<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ATLANTA -- Al Harrington paused, bent over to tie his sneakers, then looked up at the basket, probably to visualize the ball going through the hoop numerous times tonight at Phillips Arena. The Indiana Pacers small forward faces his former team for the first time since being traded last summer. So, Al, how many are you going to lay on the Hawks? Harrington started to give the standard "I'm going let the game come to me" answer when teammate Jermaine O'Neal said what Harrington was probably thinking. "Come on, you know you want to put 40 or 50 on them after what they did to you last summer," O'Neal said. It wouldn't surprise Harrington's teammates if he took his game to another level tonight. He left Atlanta with a sour taste following a drawn-out free agency saga that took almost two months to complete. Harrington, Jason Terry and Ben Wallace were the top free agents last summer. Terry quickly re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks. Wallace agreed to a $60 million deal with the Chicago Bulls in the middle of July. Harrington waited to hear from his agent on where he was headed. The longer it took, the more frustrated he got with his agent at the time, Andy Miller, and Hawks general manager Billy Knight. The Hawks eventually signed Harrington to a four-year, $36 million contract and sent him and John Edwards to the Pacers for a protected 2007 first-round pick and their $7.5 million trade exception on Aug. 22. Don't expect Harrington to scowl or shout expletives toward Knight every time he scores, like Latrell Sprewell did to New York Knicks chairman James Dolan in his first trip back to Madison Square Garden two years ago, but there is some built-up animosity toward the Hawks general manager. "I really didn't like how the summer went," said Harrington, who thought he would get a longer deal worth more money. "I just think they could have helped me a lot better than they did. That's an issue between me and (Knight). I think in his mind he did help me, but he knows in his heart he didn't." Harrington's eyes automatically went to today's game when the schedule was released. Tonight is the type of game that could help him improve his 3-of-14 shooting in the past two games. He has a history of playing well the first time he faces a former team. He scored 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting in his first game against the Pacers in 2004, after they traded him to Atlanta. Harrington had his points, but the Hawks left with a seven-point loss. "You always get up for that game because you want to show that team what they missed out on or gave up on," said Pacers shooting guard Stephen Jackson, who is also a former member of the Hawks. "Sometimes you get caught up trying to do too much and you have a bad game." Harrington said, "I'm older now. If I was younger, I would react that way. When we came back to Indiana, we lost all those games. Winning is the best way to get your revenge."</div> Source
