Securing The Victory
With the Hawks holding on to a 111-108 lead, Trevor Ariza had a chance to tie things up. He took a three-pointer that was covered well in front of the Rockets bench. In the frantic pace of the live action, the shot actually appeared to go in. The fans in the crowd were either letting out a sigh of relief, or cheering widely at the assumed made shot.
All of the players thought the ball went in, as did most of the rest of the fans watching the telecast from home. But the referee did not collect the ball to initiate a change of possession under the basket. A lot of players on the court stood around and looked at each other scratching their heads. During the brief moment of confusion, Tim Hardaway Jr. rushed over to pick up the ball and tossed it to a wide open D’Andre’ Bembry, who started running to the other end of the court.
He put an exclamation point on another thrilling, if not bizarre, win for the Hawks, by dunking the assist through the goal as time expired. As replays showed, the shot did not go inside the cylinder of the rim, and through the basket. Instead it hit the backboard from a strange angle, and hit the net causing the illusion of a made shot. The officials did an outstanding job to notice this during live action to keep the ball in play. Everybody else was fooled.
Atlanta won the game 113-108. The way Hardaway Jr. took over the game was likened to what I have always noticed that Dwyane Wade had in his repertoire during important stages of contests that called for a dose of brilliance that only he could provide. There are few players that possess that explosive scoring ability, especially in clutch moments.
Next: Takeaways From Win Over Rockets
He will be a restricted free agent this summer. After his career high of 33 points in the Hawks completion of a season sweep of the Rockets (they’ve also defeated them 7 games in a row), as well as his other explosive performances this season, he will garner a larger contract. The question becomes whether or not the Hawks want to pay him what he is worth. I believe they should.