A Friday Night Beat Down has Hawks Reeling and Season On the Brink
Somewhere out there exists a team that can be competitive against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is just not the Atlanta Hawks. In fact, the Atlanta Hawks have been miserable enough in the Eastern Conference Finals to be classified as inept, heartless, ridiculously overmatched and easy prey for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Consider that the last time a home team lost both games to start an Eastern Conference Finals it was 2010 and Dwight Howard was still in Orlando. In that long ago series, the Boston Celtics took the Orlando Magic’s heart and gutted it on national television. Somehow, the Magic managed to win two games after trailing 3-0 which was a testimony to their collective pride. But the Magic eventually, mercifully, lost in 6 games and have never been relevant again.
The way it looks, the Hawks don’t even have the luxury of a six game fight in them. If they win a game, it will because Cleveland took their foot off the gas.
All this goes to prove is that the NBA is a talent delivery system. Talent not only determines the final outcome once the playoffs begin but talent pulls back the curtain, revealing the truth.
A brilliant regular season in which 60 games were won can be neutralized with rebounders, competent, confident shooters, a coach skilled in adjustments, and an iconic talent that can do whatever he wants to do on the court. When was the last time Paul Millsap has been this invisible? When has Al Horford been afterthought? And Jeff Teague marginalized?
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This is the Hawks problem in a nutshell. What worked for them in the regular season was never going to work in the playoffs because the texture of playoff games change without warning. The refs allow physicality. The volume of open looks disappear. The pressure of the moment suddenly becomes an overwhelming strain upon the human body, like a virus, but in a way, it is far worse.
For those paying attention, none of this is new. The Hawks first playoff game was April 19, a Sunday afternoon. The Hawks had a double digit lead on the Brooklyn Nets. The lead dwindled to dust because the Hawks went on a scoring drought. They stopped draining perimeter shots. Worse, they had no special player to dump the ball into and say, here, do something, make it happen. Rescue us.
May 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (right) celebrates with center Timofey Mozgov (20) after game two of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Cavaliers won 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The same shots that didn’t fall against Brooklyn and didn’t fall against Washington and are not falling now only reaffirm that for a month the Hawks got away with something. They escaped purgatory. But now, it’s gotten real. They are staring down the barrel of the LeBron James gun.
In Game 2, there were virtually no Hawks highlights. None. They were outplayed and out coached and eventually they were outclassed. There wasn’t a moment in the game when you had the sense the Hawks had a chance at any kind of comeback.
The Hawks gave the Cavs every shot they wanted, they didn’t defend the three point line, they played soft. But that wasn’t the reason their collapse was so complete. It wasn’t because they could not find anyone who was effective. It was that their collective psyche was damaged. They Hawks didn’t believe they could win and, so, neither did the rest of us.
Give the Hawks credit. For much of this year the Hawks have tried to re-invent the wheel. They shared in a way that was peculiar and a little stunning. That it worked took everyone by surprise and yet no one outside of Atlanta believed in its longevity. It lasted a pretty long time, for 94 games. And then it came crashing down.
In Game 2, the Hawks starters were helpless on the boards as the longer Cavs beat them to every loose ball, often just wrestling it away, and creating a scenario in which the Hawks were unable to match the Cavs physicality.
- DeMarre Carroll: 6 points, 3 rebounds
- Paul Millsap: 4 points, 5 rebounds
- Al Horford: 12 points, 6 rebounds
- Kyle Korver: 12 points, 1 rebound
- Jeff Teague: 12 points, 3 rebounds.
In two of the last three games, the Hawks have not cracked 90 points. Their three point production in the playoffs have taken a plunge into no-man’s land. The team that was 2nd in the regular season in three point percentage, is now 9th and tumbling fast. The well documented struggles of Kyle Korver share a large part of the burden. When was the last time Korver has had an open three? It is the book on most perimeter shooters. Force them to take and make contested shots; dare them to drain threes after being bumped hard off of screens.
- DeMarre Carroll: 0% from three
- Kyle Korver: 33% from three
- Jeff Teague: 33% from three
- Pero Antic: 0% from three
- Kent Bazemore: 0% from three
- Dennis Schroder: 33% from three
- Mike Scott: 0% from three
- Shelvin Mack: 25% from three
In total the Hawks missed 20 three point shots.
The Cavaliers made 6 more threes, accounting for 18 more points. The Cavs threes were mostly uncontested, available because of Hawks mistakes.
The game was so lopsided, Kyrie Irving wasn’t even thought of. Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack made an appearance, and frankly, Elton Brand should have played too. This series is going sideways for the Atlanta Hawks after only two games. Can they recover?
Do they have any heart left? Any confidence?