Official Game Thread: Hawks - Nets GAME 5 (7 PM Eastern Tip!)

[lethalweapon3]

“Brace Yourself, Deron. Summer is Coming!”

Oh, now you’ve gone and done it, Atlanta Hawks! Blow a double-digit second-half lead on the road, and now the GAPPs (Ghosts of Atlanta Postseason Pasts) are out in full force. That's not your "True to Atlanta" fans haunting you with "Boo!"... that's the GAPP band!

The Brooklyn Nets are back in the ATL for Game 5 (7 PM Eastern, SportSouth, TNT, YES Network) and have proven they’re not yet ready to eliminate themselves from this first-round series. If the good people of Gotham and their many sympathizers around here are suddenly partying like it’s 1999, there’s good reason.

Back in May 1999, the Hawks, in their decades-long quest just to reach the Eastern Conference Finals, just caught a break. Thanks to Allan Houston’s last-second lucky floater, Atlanta wasn’t going to pay a visit to Alonzo Mourning’s mighty top-seeded heat in Miami. Instead it was the New York Knicks, who needed to win their final game of the regular season just to squeak past Charlotte for the lowly 8-seed. Even better for Atlanta? Those Manhattanites were on their way to the Georgia Dome.

Laid out on a platter, here was Dikembe Mutombo’s golden opportunity to etch himself permanently into Atlanta sports glory, a chance for cigar-puffing Lenny Wilkens, then the winningest coach in NBA history, to redeem his own tainted legacy around this town, an occasion ripe for Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock to guide this franchise where no Atlanta team had gone before. And they all could start by getting the job done against the team from the league’s biggest market, a team that squeaked their way into the 8-seed, a playoff position that had never before resulted in a trip to the NBA Finals.

Instead, with the whole world watching, a young reclamation project named Marcus Camby was coming off the bench and swatting and dunking all over the place. Latrell Sprewell scored so easily and so often his kids got tubby. Smitty couldn’t find the rim, and Mookie made Charlie Ward look like the second coming of John Stockton. Just one of the Hawks shot above 35 percent for the series (Deke, barely) and after blowing Game 1 at home, Atlanta could barely crack 70 points thereafter, getting swept in grandiose, humiliating fashion.

A man who was going to be best known as the dude who once choked his coach would become a savior and the soul of his city. A man who was going to be remembered, on his way out the door, as the guy who played the role of Mourning’s ankle weight during a playoff brawl, would become a man who’s always ready to offer up a hot take about everything under the sun, fully confident that someone out there gives a crap about his opinion. The world came to know what a Van Gundy was, had second thoughts about who Spree was, and embraced the Knicks – Spike Lee’s Knicks! – as America’s Darlings. Thanks in large part to the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks gave Patrick Ewing one last shot at an NBA title. What could have been story of the Hawks got reduced to a line in the story of the ’99 Knicks.

The certain tale of the dismantling of the once-proud Knicks got delayed, preceded by the breakup of the mediocre Hawks. It would take 12 more years before Hawks fans could even experience the momentary glee that comes attached to a conference semifinal game victory.

Atlanta is the perennial backdrop opposing teams and players rely upon to redefine themselves and their checkered histories. You’ve had an underwhelming season, you say? Go visit the Falcons, Hawks, Bravos, or Dream in the postseason… and a couple weeks later, refresh your Wikipedia page. 16 years after the ’99 Hawks melted away under the bright lights of the biggest city, the winningest and most lauded team in Atlanta Hawks franchise history is threatening to become part of the “along the way” sentence in the enthralling tale of the Amazin’ Nets. You heard that right: thanks to the Hawks, the highest-salaried luxury-taxpaying 8-seed in NBA history is on the verge of becoming America’s Cinderella.

Downward destinies for opponents always seem to take a U-Turn once they run into Atlanta. Game 5 provides a third-consecutive opportunity for Mike Budenholzer’s crew to take that “U-Turn” sign and turn it into a “straight-ahead.” It’s going to take a far more concerted effort not just on the floor, but along the sideline, to make the types of decisions that stop 14-3, 18-0, 18-2, 13-3, and 22-6 runs by the Nets in the past two games from occurring again.

As was the case during that squandered 2014 playoff opportunities versus Indiana, Coach Bud’s personnel decision making and reluctance in using timeouts are rightfully being brought into question. If reserves Pero Antić, Kent Bazemore, and Dennis Schröder (and Mike Scott, before Game 4) aren’t making plays to hold hard-fought leads, can Mike Muscala, Elton Brand and Shelvin Mack conceivably do much worse? Can just stopping the clock to diagram a different strategy help a little? Nets coach Lionel Hollins has gotten away with a tight roster rotation thus far because Budenholzer isn’t giving him much reason to make adjustments.

Brook Lopez drew his fourth foul and, after a pair of Schröder free throws, the Nets found themselves down by nine late in the third quarter of Game 4 while Lopez had to sit. Where was Al Horford’s awareness when he drew his fourth foul moments later, trying to thwart a Nets break when Schröder turned the ball over? Why was Schröder still in there coughing up the ball while Teague sat with just one foul on the books in a must-preserve game? Teague Time instead became a frenetic scramble (3-for-3 2FGs, one game-tying assist, one steal, but three missed free throws and three turnovers) in the final minutes of regulation as the Hawks scratched and clawed to get their blown lead back.

The Hawks built up much of their rep during the regular season on tough transition defense, but that aspect came unglued in the second half of Game 4. As that was becoming obvious while most of the starters were back in and clinging to the lead, where was a timeout to stop Brooklyn’s momentum and readjust before the Nets could swing the game back in their favor?

A team that thrived on controlling the rock and winning the battle of points-off-turnovers all season long could only squeeze nine player TOs out of Brooklyn in Game 4, losing the points-off-TOs battle 26-16 and all but neutralizing the gains made by dominating points-in-the-paint (60-44, a gap that could have been widened if not for seven missed bunnies in the fourth quarter). Unconscionable unforced errors (by Jeff Teague, Al Horford and Pero Antić in the first half; Schröder and Teague in the second) repeatedly gave the Nets new life. Displaying poor poise and worse focus, the Hawks set the table for Deron Williams’ rainbow shots at the ends of shot clocks to actually matter.

Desperate to somehow make himself relevant again, Williams spent the lion’s share of practice prior to Game 3 lofting shots from the corners. And yet here was D-Will, wide open as the Verrazano Bridge, in the corners lofting shots in the opening quarter and rekindling his confidence. Atlanta’s inability to close out on perimeter shooters, after missed rebounds and steals, has been a glaring hallmark of these bruising Brooklyn runs, and Thabo Sefolosha isn’t doing any Antoine Tyler impressions to bail the Hawks out.

Because he did what he was supposed to do, John Wall is sitting back and enjoying a full week of scouting Teague, his fellow All-Star point guard. The Wizards star may get to add another half-week to that time off. And the only way things could get conceivably worse for Wall is if he winds up having wasted time analyzing the wrong guys. Brooklyn’s Jarrett Jack leads all playoff participants with a league-worst 7.6 turnovers per 100 possessions, yet Teague (6.4 TOs per 100, 4^th-most in NBA) and Schröder (7.0 TOs per 100, 2^nd-most in NBA) are right on his heels. It’s time for the Hawks’ floor leaders to make the plays needed at both ends of the court and lead their team into the second-round.

Aside from arguably Game 2 in Atlanta, Al Horford has not had a superior matchup against Brook Lopez in this series. The troubles with his pinky finger may have made Horford’s bread-and-butter jumpers problematic instead of automatic (1-for-5 FGs from 10 feet out in Game 4), cascading into issues for his teammates in the halfcourt offense. But he is making the right play by getting inside and finishing (7-for-8 FGs within five feet in Game 4), and that Al-gressiveness must continue over the next two games.

On Tuesday night, Dan Uggla laid out the blueprint for Joe Johnson: wait for the opposing Atlanta team to choke away a nice lead, then inscribe your name onto the long list of former Atlanta players who return triumphantly to the town where they inked their unfulfilled big-money contracts. Like Uggla, Joe is still Joe (33.3 FG% and 25.9 3FG% this series), but he knows all it takes is one big game, or at least one huge play, to deflate Atlanta’s spirits.

The Hawks cannot afford to bail Johnson (5-for-16 FGs, 5-for-5 FTs in Game 4) out with free throws, as DeMarre Carroll did when the Hawks were up 9 in the third and about to put the Nets on ice. Carroll and Millsap, meanwhile, must take advantage of the opportunities provided by Johnson and Thaddeus Young. The forwards must finish decisively around the rim and cease pleading with officials for calls when their own shots aren’t going in, as the latter wastes precious time the Hawks need to defend in transition.

The Hawks can continue to put playoff outcomes in the hands of Joe, Deron, Jack, Brook, and the referees, and simply hope those folks don’t become the story at the conclusion of Atlanta’s magical carpet ride. Or, the Hawks can keep the ball and their destiny in their own hands and strategically seize the playoff momentum, once and for all. Atlanta’s postseason ghouls aren’t going away by themselves. Unlike their forerunners, these Hawks have to show the heart, smarts, and determination to exorcise the GAPPs from this town. Game 5 is as good a time as any to start some rebuking.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

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[Guest]

Awesome thread lw3!!! I love Amy Young Williams ;-)

LETS GO HAWKS!!!!

[lethalweapon3]

A lil' low-key shade from The Sportsman.

 

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~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

While Bud goes the short-and-sweet route pregame, Hollins remains as glib as ever.

 

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~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

What? No Jarell Eddie? I am disappoint.

 

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~lw3

[Guest]

A lil' low-key shade from The Sportsman.

~lw3

Lol haha

A lil' low-key shade from The Sportsman.

~lw3

Lol haha

[hawkzlova123]

Nets sux they do not have talent except maybe lopez. Cmon PUT THEM AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[lethalweapon3]

I, for one, welcome our new billionaire overlord.

 

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~lw3

[BackForThe2ndTime]

Please oh please oh please dominate.

[LamarHampton]

@JETSET You in the house, bruh?

[lethalweapon3]

Local yokels, I keep forgetting this but as @DJlaysitup has noted before; Bob and Nique and the Hawks are on Fox Sports South, while the Braves are on SportSouth.

 

#ItsAnATLThing #CheckYoLocalListings

 

~lw3

[JETSET]

@JETSET You in the house, bruh?

You know it

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Good activity by Horford in this 1st quarter.

[JETSET]

Dennis needs to stay on the bench. Ive seen enough

[Dnice]

Bazemore getting schooled.

[Johnnybravo4]

We need to stop trying to make Milsap a goto guy. He isn't a goto guy

[Guest]

5 3 pointers to start the 2nd quarter, smh.

Go inside.

Edited April 30, 2015 by JayBirdHawk

[Guest]

I hate these piece of shit announcers...I usually like x hawk coaches but at this point...f*** Fratello...and that lil sawed off prick Edes or whatever his dumbass name is...

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bud CANNOT let Schröder and Bazemore blow this lead, when they get back in the game. Yank them QUICK at the 1st sign of trouble.

[DrReality]

We've lost our intensity