Celtics at Atlanta Hawks Game 5: Game thread
7:24 pm May 8, 2012, by Michael Cunningham
- Hawks starters: Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Al Horford. Zaza Pachulia (foot) is out. All Celtics players are available.
- Larry Drew on why he’s using this lineup: “One, just to give it a different look and see if it will kind of jump start us a little bit. It gives us an opportunity to move Joe back to some two. It makes us bigger so we can do a few more things defensively in making some adjustments in Game 5. And I just think its’ time. After you play four games in the playoffs, obviously it’s a game of adjustment, and you try to do things to benefit your team. It’s time to give us a different look and see if it will jump start us with Al back in the starting lineup, Marvin in the staring lineup, bringing Kirk [Hinrich] off the bench.”
- Drew on Horford’s condition: “Physically he feels fine. I wouldn’t say he’s in tip-top shape but he’s in playing shape. He didn’t experience any discomfort with the pec the other day [Game 4]. There was a play early he went for the ball and it was pulled back. I thought that would be kind of the test with him. He said after the play he was fine and he wasn’t sore after that. That was kind of the test. I know coming back he was waiting for that moment to see if he could withstand a collision or pull-back with the injury.”
- Drew on how he’ll use Horford: “He’ll only play a certain amount of minutes. I could have brought him off the bench but instead of letting his shoulder and chest stiffen up while he’s on the bench elected to throw him out there while he’s warm. We want to get off to a fast start and he certainly brings an energy.”
- Drew on the benefits of the lineup for Joe: “He’s had to defend Paul [Pierce] all four games. I kind of want to give it a different look and see if that can generate more offense out of him. He’s been chasing Paul around for four games and that can put a little wear and tear on you. We’ve decided to give it a look.”
- Drew on pushing the pace with this lineup: “When we are at our best is when [Al] and Josh rebound the ball and bring it out on the dribble. We’ve been missing that with him out of the lineup. It makes us a much better running team when we have all five guys involved in the break.”
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Drew on switching defensively: “Whether we start the game with our switching remains to be seen but it does give us a flexibility. The sets we defend we are in more switchable situations. A lot of the things they do run we can play it a little differently now going a little bit bigger at the two spot.”
- Drew on matchups: “They will have to make a decision who they match up with against Joe and Marvin. If they stay with Pierce on Joe, there’s a size advantage with Marvin on [Avery] Bradley.”
- Drew said Josh (knee) won’t be on limited minutes: “This is a do-or-die situation. Al we will definitely keep an eye on, but those other guys probably will play extended minutes given the situation.”
- Josh on his knee: “It’s pretty good. I’m in it to win it. I’m here to play so I can’t worry about my knee.”
- Joe on if the new lineup will help: “I don’t know. Hopefully it works out for the best for us. At this point we really don’t know. I guess it’s just a gut feeling.”
- Joe on if moving to shooting guard will result in more touches: “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
- Josh on Boston’s D: “With the defense they play they tend to over-help at times and we haven’t made them pay yet. We’ve got to be able to take our time and knock down the open shot.”
- Joe on Game 4: “We haven’t had a game like Game 4 in quite some time. It was mind-boggling, honestly. I couldn’t get why we came out and played so poorly after we were so close in Game 3. I’m still puzzled from that. Hopefully Game 5 will be different.”
- Joe on if he thinks Game 5 will be different: “Honestly I’m not sure. I just have to wait until we get between the lines. It’s easy to talk it but it’s different when you get on the court. Hopefully we will take a sense of pride and a sense of desperation and try to make it back to Boston.”
- Josh on Game 4: “To me, to be honest, we played pretty good defense. We was with them on every shot, every catch, and they shot the ball extremely well, especially Paul Pierce in that third quarter when we were trying to make a push. We have got to to try to meet them right before they past halfcourt i guess to give ourselves a chance.”
- Drew on Game 4: “When you lose a game like that, it’s deflating. But like I told our players I think we’ve had a great season in spite of that one game. That game is no reflection on the rest of our season. It happened. We’ve watched film, we’ve learned form it and now it’s time to move on. Yesterday I was still sensing guys were a little down. After our meeting we had yesterday it seemed to kind of rejuvenate them again. And then coming into shootaround today they were back to themselves.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
1,176 comments Add your comment
Tremaine
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Wow, you can’t even set a screen anymore.
drmaryb.(*_*).
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Hawks coming undone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here comes Damp!!!!!!!!!
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Damn, letting creep back in
yodaddybrother
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
like I said…we’ll be tied before the end of this quarter
What's gone rondo?
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
I haven’t heard Joe Johnson’s name mentioned in this amazing quarter. Is that a mere coincidence or does he need more touches?
This is Gonna Get Ugly
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Didnt I tell Drew not to sub.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Rebounding evaporates at the worst possible time.
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
9:58 pm
Rondo–singlehandedly!
bigdave
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
Josh with the box out someone has to help on the glass.
Atl teams = CHOKE
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
Chike
High-sider
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
Josh is playing like dumb doo doo.
Buddy Grizzard
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
How many choke turnovers has Joe had like that tonight?
Tremaine
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
SAD!!!
Rufus1
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
That was some of the dumbest ball i have ever seen.
bigdave
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
Dribble…dribble..dribble.
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
Just like Game 2!
Guess we allowed ourselves to get a little too excited. How many times is that in 44 years?
Melvin
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
This Hawks team is unbelieveable. They shoot themselves in the foot all the time…
Sautee
May 8th, 2012
9:59 pm
So slim, are you gonna blame that blown lead on LD?
J.J.M.
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
lmao this team sucksssss
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
Nothing Josh has ever done on a fast break is worse than that last play Joe just made. Dribble right into the help on a pick and roll, pass it behind the back to the screener who wasn’t even looking, set up a fast break going the other way, don’t get back on D. What a great sequence from our go-to scorer.
JSS
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
Drew is a momentum killer! That rotation made no sense!
Blast
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
Hawks, Hawks, Hawks. Oh, you all suck. Seems like you trying to give the game away.
Rev in Tampa
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
Its not that the celtics are playing well. The hawks just playing stupid, stupid, stupid. How can they do this in a playoff game?
Mr.E
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
lol your typical Atlanta Hawks
Mark
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
I think I have seen this before………Say Game 2
Big Lou
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
“Why put willie in?”
Because we have the coach of the year, LD the dumb@ss.
Mac-Town (478)™
May 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
The question….after that nice 12 pt lead…are they mentally tough to finish this game and get the win. I’m not so sure.
Hawkfan
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Colossal collapse at end of 3rd quarter. Wonder if that ever happens to well coached teams. No need for Hawks fans to answer. We haven’t seen one since Hubie
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Just made this a nail biter
Elf
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
FINAL QUARTER. I STILL GOT MY ALL BLACK ON IN CASE THE REV STARTS READING THE LAST RITES
High-sider
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Josh Smith is MDP.
MDP = Most Dumb[est] Player
O'brien
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Rev,
Hawks have been doing it since 2008
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Good Peta still dancing…Yeah!
Rev in Tampa
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
WHere is HINRICH????
Atl teams = CHOKE
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Choke city
yodaddybrother
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
Typical Hawks basketball. Nothing new here folks.
Wink
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
When will they learn…3 straight quarters they fell to close out the quarter. Boston has scored over the 3 quarters 16 unanswered points. Up 12 under 2 minutes and take a 2 point lead to 4th…here we go…with the Core on the floor!
bigdave
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
I guess joe was trying to set something up
Mark
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
Najeh are you serious! They both Suck!
Stop backing that PIECE OF GUTTER TRASH JOSH SMITH!
O'brien
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
High-sider,
Josh is MFP. Most frustrating player.
Mr.E
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
Better we get eliminated now anyways, I think we’ve suffered enough for one shortened season…
Astro Joe
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
All that energy spent for a 2 point lead. Meanwhile, the old green guys will play with good energy in the last quarter.
The good thing about Josh in these kind of games when he has you scratching your head? He almost always makes an amazing play that excites guys like Melvin and erases all previous ill-conceived plays.
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
yodaddybrother
May 8th, 2012
9:57 pm
I don’t care if the starters die from exhaustion….they need to be playing
___________________
Ditto.
Walt Frazier
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
This may as well be Larry Drews last exit interview. This dude let his team whittle away an 11 point lead with no timeout. What a bust of a coach with bust azz players to be coaching. Like I blogged in an earlier post. Game 5 the Hawks should win, but they won’t. Now you see why. Larry Drew has become a sideline mummy and freezes when HE should be taking action to calm his team down.
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
High-sider
May 8th, 2012
10:01 pm
“Josh Smith is MDP.
MDP = Most Dumb[est] Player”
FUNNY ISH!
Elf
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
“We haven’t seen one since Hubie”
LENNY WILKENS WAS A G.
THE REST WERE CLOWNS THO YES LOL
northcyde
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
Wow. That’s all I can say. On the verge of closing this game out, and they completely melt down.
Now the issue is this, Paul Pierce is resting on the bench, while the Hawks really can’t afford to take JJ or Josh out of this game. Hawks just can’t stand prosperity. Gotta make everything difficult.
What's gone rondo?
May 8th, 2012
10:02 pm
We still have the lead. If they sit Joe, they may be able to win this game. I think that the problem with this team (chemistry, energy, passion) is Joe. Sit Joe! Play aggressive Marvin. Aggressive Al. Aggressive #0. And, will win this game.
ntrigue
May 8th, 2012
10:03 pm
Joe needs to wrk on passing
Lacsho
May 8th, 2012
10:03 pm
Joe and Josh are killing the Hawks.