Hawks' Williams not happy with bench role

Hawks forward Marvin Williams was back in the starting lineup Wednesday. It is a spot he'd far more prefer than his station Monday, when he came off the bench in the Hawks' win over Orlando.

"I'll be honest with you," Williams said. "I didn't like it, but I have to live with it."

Williams has been a mainstay in the Hawks' starting five since his second season, 2006-2007. Until Monday, he had started all but three of the 311 regular-season games he'd played in since that year and those three were injury-related. At Orlando, coach Larry Drew started center Jason Collins, forwards Al Horford and Josh Smith and guards Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson.

Typically, the lineup has been Horford at center, Smith and Williams at forward and Bibby and Johnson at guard. When Johnson was out following elbow surgery, the Hawks had some success with Collins at center, Horford and Smith at forward and Williams and Bibby at guard to match up with bigger teams.

Williams played well off the bench, recording 12 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.

"He was a real pro and I didn't expect anything different from him," Drew said.

Drew noted some advantages to coming off the bench: Williams would be more of a scoring option with the backups and he could get a feel for the game before going in. Williams needs a little more convincing.