--At least one player believes that Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson is a cinch to named one of the reserves for the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Knicks F Al Harrington, a former Hawks captain alongside Johnson, said it shouldn't even be up for debate.
"He's got to be on there," said Harrington, the Knicks' leading scorer at 20.3 points per game. "I don't know why anybody would think otherwise. He's an All-Star player regardless. But they're one of the top four teams in the East. You can't have an All-Star without somebody from that team being represented. It wouldn't be right." The reserves for both the Eastern and Western Conference teams are scheduled to be announced Thursday night.
--C Al Horford will definitely be a part of the festivities during NBA All-Star Weekend Feb. 13-15 in Phoenix. He was selected Wednesday to participate in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge. The runner-up to Kevin Durant last season for Rookie of the Year honors, Horford scored 19 points and seven rebounds for the rookie team in a loss to the sophomores last year.
Horford has missed the Hawks' last 10 games with a bone bruise in his right knee but is expected to return to the lineup next week.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm concerned about my team as a whole, not just one or two guys. I'm concerned with how we can play three games the way we did before (Sunday's home loss to Phoenix) and win all three, and then follow that up with the two games we did, playing a totally different way. That's a bigger issue to me than anything any one guy is dealing with right now." -- Hawks coach Mike Woodson, on his biggest concerns about his team.
