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Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 88, Magic 85

12:13 am April 25, 2011, by Michael Cunningham

  • The key for the Hawks in Game 5 is obvious: Score 88 points.
  • The Hawks survived to win Game 4 after they made lots of their familiar mistakes–poor shot selection, stagnant possessions, blown defensive assignments, turnovers. “We made some plays that weren’t very characteristic of us and took some ill-advised shots,” L.D. said, pointing out one thing that is very characteristic of this team.
  • The Hawks offset all of the bad with key rebounds, another efficient game from Jamal and some clutch free throws by J.J..
  • The Hawks have taken a beating for their lack of toughness and character in the past and so now they deserve some credit for winning ugly in this series. From the time Arenas made that 3 to tie it early in the fourth until the final buzzer, the Hawks answered every challenge.
  • “In the huddle, the first thing I did was look at all the guys’ faces and I didn’t see a sense of panic, which was a great sign for me,” Drew said. “In the past this team has been in those type of situations and didn’t respond well.”
  • The Dwight Defense and the Magic’s trades can’t completely explain how the Hawks are on the verge of winning this series after they got handled by the Magic last spring.
  • “We’re very confident right now, understanding during the regular season we had success with this team,” J.J. said. “Coming into the playoffs, we just wanted to ride that confidence. We got game one in Orlando, so our confidence grew through the roof. Now we’re up three to one, we just have to go to Orlando and stay focused and try to get another one.”
  • It’s not over. The Hawks have needed stretches of hot shooting to win three games and at some point don’t the Magic have to start making shots even if the Hawks are not really giving them lots of clean looks?
  • “It’s hard to play against a team whose back is against the wall,” Smoove said. “We have to play our best basketball of this series to close this team out.”
  • Jamal is still a big-time shotmaker. It’s easier to overlook that forced 3 on the bad possession in the final minute when he scores 25 points on 18 shots and adds six assists against one turnover and a blocked shot (!).
  • “We’ve tried a lot of guys on him so far and no one has been able to guard him yet,” Stan Van Gundy said.
  • J.J. offset his 6 for 15 shooting and six turnovers by making all six of his free-throw attempts in the fourth and collecting four of his nine defensive rebounds in the final period. OK, one of those rebounds was after Dwight blocked his shot, but still.
  • Smoove had some Josh Moments, especially in the third quarter. He also had 10 rebounds, five assists and did good work protecting the rim.
  • It’s a strange phenomenon hearing fans at Philips Arena beg and plead with Josh to stay focused and play smart is a strange phenomenon. You can feel the mix of frustration/affection/hope/anguish/joy as he goes through his cycles.
  • The Hawks outrebounded the Magic 44-42. Atlanta’s guards combined for 16 boards.
  • The Magic were desperate for someone else other than Dwight and Jameer to score. Surprisingly Arenas delivered, but then Nelson was 3 for 12 and Turkoglu turned in another clunker.
  • The final play, when Al poked the ball away from Turkoglu, illustrated how badly he’s hurt the Magic in this series. Van Gundy has barely been able to contain his disdain for his forward’s decision-making: “He basically gave him the ball.”
  • The Magic were 2 for 23 on 3-pointers.”I thought about taking a couple threes myself to boost our percentage,” Dwight said.
  • “I don’t want to take anything away from them because they are playing great defense, they are having an effect on our threes, but I really thought we had good looks tonight,” Van Gundy said.
  • Maybe, but it’s clear the Magic’s shooters have been flustered by a defense that stays sound on the perimeter and has long guys running at them. “Even when they do have looks, we’re making a conscious effort to get out and get a hand up,” Drew said. “I give my players all the credit for that.”
  • Hinrich (42 minutes) outplayed Jameer. The debate about whether the trade for him was a good one in the big picture won’t be settled for a while. But there’s no longer any question the team is better with him at point guard instead of Bibby, especially since Hinrich has rediscovered his shot (which he can get on his own, unlike his predecessor).
  • Hilton Armstrong, the throw-in in that trade, was called into action because of Zaza’s suspension and Twin’s foul trouble. He had had two steals, drew a charge on Dwight and was checking Dwight when he twice traveled.
  • “I was trying to make him use his counter more,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t want him to get flowing with his regular running hook. I know that’s his go-to move so I was make him spin a little bit more.”
  • If the Hawks win this series and Armstrong never does another thing for them, he will be remembered for this night.
  • Josh had a turn on Dwight, too: “I knew I was going to have to guard him a little bit.” L.D. took him out after he picked up his fifth foul. and out Collins back in.
  • If the Magic come back to win this series, they still have to realize that this team is flawed. The Hawks have outlined the blueprint to defend them and the Magic’s role players have all been tight.
  • “I told [teammates] if they don’t believe that we can win, then stay in Atlanta,” Dwight said. “We just have to keep believing and guys have to make shots, it’s as simple as that. They gotta act like it’s a practice or shootaround and don’t be afraid to miss. These guys are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to make shots.”

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat

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175 comments Add your comment

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
11:55 am

Slim Jr, you said the Hawks can’t blow out teams because of Josh Smith? How is that the case, when yesterday the Hawks were up by 10, that’s when the next 5-6 shots were bad 3pt attempts from Joe, Jamal, AND Kirk. The only three that quarter that Josh shot was after Joe dribbled the clock down to 3-4 seconds on the shot clock. And the other attempt was right as the buzzard expired at half time. Its Josh’ Smith’s shut down defense that allows the Hawks to have bad offensive quarters and still be winning. Josh Smith’s defense has made it nationally, as many in the national media today are saying ‘where is Hedo?’ The answer- he’s where ever Josh tells him to go.

The Hawks winning right now is sloppy. But they’re winning. And truthfully, the Bulls and Pacers series has been even SLOPPIER. So its not like they’re going to get killed if they play Chicago like that. The best thing the Hawks can do against Chicago, is to do the D12 rule. No matter what don’t double on D Rose. If Rose goes for 50 every other night, it doesn’t matter if no one else can contribute. If you shut down Boozer and Deng, you will win the series.

Slimjr

April 25th, 2011
11:56 am

one championship in 147 seasons from the Atlanta professional Sports teams= they suck……..not the fans…

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
11:57 am

Actually, I can’t believe I’m saying this. But in the 2nd quarters, D. Wilkins maybe the best option of guarding Rose. He’s hard nose and plays good defense. So if you have to have Crawford at the point, put him on Korver or Bogans, and let Marvin and Wilkins harass Rose one on one.

tremaine

April 25th, 2011
12:03 pm

Crazy ATL Fans- what nba team do you root for?

Slimjr

April 25th, 2011
12:05 pm

Thats whats driving us crazy about Josh..He’s up and he down, he starts out very slow in the 1st quarters..His defense as we all know is well above average at his position of course, but his risk taking offensive mind set is incredible and it got him benched in the 4th quarter of game 3..Are we are happy about the win? Oh yes we are and lets hope we put em out of their misery in Orlando and move on to Chicago who imho has the greatest deep dish pan pizza in the USA! Chicago bigs are much better than Orlando except for Dwight..Gotta take game 5 and close this ish out…..

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
12:23 pm

Slim, the point is Josh doesn’t make more bad decisions on offense than Joe, Jamal, or Horford. They all make the same amount of bad decisions on offense. Joe makes bad decision when he still WAITS for the double team to come, or take 8 seconds to finally attempt a shot over Hedo, when he could’ve blown by him on the first jab step. Jamal makes bad decisions with the timing of his 3pt attempts. He shoots more awkward shots than Josh does also. Horford makes bad decisions when he doesn’t aggressively move to open spaces in the court on offense to be more of a threat. Horford is reserved a lot. Is that not a bad decision? So while Josh may take 3-4 bad shots or pass attempts in a game, if you break down the film the other big three players make just as many mistakes.

Barry

April 25th, 2011
12:42 pm

Hey Y’all:

Everybody is wondering how the HAWKS are winning so convincingly as compared to last year. I tell you what it is!! IT IS COACHING AND COACHING PHILOSOPHY ON OFFENSE. Last year, Woodson’s offensive philosophy was “ISO JOE” mode. This philosophy made it easy for teams to defend the Hawsk, especially during the playoffs. All teams had to do was to stop Joe. The offense went through him. This year, coach John Drew’s philosophy is the “motion offense” wherein the ball is moved around where players have the option of passing or shooting the ball in a set passing scheme. The ball and the shooting is shared. Defenses can’t concentrate on one player. And all the HAWKS players can shoot and defend. Moreover, it takes a hell of a lot of presssure off of Joe. Now Joe can relax and just float around and do his thing offensively as do the other players in this scheme. PLAY, RUN, DEFEND, AND SHOOT!! That is what our HAWKS are doing. Orlando is totally confused and is being outcoached by Drew and his coaching staff with this offensive schemes. Moreover. Coach Drew appears to make critical game time adjustments based on what the opposition is doing . This would have never have happened under Woodson last year. Thank God we have an innovative, offensive minded coach how also likes to play defense. This “Center by Committee” might work throughout the playoff. The guys they are bringing in are young,big, quick, and smart. Moreover, THEY PLAY WITH HEART!!! With more playing time in the “Center By Committee” philosophy, I believe we can be effective throughout the playoffs. As long as the other players, play their game as all stars, this is the time that the HAWKS can “SHOCK THE WORLD!!”. This is a “RUMBLE”, baby. And I believe the other players in the offense are loving this style of play. Therefore, ARE YOU READY TO PLAY SOME BASKETBALLL!!!?????? THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS!! THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS. OUR HAWKS ARE IN IT.!!!!!!! THEY ARE IN IT TO “SHOCK THE WORLD!!” AND TO WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP. That is what this is about!! TO WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! ONE ROUND AT A TIME!!!!

WE ARE IN ROUND ONE, and WE HAVE ORLANDO DAZED AND ON THE ROPES READY FOR THE COUNT. OUR HAWKS ARE FOCUSED. THEY ARE HUNGRY!! THEY ARE ANGRY!! THEY ARE PREPARING A “ROUND HOUSE PUNCH” TO MAKE THE MAGIC SEE STARS. OUR HAWKS ARE ON THE PATH TO “SHOCK THE WORLD!!” FOR AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP. THIS IS OUR CITY!!! THIS OUR HAWKS!! ROUGH, TOUGH, FINEST BASKETBALL IS OUR STYLE. IT’S GOING DOWN ON OUR WAY TO AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! LET’S DO THIS!!!!!!!!

NOW ARE YOU READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMBBBBBBBLLLLEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

LET’S GO HAWKS !! LET’S GO HAWKS. THIS IS A NEW YEAR, NEW COACH, NEW VISION!! LET’S DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN!! TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

……………………….”SHOCK THE WORLD!!!!………………

O'Brien

April 25th, 2011
12:44 pm

AJ,

Agreed. Even though we’ve been winning, the games have been close. And all it takes is for the Magic to go on a hot streak from 3, and before you know it, we could be in game 7.

Hawks are more talented, but we have a lot of bad habits, and we dont always play smart.

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
1:03 pm

There is great pleasure in knowing the Hawks are up 3-1, and they still haven’t played their ‘A’ game yet, besides game 1 for 2 quarters.

Buddy Grizzard

April 25th, 2011
1:04 pm

Ok it’s time to give Las Vegas Larry his props. Before I proceed, let me just say that I stand by what I said before the series started, that a series win over Orlando is not going to vindicate LD. His coaching will ultimately be judged by what the Hawks are able to do in the second round. Winning a series against an Orlando team with a gutted roster is not going to suddenly make LD a competent coach.

But I’m finally starting to see LD make some good moves to offset boneheaded decisions like he had in Game 2. Do not underestimate the importance of the pre-game/post-game gamesmanship with SVG. When LD pointed out all the moving screens DH has set, he made it difficult for the refs to adjust their foul calling in favor of the Magic. He went on record and risked a fine to protect his team, and I think it helped put focus on the refs and prevent them from obviously giving the game to Orlando.

The other thing is that playing JC1 all those minutes at the end of the regular season, a decision alot of us mocked, has obviously turned out in the Hawks favor. I would love to see Teague playing, but if he was not able to win a spot in the rotation during the regular season, now is not the time to experiment with working him into the lineup. You go with experience.

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
1:06 pm

O’brien, you’re right. But you must admit, its good to see the Hawks win, when they’re not playing their A game. The same way that the Magic can starting hitting their threes, Josh and Al can both go off for a 20-10 games (they both had many during the season).

Ra'mon

April 25th, 2011
1:07 pm

Here’s the question, what kind of contract has Jamal played himself into this off season?

Sleepy

April 25th, 2011
1:11 pm

Ramon everyone makes mistakes but the reason that Josh catches more flack than everyone else is because while Joe ,Al,Jamal make mistakes at some point they all still go back to what works for long stretches whereas Josh rarely adjusts.

Watch this video of KG after last nights sweep and tell me that this is not exactly the mindset that everyone wishes Josh had . Josh should watch that video and apply it and we would seriously be contenders

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6421283

tremaine

April 25th, 2011
1:17 pm

Wow, can’t believe Barry wasted all that time with that bs.

RalphWatson

April 25th, 2011
1:22 pm

The hawks were indeed LUCKY to win game 4. in my opinion they did not earn that victory. At the end, Heidu Turkelu coughs up the ball after some good harrassing from Al Hordford, and takes a mis-timed 3-pointer. Had Turk just squared up and got a good look, the game probably would have gone into overtime and the Magic probably would have won the game. Then if the series was tied 2-2, the magic would have wrestled back the home court advantage. If the Hawks lose this series to the Magic now with a 3-1 lead, the Hawks will continue to be the LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE LEAGUE and should sell their team and move to Alaska.

tremaine

April 25th, 2011
1:24 pm

Question, isn’t LD doing the same thing on offense that Woody did last year, because I have seen a lot of one-on-one with Jamal and Joe? The only difference I see with the offense is that the hawks are taking a lot more jumpshots?

tremaine

April 25th, 2011
1:26 pm

RalphWatson

April 25th, 2011
1:22 pm
The hawks were indeed LUCKY to win game 4. in my opinion they did not earn that victory. At the end, Heidu Turkelu coughs up the ball after some good harrassing from Al Hordford, and takes a mis-timed 3-pointer. Had Turk just squared up and got a good look, the game probably would have gone into overtime and the Magic probably would have won the game. Then if the series was tied 2-2, the magic would have wrestled back the home court advantage. If the Hawks lose this series to the Magic now with a 3-1 lead, the Hawks will continue to be the LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE LEAGUE and should sell their team and move to Alaska.

I don’t understand why you would go to Turk anyway. He was 0-5 before that shot and has been terrible during this series.

BBIB

April 25th, 2011
2:37 pm

“Question, isn’t LD doing the same thing on offense that Woody did last year, because I have seen a lot of one-on-one with Jamal and Joe? The only difference I see with the offense is that the hawks are taking a lot more jumpshots?”

The difference is that one on one was Woodson’s ENTIRE offense. The 1 on 1 under LD is just old habits dying hard

ant banks

April 25th, 2011
2:41 pm

for all of the rippin’ that we do on sund, can you all imagine what they are doin’ to the magic’s gm? they should be shreddin’ his arse to pieces. this magic team is way worse than last year’s team.

then he has to figure a way to keep dwight? can atlanta pull off a coup?

Wabe

April 25th, 2011
3:19 pm

tremaine

April 25th, 2011
1:24 pm
“Question, isn’t LD doing the same thing on offense that Woody did last year, because I have seen a lot of one-on-one with Jamal and Joe? The only difference I see with the offense is that the hawks are taking a lot more jumpshots?”

The Hawks do get into ISO a lot more than most would probably want. But, there are still a couple of things that LD has thrown in, wrinkles if you will. More picks being set at the top of the key which forces the defense to make decisions. More pick – pops for Al Horford. There are certain ‘wrinkles’ that are in place, so at times, it’s not exclusively ISOLATION. But, it does still lead to one man possessing the ball and trying to make a move to get buckets, unless they go with the gaurd – Horford pick/pop.

In this series though, it’s worked decently. Mainly because Jamal and Joe are working with mismatches – - especially Jamal. The Magic don’t have anybody that can cover Jamal, and he’s going off consistently. Dude has been money this series.

Wabe

April 25th, 2011
3:21 pm

Joe’s been pretty good this series, but I still wanna see the Joe we saw in game one consistently. Game one Joe was decisive and aggressive and knew what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go, and he got there. Since then, he’s slowed a bit making his move. Still averaging decent numbers, but at times his indecisiveness gets him into trouble. He ends up forcing up tough looks.

Najeh Davenpoop

April 25th, 2011
3:53 pm

“I bet if ASG sold sh!t sandwiches during the game ant banks would be first in line.”

They do sell sh-t sandwiches during the game. Have you ever tasted the food at their concession stand? Best to have about eight beers in you first so you don’t know what you are eating.

Najeh Davenpoop

April 25th, 2011
3:59 pm

“Again, I really couldn’t care less about the Hawks, but lighten up. I’ll never forget when I came down there for the Packers/ Falcons game and you guys left early in the 3rd qtr. Instead of congratulating an upstart team for going 13-3, you all left whining and complaining.

Atlanta fans suck.”

We have seen enough teams in this city that do enough to get in the playoffs but do nothing once they get there. That bores us now. We want championships, or at least serious championship contenders. Having high expectations doesn’t make a fan base bad. If this was Philly all those fans would have stuck around in the Dome and booed and thrown batteries the entire second half. Would that have been any better?

Game 4 Reactions « Howard the Dunk | An Orlando Magic Blog

April 25th, 2011
8:34 pm

[...] Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution gives a lot of credit to Kirk Hinrich: Hinrich (42 minutes) outplayed Jameer. The debate about whether the trade for him was a good one in the big picture won’t be settled for a while. But there’s no longer any question the team is better with him at point guard instead of Bibby, especially since Hinrich has rediscovered his shot (which he can get on his own, unlike his predecessor). [...]

ant banks

April 26th, 2011
8:25 am

what if the hawks go on to beat the magic? what if the hawks beat chicago and go on to meet boston or miami in the ecf?

what would we say about asg, sund, or larry drew or woody?
if this happens, it would validate 1.teague DID NOT need any pt 2.we DO NOT need a true center 3. we DO NOT need a point guard 4.we have a great core 5.jsmoove can keep jackin’ tres. 6. we DID NOT need jc2, bibby or the 1st rnd pick of 2011 draft.

DAMN, I WANT US TO GO ALL THE WAY, BUT I AM AFRAID OF VALIDATION OF OUR FLAWS WILL NOT BRING NEEDED CHANGES NEXT YEAR.

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