In the first round of the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks are to play a team they crushed by 32 points twelve days ago. It was April 4th in Atlanta, Georgia when the story of two seasons became set in stone. On the one hand, the Hawks were brilliant and extraordinarily unselfish as they annihilated the Nets with their offensive beauty. For their part, the Nets were a laughable disaster considering the money invested in former star players that can no longer win games.
In one quarter on April 4th, the Hawks scored 42 points. They made 18 out of 27 shots. They took 33 three pointers in the game and made half of them. They shot 60%. The Hawks offense was so sublime, by the time they started that 42 point quarter ass kicking, they were already up by 18 points.
What is to blame for the Nets inability to do anything remotely close to stopping the Hawks offense when they play in Atlanta? In quarters 1, 2 and 3, the Nets surrendered 30+ points. They allowed 52% shooting. They couldn’t stop ball movement; the Hawks averaged 35 assists at home against the Nets. They shot 43% from three. This season, the Hawks three point shot attempts climbed into the thirties when they played the Nets who lack perimeter defenders and their rotations were syrupy slow.
It’s hard to make the case for the Nets having a shot in this series when they can’t stop the Hawks from doing what the Hawks do well.
- Al Horford: 76% shooting, 20 points.
- Paul Millsap: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 11 free throw attempts
- Kyle Korver: 61% 3-point shooting, 14 points
- Jeff Teague: 51% shooting, 15 points, 10 assists
Dennis Schroder only played in one home game but he shot 62%, made all of his threes and had 13 points. It’s illogical to debate the point that the Hawks are so oppressively better than the Nets on offense. There is nothing the Nets can really do to change the numbers. The sad thing for the Nets is they haven’t played poorly in Atlanta. They have shot the ball pretty well (46%) and have made a nice amount of their three’s (40%). It is the defense they trot out there. An aged Joe Johnson and a descending faster than fast Deron Williams can’t cover shooters anymore.
Sir Charles In Charge
The Hawks have shooters all over the place.
In the 42 point bomb third quarter game, the Hawks led the Nets for 47 minutes. 94% of their shots in the third quarter were assisted. It is the weapon the Hawks hold over every other playoff team except for the Warriors who led the NBA in assists, (the Hawks were second). The ball moves quicker than you can get to it.
The calculation that everyone likes to make this time of year is that it’s a new season which makes it all feel fair. Everyone is even on paper. But, at it’s core, this talking point is a false pretense of equality that tries to trick the sub-conscious mind into an incredible fantasy.
This is the problem with that kind of thinking. It throws away information. Such as the Hawks are not the Nets, the gap is too wide. The Nets are not elite, nor are they any good, nor do they belong in the playoffs, having gotten in by luck of a terrible Conference that rewards mediocrity in their mixed bag of tricks.
The Hawks have a skill set the Nets cannot prevent from blowing them into smithereens. This first round match-up is an insurmountable uphill climb for the walking dead, below .500 Brooklyn Nets. This series could be a god-awful mess for the Nets or a welcome reprieve for the Hawks who earned this little test by having the best record in the Eastern Conference. But, really, it’s made possible because of the collapse of the Eastern Conference’s once upon a time max player stars like Joe Johnson and Deron Williams.