle and dealt with it rather than affect such an important game. But in the end it was totally unacceptable, immature, and selfish of Josh to allow his frustrations to result in the forfeiting of 1-point, which—though he did struggle uncharacteristically from the line during the playoffs—is what you are doing when you send Ray Allen to the FT line. Allen hit the tech to put the Celtics up 72-65, and Josh finally entered the game with 9:29 to go. 

Once in the game, Josh was able to draw a foul on KG, but then his 8-foot jumper was blocked again by Hollins (the 3^rd time in the game and the 5^th time in the last 2 games that Josh had his shot blocked). The Hawks trailed by 9 with less than 8 minutes to play when Josh misfired on a 19-footer. After dodging several Allen 3’s, Josh grabbed a defensive rebound and drew a foul on Dooling. Still the Hawks could not score until Josh stole Pierce’s pass leading to a score by Teague that made it 67-74 with just over 6 minutes to play. The Hawks got a stop at the other end, Josh grabbed the rebound, and drew a foul on Pierce. Josh sank a pair of big FT’s to get the Hawks within 5 at the 5:43 mark. 

The Hawks trailed by 3 with just under 4 minutes to play when Smith rebounded a short miss by Hollins and began running it back the other way. From about 26 ft away from the basket Josh hopped in the air in mid trot and fired a perfect alley-oop pass to Al who threw it down for the jam to make it a 1-point game. Following a Boston timeout, the Hawks got a stop, and at the other end Josh used a crossover at the top of the key to split Bass and Rondo, drove through the middle, and soared in for a 2-handed jam that gave the Hawks a 77-76 lead with 3:12 to play, their 1^st lead since the middle of the 2^nd quarter. 

The Hawks eventually went up by 3, but as we know, they couldn’t get the big stop or the big shot the rest of the way. Kevin Garnett’s 13-foot jumper with 30 seconds left put the C’s on top by a point. On that play, Josh provided solid defense, but as often happened in the series, it was met with superior offense. At the other end of the court, the ball ended up in Josh’s hands, and as already discussed in this entry, Josh took a set shot from 22 feet out that missed with about 10 seconds to play. 

Just to reiterate one more time, Josh received the ball a few steps inside the 3-point line with 14 seconds left in the game, 7 seconds left on the shot clock, and the Hawks down a point. The other 4 Hawks players on the court at that time were all within a foot of the 3-point line (either in front of or behind) and they were all standing still. When Josh starts to load up there are only 6 seconds on the shot clock (still no one is moving), so it can be argued that at that point taking the shot was the best option. 

Let us also not forget that with 3.1 seconds to play and the Hawks down by 2, Josh made a ridiculous inbounds pass over the top of Marquis Daniels to Al Horford, forcing Daniels to give up a desperation foul, and putting Al at the line with a chance to tie the game up. He made only 1 of 2, but the clutch pass by Smith at least gave the Hawks a chance. 

However, we must also not forget—and this is, sadly, sort of a fitting final thought for both Smith’s postseason and career to this point—that if you take Allen’s FT from Smith’s technical foul away, 1 for 2 at the line by Al would have been good enough to tie it. Of course the whole game might have played out differently, but the point is that for all the great things Josh does, there are those other things that you have to put up with as well. 

Moving Forward: So much has happened and continues to happen since the end of the season that it’s becoming difficult for me to really say what I think will happen going forward. It still appears certain that Josh will be with the Hawks for next year. My hope is that he has another great season, steps up once again to fill a void (this time with Joe being gone), and continues to improve. I’d like to see Josh take on more of a leadership role, but that may be asking too much. It will be interesting to see how he fits in with all of the new pieces. It’s going to be a drastically different team than the one Josh has played with for the last few years, and I hope he goes about meshing with his new teammates in the right way. 

My fear is that Josh will have even less of a filter per se on offense now that some of his established teammates are gone. My hope is that he sees this as a new opportunity and is more conscientious about his game. I would also hope that he has a new outlook on the franchise, as in recent years he seemed to be ready to move on from his hometown team and the only team he has ever known since being drafted as a teenager all those years ago. 

Stat Glossary 

Total Stats

Games Played (GP)

Games Started (GS)

Minutes Played (MIN)

Field Goal Percentage (FG%)

Three Point Field Goal Percentage (3PT%)

Free Throw Percentage (FT%)

Field Goals Made (FGM)

Field Goal Attempts (FGA)

Three Pointers Made (3PM)

Three Point Attempts (3PA)

Free Throws Made (FTM)

Free Throw Attempts (FTA)

Two Pointers Made (2PM)

Two Point Attempts (2PA)

Two Point Field Goal Percentage (2P%)

Offensive Rebounds (OR)

Defensive Rebounds (DR)

Total Rebounds (REB)

Assists (AST)

Steals (STL)

Blocks (BLK)

Turnovers (TOV)

Personal Fouls (PF)

Points (PTS)

Flagrant Fouls (Flagrants)

Technical Fouls (Techs)

Ejections (Ejections)

Foul Outs (DQ’s)

Double-Doubles (DD)

Triple-Doubles (TD)

Per Game Stats

Minutes Per Game (MPG)

Field Goals Made Per Game (FGM/G)

Field Goal Attempts Per Game (FGA/G)

Three Pointers Made Per Game (3PM/G)

Three Point Attempts Per Game (3PA/G)

Free Throws Made Per Game (FTM/G)

Free Throw Attempts Per Game (FTA/G)

Two Pointers Made Per Game (2PM/G)

Two Point Attempts Per Game (2PA/G)

Offensive Rebounds Per Game (OR/G)

Defensive Rebounds Per Game (DR/G)

Total Rebounds Per Game (R/G)

Assists Per Game (A/G)

Steals Per Game (S/G)

Blocks Per Game (B/G)

Turnovers Per Game (TOV/G)

Points Per Game (P/G)

Personal Fouls Per Game (PF/G)

Per 48 Minute Stats

Points Per 48 Minutes (P/48)

Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (R/48)

Assists Per 48 Minutes (A/48)

Steals Per 48 Minutes (S/48)

Blocks Per 48 Minutes (B/48)

Personal Fouls Per 48 Minutes (PF/48)

Turnovers Per 48 Minutes (TOV/48)

Ratio Stats

Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (ATO)

Steal-to-Turnover Ratio (STO)

Steal-to-Personal Foul Ratio (SPF)

Block-to-Personal Foul Ratio (BPF)

Points Scored Per Shot Attempt (PPS)

Percentage Stats

Offensive Rebound Percentage (OR%) (% of available OR player grabbed while on floor)

Defensive Rebound Percentage (DR%) (% of available DR player grabbed while on floor)

Total Rebound Percentage (R%) (% of available REB player grabbed while on floor)

Assist Percentage (A%) (% of teammate FG’s player assisted on while on floor)

Steal Percentage (S%) (% of opp’s possessions ended with steal by player while on floor)

Block Percentage (B%) (% of opp’s 2-pt FGA’s block by player while on floor)

Turnover Percentage (TOV%) (Turnovers per 100 possessions)

Hollinger Stats

True Shooting Percentage (TS%) (Takes into account value of 2-pt, 3-pt, and FT)

Assist Ratio (ARAT) (% of possessions ended with Assist by player)

Turnover Ratio (TOVRAT) (% of possessions ended with TOV by player)

Usage Rate (USG%) (% of team plays used by player while on floor)

Player Efficiency Rating (PER) (Player’s per minute statistical rating)

Value Added (VA) (# of pts player adds to team above replacement level)

Estimated Wins Added (EWA) (# of wins player adds above replacement level)

NBA Reference.com Stats

Effective Field Goal Percentage (EFG) (Adjusts for 3-pt being worth more than 2-pt)

Offensive Rating (ORAT) (Points produced by player per 100 possessions)

Defensive Rating (DRAT) (Points allowed by player per 100 possessions)

Offensive Win Shares (OWS) (# of wins contributed by player due to offense)

Defensive Win Shares (DWS) (# of wins contributed by player due to defense)

Win Shares (WS) (# of wins contributed by player)

Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (WS/48) (# of wins contributed by player per 48 minutes)

82games.com Stats

Minutes Percentage (MIN%) (% of team minutes player was on floor)

Net Plus/Minus (+/-) (Net pts for team while player on floor)

Offensive Points Per Possession (OFF-PPP) (Team Off PPP while player on floor)

Defensive Points Per Possession (DEF-PPP) (Team Def PPP while player on floor)

Net Plus/Minus Per 48 Minutes (+/- Per 48) (Team net pts per 48 of PT for player)

On Court W-L Record (+/- W-L-T) (# of gms team outscored/didn’t outscore opponent while player was on floor)

Win Percentage (WIN%) (W-L-T in win pct form)

Net Production vs. Opponent (PRO/OPP) (How player fared vs. counterpart)

Net On Court vs. Off Court Per 48 Minutes (ON/OFF 48) (Team +/- while player on/off court per 48 minutes)

Simple Rating (SIMRAT) (Taken from combo PRO/OPP and ON/OFF 48)

Net On Court vs. Off Court Offensive Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF OPHP) (Team’s offensive points per 100 possessions while player on/off court)

Net On Court vs. Off Court Defensive Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF DPHP) (Team’s defensive points per 100 possessions while player on/off court)

Net On Court vs. Off Court Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF NPHP) (Team’s offensive points per 100 possessions vs. team’s defensive points per 100 possessions while player on/off court)

Clutch Situations (CLUTCH) (4^th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points)

If you’re confused about a stat or abbreviation you can check this glossary. Many of the abbreviations are ones I came up with just for shorthand. If you want further explanation/info on the stats, check out the sites listed within the glossary.