The Latest Victory By The Atlanta Hawks Was An Inspirational Effort

The Comeback Begins

With that in mind, the Hawks have enough talent on offense to be victorious in both the most important and critical upcoming games on their schedule. It is the inconsistency of effort and lack of discipline defensively that they have shown they are capable of for any game, really, and against even the most inferior opponent.

For this latest performance, the Hawks displayed a competitive spirit even more evident than they did in their 142-139, four-overtime slug-fest win against the New York Knicks on Sunday. Trailing by 20 points with 8:49 left in the game, it felt like they would have to chip away at the deficit with defensive stops one possession at a time, and rally back with three-point shots. They did that, and much more in a furious rally that stunned the crowd and left the Rockets cowering in fear.

The game reached a turning point in the early stages of the final quarter. After battling Malcolm Delaney for a loose ball during an aggressive burst of defense, one of the Rockets players, guard Patrick Beverley, decided that he would taunt Dwight Howard near center court while Houston held it’s big cushion. “You are all talk!”, the starting point guard shouted towards the former Rocket, while gesturing with his hand.

The Hawks did regain possession of the ball after it went out of bounds off of Beverly. As soon as Atlanta inbounded the ball to Delaney in the backcourt, Howard did not waste any time to retaliate. Instead of engaging the little man in his trash talk, or getting in a shoving match like you might expect, Dwight let his play do the talking. He came out on the right wing to set the most soul crushing pick on Beverly that I have ever seen.

The Rocket defender was minding his own business, covering Delaney as Malcolm charged with a live dribble towards the screener. In a moment of truth that the guy will never forget, Howard landed a brutal screen that left him flat on the court. He did not know that Howard was there, nor did he know what was coming. Atlanta’s back-up point guard set the trap, so that he would be going full speed at the point of impact.

The official, who must have a high tolerance for violence, did not call a foul even though he was looking right at it. It was a legal play, but generally when you see a player go flying to the ground as a result of a pick, you’d think that they’d call an offensive foul. That was the defining play that turned the tide in the Hawks favor for the remainder of the game.