Hawks' Crawford does Superman Act

It was fitting that Jamal Crawford wore a blue sweater and red shoes as he sat at the podium following Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. While Orlando center Dwight Howard has earned all the Superman analogies, it was Crawford who was Superman on Friday night. The soft-spoken guard scored a game-high 23 points, with the final three coming on a 26-foot shot that he launched as the 24-second clock wound down. The shot banked in, sealing the game and securing the Hawks' victory. "Actually I was looking, for Joe Johnson or Al Horford to set the pick. They stayed with him and I tried to get to my comfort zone and get to my sweet spot," he said. "I felt pretty good. I thought I had a good look and it just happened to go in." It looked really good to Hawks head coach Larry Drew. "It was just the way I designed it," kidded Drew afterward. "We wanted to get some kind of pick-and-roll action with Jamal at the end of it. They were pretty much ready for it and Jamal kept it. He made a good decision as far as not throwing it because it wasn't there and he just hit a heck of a shot. He's the type of player that you want in that situation." The three was one of two big three-point baskets that Crawford hit in the final stanza. The first one regained the lead for the Hawks as part of a four-point play. It also got the crowd fired up and back into the game, after Atlanta had let a 14-point lead disappear. Crawford's heroics didn't surprise his teammates. "I knew that he had the opportunity to make the bucket," said Josh Smith, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. "He's a great shooter in clutch time and he was able to knock down the shot. I believed in him the whole time. He's a guy that is explosive off the dribble, he can create for himself as well as his teammates. He has an awkward release to his shot where it's hard to block it." Magic point guard Jameer Nelson was unable to block Crawford's shot, despite a solid lock-down effort defensively on the possession until release point. The shot may be further proof that there is destiny at work. "I thought we could get a stop and he banked it in." said Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team finally played the kind of defense in the second half that he'd been looking for all series, yet still was burned on the final possession. "They've made a lot of those shots in this series so far." The shot moves Atlanta two wins away from avenging one of the darkest days in franchise history, the embarrassment at the hands of the Magic in last year's Easter Conference Semifinal, when they beat the Hawks them by 101 points in a four-game sweep. That chance to get even isn't lost on Crawford. "The way we ended last year, I think people forget how good a season we had because the season ended so abruptly," he said. "For us, there's no better opponent and it's a good chance for redemption to play the team that ran you off the court last year." Crawford, who admitted he was just happy to be in the playoffs for the first time in his career last year, feels this year's Hawks team is more than ready mentally for the Magic, but stopped short of guaranteeing that anything is even close to over with the series at 2-1. "It's not over 'til it's over." he said. "That's a good team over there. We understand that. Each game is going to be tough. But tonight we showed that we could handle adversity. It's a different season. Last year is last year. We feel confident going against that team."