Atlanta Hawks Should End The Series Tonight
Al Horford and Jeff Teague are the lone survivors of the 2011 Atlanta Hawks playoff team that advanced to the semi-finals and lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. It’s hard to believe four years have come and gone. But failure is what everyone usually remembers. The 2011 teammates of Al Horford and Jeff Teague were either traded or not re-signed in a tectonic organizational shift that has brought the Hawks to the precipice of today. A win tonight in Brooklyn and the Hawks can earn a trip to the semi-finals once again.
Last year, the Hawks needed seven games before their season ended, courtesy of the Indiana Pacers. Two years before that, the Pacers beat the Hawks in six games. It is a reversal of fortune then that the Hawks are the ones with all of the expectations to end a playoff series on the road. A win in Brooklyn tonight will earn them a trip to the second round of the playoffs, their first in four years.
Close-out games test discipline and single-mindedness. The Nets will play with a level of desperation the Hawks have yet to witness, much less defeat. The Hawks true character test will be their ability to handle the raw emotion of what may be the Nets last game in the 2014-15 season. Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson will go full throttle coming at the Hawks in waves to force a game seven by any means necessary. Do the Hawks have the resolve to stand their ground? Will their execution and commitment rely on precision?
Of the six playoff series already completed, only two were closed out on the road: Golden State and Chicago. The rest were home wins and for good reason. The road is brutal territory in close out games. The fans hysteria in what may be a last game of the year for them is deafening, the players don’t want to go on vacation, the coaches, under intense pressure and scrutiny, lay it all on the line and are often unconventional.
Apr 29, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) scores a late basket over Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) during the second half in game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Nets 107-97. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
For the last six weeks, the Hawks have been a disappointing road team, winning five out of their last fifteen games with the usual problems of scoring droughts and lackluster defense. They have struggled in the 4th quarter in the playoffs and Wednesday night’s game was no exception.
The Hawks started the quarter with a three and a half minute scoring drought. They had five turnovers in the quarter. They made 3 of 9 three pointers. In a familiar narrative, Kyle Korver had a miserable shooting 4th, going 1-4.
Coach Bud didn’t trust his bench. His first substitution was with twenty seconds left in the game when Pero Antic replaced Paul Millsap. To the pleasure of many, Dennis Schroder was left to watch from the sidelines as Jeff Teague had two fourth quarter turnovers.
In Brooklyn tonight, the Hawks will need a repeat of the last two and a half minutes of Wednesday’s night slug fest when the Hawks outscored the Nets 12-5. It had been a three point game when Al Horford began the Hawks scoring binge. The Hawks made four straight shots by Horford and Teague and then four free throws by Teague and DeMarre Carroll.
The impact of their game 5 victory, not just winning it, but the manner in which the Hawks met the pressure in a tense, chaotic game, was far more indicative of what this season has been about than the 60 regular season wins everyone applauds. In a way, a lot is on the line tonight for the Hawks in Brooklyn. Yes, history is waiting for them to erase the four year second round drought. But more important than their past is this very unique present: not failing when so many think that is their destiny.
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The Hawks started all of this six months ago when they challenged themselves to be the best team in the NBA. If the Hawks are truly up to the challenge, if they are who we think they are, if they can withstand the Nets emotion and still advance to the second round, if they can disprove one more negative by their critics, then their effort tonight will translate into a win on the road, their first of these playoffs. They’ll slay the Nets in Brooklyn and play the Washington Wizards on Sunday.