Crawford came off the bench to score 26 points and help Atlanta beat the Sacramento Kings 113-105 on Wednesday night.
``These guys already had a good five that took them to the second round of the playoffs last season and the season before that,'' Crawford said. ``I understood what it was going on coming in and was just happy with that. I just had to be a part of what was going on. I wasn't going to disturb (the starters).''
Joe Johnson scored 26 points while Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby each added 13 for the Hawks (4-1), who grabbed a season-high tying 47 rebounds.
``Jamal is a proven scorer in this league,'' Johnson said. ``He's not a starter, but he can still get 20 points. It's really no difference, he's just coming off the bench doing it now.''
Crawford said he was no stranger to being a reserve in the league.
``Early in my career I've been a sixth man,'' he said. ``But here it's an adjustment that my coaches and teammates have made it very, very easy for me.''
Kevin Martin, who was playing with a bruised right wrist, had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and Jason Thompson added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings (1-3).
``We couldn't stop them,'' said Sacramento coach Paul Westphal. ``We couldn't stop them pretty much the whole game. They really executed well and went to their big time players. All of them.''
The Kings jumped out to a 7-0 start before the Hawks came back to take a 19-18 lead on a basket by Maurice Evans at the 2:39 mark of the first quarter. From there, Crawford scored Atlanta's last seven points to give the Hawks a 26-24 advantage to end the period.
Crawford made six of seven shots from the field, including two 3-point shots to finish with 14 points in 15 minutes in the first half.
After seven lead changes to begin the third quarter, the Hawks led 76-72 after Josh Smith completed a three-point play with 4:22 left in the period. The Kings countered with a 10-3 run capped off with a 3-pointer by Beno Udrih to make the score 84-79.
Martin had 25 points going into the fourth quarter, but the Kings, who were ahead by four, allowed the Hawks to surge back to a 93-92 lead after Bibby made a 3-pointer with less than 10 minutes to play.
Johnson's jumper with 3:20 left extended the lead to seven.
Martin finally scored his first basket of the fourth on Sacramento's next possession, but it was too late. Crawford answered with a 3-pointer that put the game away.
Jamal Crawford
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/11/224513