Hawks rookie Jordan Crawford not getting the point

Hawks rookie Jordan Crawford has proved to be an intriguing emergency fill-in at point guard as Jamal Crawford and Jeff Teague recover from injuries.

That doesn't mean Jordan Crawford is in competition with Teague to either back up starting point guard Mike Bibby or supplant him in the starting lineup.

“I’ve made no bones about it as far as how I see Jeff,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “My expectations for him was to come in and push Mike for the starting role. Jeff has had a good camp and then unfortunately he had the ankle injury.

“I look at Jordan as who he is. He is not a point. He has the ability to play some point, but he doesn’t have those natural point-guard instincts. He’s a good passer. That being said, I just view him more as a [shooting guard] than a [point guard].”

Crawford has shown the same kind of scoring ability in the NBA preseason as he did at Xavier. Entering Friday, Crawford was fourth in the league with 21 points per game and the leading scorer among rookies while shooting 48 percent.

Horford said there's been no movement on contract extension negotiations between his representatives and the Hawks.

“We are still talking to the team,” he said. “I just hope it gets done.”

Agreement on an extension must be reached by Nov. 1 or he will become a restricted free agent next summer.