There's no rest for the wretched.
The Hawks look to rebound from their brutal 24 point loss to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers when they take on Steve Nash, Josh Childress and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night at the U.S. Airways Center (9:00 p.m., SportSouth, 97.9 FM)
The best thing that could have possibly happened to the Atlanta Hawks was that they quickly got onto an airplane and left Los Angeles. It's even better that they have one more game against the Suns ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.
Just about nothing went right for Atlanta in their 104-80 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. They fell behind early, settled for jump shots and didn't connect on them. As a result, they connected on just 37-percent of their shots and were blown out in their first game back after the All-Star Break.
The Hawks, who lost four of their last five games, have been in a bit of an offensive malaise. They are averaging just 86.6 points per game over that stretch.
Atlanta hopes to right the ship against a tough Phoenix team that already beat them this season. The Suns posted a 118-114 win on Nov. 7 to give the Hawks their first loss of the season. Atlanta had won six straight to open the year. Nash had four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
It will be the first game back after the break for the Suns, who dropped their first half finale to the Dallas Mavericks by a 112-106 margin last Thursday. Channing Frye had 24 in that one for Phoenix, which is in 10th place in the West.
The Hawks have lost five of their last six games to the Suns, including an 89-80 setback in Arizona last year.