3x NBA champion says the Atlanta Hawks had “no chance” to win Game 1
The Atlanta Hawks have been given a mulligan of sorts from three-time NBA champion guard, B.J. Armstrong. Atlanta fell 115-91 in Game 1 with a dreadful offensive showing shooting below 40% from the floor and were sub-30% from beyond the arc. Still, according to the former All-Star, it’s not as bad as it seemed.
Game 1 was the Hawks’ fourth loss in five tries against the Heat going back to the regular season. Their only win was a 110-108 squeaker that saw them withstand a 34-point fourth-quarter surge from the visiting Heat and both teams shorthanded.
Atlanta was without Clint Capela in this one as he manages a hyperextended knee.
They did not use that, or the quick turnaround from their second Play-In Tournament game on Friday, as an excuse. But Armstrong cut them some slack.
B.J. Armstrong blames the Atlanta Hawks’ quick turnaround for their Game 1 performance
The discussion about the Hawks-Heat Game 1 took place on Armstrong’s “Hoops Genius” podcast with co-host Mo Mooncey. The pair immediately point out that this was a fairly non-competitive contest with Mooncey pointing to Trae Young going just 1-for-12 from the floor on his way to eight points, his fewest points scored in any game this season.
Mooncey acknowledged that the outing might have been the worst performance he had ever seen from Young.
“There’s not much to say about this. It feels like, if the crowd is not booing Trae Young, he can’t turn up. Because the crowd wasn’t too worried about him, and he wasn’t too worried about scoring.”
That is when Armstrong chimed in, stopping short of agreeing with his partner.
“We got to give the whole Atlanta Hawks team a pass. They played one game…Tuesday night or Wednesday night. Then they turn around and played, I think in Cleveland, right? They beat Charlotte at home. Then they fly to Cleveland, win. Then they had to fly back to Atlanta, get some clothes. And then fly back to Miami with one [day] preparation.”
Mooncey then pointed out the game’s early 1 PM ET tip-off.
Armstrong did more than just paint the picture of just how unfortunate the scheduling played out for the Hawks, he made clear his pre-game position.
“If they would have won that game, I would have been way, way impressed. They had no chance to win that game.
And if that was not clear enough, Armstrong summarized one more time.
“That’s just almost impossible to win that…you can’t have that kind of turnaround.”
In that, Armstrong did say that he expects a “better effort” in Game 2, but he is not alone. Danilo Gallinari – who had 17 points and five boards in the loss said the Hawks “can’t be an excuse team,” and that they “have to be ready to play basketball”, in his postgame media availability following Sunday’s loss.
To that end, John Collins was taken off of Monday’s injury report completely after playing over 20 minutes and coming out no worse for the wear.
Meanwhile, Capela has had his re-evaluation date moved up a couple of days, per Travis Schlenk who was appearing on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the team would evaluate the big man “in a week” on April 16.
Next. No Hawks players are finalists for any end of season awards. dark
They will get to prove they can reach another level to compete with Miami in this series on Tuesday after having “no chance” in Game 1.