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
High-sider
May 8th, 2012
8:08 pm
Shaq on TNT [to paraphrase]: “Marvin Williams, can he [still] play? Marvin Williams is giving you [Hawks] nothing [right now]. What is he [Marvin Williams] good for?”
Co-sign.
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:08 pm
We have seen this B4?
On TNT? OH the Humanity!
Rod from College Park
May 8th, 2012
8:08 pm
I have informed many of the blog members for the last couple of years that NBA players think Marvin is a joke. Shaq and Barkley just laughed when hi name was mentioned. Can’t say I did not tell you.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
Marvin is starting to put some resistance on Pierce on D
*****
ROTFLMAOLOL
Old Man Peabody
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
Chuck told the truth, watching the Hawks in the playoffs is like watching the opening act at a rap concert. Some local joker rapping in front of everybody who can’t wait for the headliner to come out.
steven a smith
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
This is Bazzaro night…Agreeing with this guy as well..
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:05 pm
“We’ve seen this for five years in a row. The movie ends the same. They all drown.” -Chuck, on the Hawks
O'brien
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
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.
Really LD? Havent we seen josh turn the ball over too many times?
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
Shaq: “If I was the coach I would be thinking about a lineup change. Marvin is giving you nothing right now.”
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
Put All at the 4 and Osh at the 5…Shake things up..
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
THE GRIM REAPER
May 8th, 2012
7:30 pm
I’ve come for you, Atlanta Hawks.
_____________________
Again?!
O'brien
May 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
Shaq on JJ; “You can’t waste time putting the ball between your legs”
Shaq on Marvin; “Can he still play? He is not giving them anything, and it’s not like he is being doubled”.
Sir Charles on the Hawks; “We’ve seen this movie the last 3 years, and it ends the same. They drown”.
Funny stuff from the TNT crew.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
Can Marvin still play?!?!?!
Did Shaq really say that??? That’s implying that at one point he COULD play. Why respect him like that?
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
This should be over quickly
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
Should have been Teague-Joe-Josh-Al-Twin
smh
May 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
1st possesion joe dribbles 18 seconds off the 24 shot clock and pass it to collins who turns it over
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
8:11 pm
Joe going to get tired chasing Allen when he comes in.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:11 pm
Of course Joe gets his pocket picked by Avery Bradley on the first possession.
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Celts by 25
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
7:55 pm
John Hollinger @johnhollinger
Pre-game discussion: It would be the most Hawks thing ever if they won Games 5 and 6, and then lost Game 7 by 20.
Realistically I think they win tonight and lose Game 6 at Boston.
_____________________
There you go again, predicting a Hawks victory. The past couple of times I chastised you about it, you were right. So I’m givin’ it one more shot. We are in desperation time, after all.
steven a smith
May 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Boys, the Hawks will have “Gone Fishing and returning home by this time Saturday”
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
If Rondo makes that shot all night, tip your cap and get on the fishing boat. Keep giving him that.
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Enter your comments here
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Put this bird to sleep
smh
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
josh and that jumper
Old Man Peabody
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Bass daring Josh to go right.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
That last shot by Josh might have been the worst shot he has taken this season.
smh
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Josh wtf are you doing
steven a smith
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Another Great Post…
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
Should have been Teague-Joe-Josh-Al-Twin
Ditto
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Same song, fing a guard Josh
smh
May 8th, 2012
8:14 pm
josh 0-3
bigdave
May 8th, 2012
8:14 pm
Ok, u don’t get the foul call.. run arse back on d Josh c’mon
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:15 pm
Marvin gets around the screen too slow and Pierce drains a 3. SMH
Melvin
May 8th, 2012
8:15 pm
I dont like the start of this game already
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
8:15 pm
It’s got a familar look to it already. Josh throws up a 20-ft brick and Pierce scores at the other end.
smh
May 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
looks like game 4 all over again
Blast
May 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
Does this story look familiar?
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
A late timeout
Old Man Peabody
May 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
Hawks are a joke lol
Melvin
May 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
The Hawks do not want to go back to Boston.
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
LARRY DREW IS OUT OF HIS LEAGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
THIS GOES BEYOND THE PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
So… how about those Braves? Time to switch over to SportSouth already?
DawgNole
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
Marvin on the floor again. Pierce scores again.
This is starting out worse than Sunday night.
Rev in Tampa
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
Marvin Williams should not come back on the floor after the timeout
steven a smith
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
If you could put Ivan’s heart and courage, Joshs’ Athletic ability, and Joes’ BB IQ, into one player,
You would have an NBA Superstar.
Luke Cage
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
Run thru Al, let him make the pass to the open guy
Atl teams = CHOKE
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
This game is OVER
Slimjr
May 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
Celts in a sweep! 4 straight wins..Yes….
O'brien
May 8th, 2012
8:18 pm
2 Terrible shots by Josh.
And Marvin is Marvin.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 8th, 2012
8:18 pm
So far Marvin has let Pierce get around a screen for a 3 and has fumbled a pass from Josh on a cut, causing a fast break for Boston. Can we please get this guy out of the game?
J.J.M.
May 8th, 2012
8:18 pm
garbage ass team.marvin cant een catch