Soaring Down South
Fansided

Memphis Went Down, Atlanta Hawks Fans Got on Tinder

By K L Chouinard

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Jan 7, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver (26) greets fans after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 96-86 at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports

Editor’s note: Today’s post is from guest author Colby Smithwick. Colby is a 21-year-old college student. He is a Suns fan living in Athens, Georgia. Colby has written for the Air Alamo, Project Spurs, and the Brightside of the Sun basketball blogs.   Follow him on twitter at @ca27s 

Thanks for that gem, Reddit. In case you missed it, The Hawks brought a new meaning to the term “matchups” tonight as Phillips Arena celebrated histories first-ever Swipe Right Night. Sponsored by the popular dating app “Tinder”, the Hawks implemented an ingenious strategy to fill the arena tonight for an East vs West juggernaut match against the Memphis Grizzlies. Basically, the Hawks gave fans the opportunity to meet up with people they “matched up with” on the app while attending the game. Read more about the promotion here at the official NBA page for the Hawks.


Hope you listened to Shelby, hopeless romantics. If not, you missed Jeff Teague score 25 as the Hawks prevailed over the Grizzlies with a 96-86 victory.

The Hawks have a conference-best 27 and 8 record, a 9 game winning streak against Western Conference opponents, and have now won 20 out of their last 22. Needless to say, they’re on a roll. That being said, let’s check out a few fans that were on a roll tonight.

Congrats to anyone that found love at the game tonight. Oh the joys of internet dating. I’ve personally never used Tinder, so all this talk about swiping has me thinking about kleptomaniacs rather than an app. Hey, speaking of stealing…

Swipe right, swipe left, but mostly just swipe the ball.

The Hawks (according to NBA.com) are averaging 25.8 points (129) off opponent turnovers over the last five games, scoring at least 20 in each outing, including two contests with 30-or-more points … On the year, Atlanta ranks seventh in the NBA in points off turnovers at 17.9 per game.

Tonight, Atlanta scored 26 points off turnovers. Aside from steals, the Hawks shut Marc Gasol down in the 4th quarter by constantly double-teaming him in the post. It worked like a charm, and Gasol only had 4 points in the closing minutes of the game. The perimeter defense was also exceptional. The Hawks perimeter defenders managed to hold the Grizzlies to 5 of 17 shooting on three-pointers. Meanwhile…

Genius indeed, Bryan. It wouldn’t be Hawks basketball without Kyle Korver “making it rain” on them (Grizzly) bears. Korver went 4-9 from the arch, including one dagger in the final minute of the fourth quarter. The Hawks shot 52.4% from the arch as a team. This was crucial considering the Hawks are undersized compared to the Memphis big men. The Hawks made the “The West is a powerhouse and the East is trash” narrative seem pretty phony tonight, much like this fan’s date.


Atlanta sports fan bases, especially the Hawks, get plenty of criticism for being “fair-weather fans”. Naturally, as the team wins more, more fans show up to the game. This has been the case during the Hawks 20 out of 22 streak, and I have no problem with this whatsoever. The attendance isn’t the only thing trending upward recently…

MA, we made it. We made the trending thing on the twitter website. Heck yes, Hawks twitter. This is actually a huge deal, because it proves the Hawks marketing scheme worked! The arena was packed, the Hawks were trending, and a ton of people paid attention. I’d swipe right on the Hawks trending any day of the week. If you’re still with me, thanks for your time. Now, enjoy some of the great tweets from the hashtag #SwipeRightATL


She’s just trying to get the 3-pointers, Justin.

If the Hawks would’ve lost I totally would’ve used the “Everybody panic! It’s just like the Titanic but it’s full of bears!” quote.


Don’t call her bae and buy her one of those 17 dollar sodas, Eric.

He’s talking about the press box, right?

Perhaps we should end with this gem, originating from another team’s fan who was jealous of the Hawks’ creativity.

The Hawks are 9th overall in points per game, 3rd overall in assists per game, and 5th overall in points allowed per game. Assuming this team stays healthy, Atlanta should continue its dominance over a weaker schedule spanning into February. Atlanta has been looking like the real deal for a while now, and their win tonight only solidifies that stance. Expect this Hawks team to continue doing great things. Like this:

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