OK, so maybe it won’t be so easy
Here's how Dwyane Wade buried the Hawks, hitting one of his six three-point shots on the way to 33 points. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
It’s so easy to get drunk off one game, isn’t it?
A young team runs and defends like a title contender, Josh Smith looks like some lab creation, Dwyane Wade looks just ordinary — suddenly you find yourself drifting and wondering: “Can LeBron handle this in the next round?”
Welcome to sobriety.
If what happened Wednesday night wasn’t a market correction, it at least was a wakeup call for everybody. It won’t be easy. It won’t short. And any assumptions that seemingly could be drawn after one game were blown to bits in Game 2.
Three days after crushing Miami by 26 points, the Hawks were dropped by the Heat 108-93 to even the playoff series at one humbling apiece.
Nothing went right. Even “Spirit” the hawk (the real one) got loose early in the game, and circled the arena a few times, moving from scoreboard to backboard before returning to his handler.
As far as we know, at least the bird did not leave behind any reminders of his visit. The human Hawks? Different story.
“I think we were a little too comfortable out there,” Al Horford said. “I really didn’t see that sense of urgency from our team, starting with me and going down the line.”
A defense that held the Heat to 64 points and 36.6 percent shooting in the first game was shredded Wednesday for 55.6 shooting, including 15 three-pointers.
Wade? He was back to being something north of mortal: 33 points, including 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. He buried a Hawks comeback attempt with 2:36 left when he banked home a trey with Joe Johnson hanging all over him as the shot clock expired, making it 101-91.
What the Hawks saw from Wade on Wednesday was the real thing. Game 1 was the aberration. Coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed defensive adjustments and player rotations before the game, saying: “None of that matters. You can drop-kick that out the door if you don’t come with any intensity.”
Wade did just that. He spoke earlier about how difficult it was replaying Game 1 in his head and watching tape for three days, waiting for Game 2. “It’s tough, but at least it gives you a chance to work on some things,” he said.
On game night, he came out to the court early to shoot at 5 p.m. for an 8 p.m. game. Spoelstra said he walked into the locker room later and saw some teammates talking and laughing.
“He told everyone to shut up and get their minds on the game,” he said.
The Hawks could’ve used such a wakeup call. Game 1 was so lopsided — Miami led for only 26 seconds at 2-0 and trailed by 20 points at halftime — that it was easy to forget the Heat won nearly as many games (43) as the Hawks (47) this season.
Game 2 recap: the Hawks led at 3-2. That’s it. A defense that held Miami to 36.6 percent shooting and 4-of-23 shooting from 3-point range in Game 1 was shredded in Game 2.
The Hawks trailed by 13 at halftime and as many as 18 late in the third. They rallied to get it back to single digits but never got closer than five (96-91). Then Udonis Haslem made a jumper, Wade banked home his three from Marietta, and that was it.
The home-court advantage that the Hawks worked for six months to get: gone. Miami can win this series by sweeping three at home. But given the diametric results of Games 1 and 2, that’s a dangerous assumption.
As is any assumption.
Jeff Schultz can be reached via email (jschultz@ajc.com), Facebook, Tweeter (SchultzAJC) or carrier pigeon (make a right off 400).
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115 comments Add your comment
Truth-serum
April 24th, 2009
8:10 am
You cant become a finalist in the NBA without a bonefied NBA center. The Hawks dont have one. Horford is a power forward. Thats his natural position. He plays it well. He can spent a short time a the 5 when we go small but the hawks have no answer when we need to go big. Other teams will run down our throats, with very high percentage shots…ZaZa is laughable. Any good team with a center will open up the outside game. Thats why Miami traded for O neal before the playoffs. He denies you in the paint, doesnt turn the ball over, scores in the low post and thereby open the shooting lanes for Wade…do I need to mention Offensive boards?
Hawks need a center.
Lifelong Atlanta Fan
April 24th, 2009
10:07 am
The great thing about being someone who was born and raised and lived in Atlanta for almost 40 years is that you get to become a professional sports fan. This Hawks team is very much like over 99% of the teams that we’ve experienced (that’s 38 seasons of baseball, basketball and football and 19 years of hockey) in that they don’t win a championship. So we get extremely enthusiastic about the playoffs. We cherish them as they are so rare. Even when the Braves were a perennial playoff team they failed to win but one championship when they clearly had one of the greatest pitching staffs ever assembled for a decade. We know deep down that this team isn’t even one of the top ten teams in the league. They play in the East which is weak currently. We know that they missed their opportunities in the recent drafts to grab a couple of superstars. We know that they are now in the worst possible place as a team in the NBA. A middle of the pack team which means they won’t get a lottery pick and they wont go far in the playoffs. We are haunted that the franchise in Atlanta has never gotten past the second round of the playoffs.
So we grasp for any sliver of hope. We get way to high on one win. Way too low on one loss. We felt like last years first round loss to Boston was a success. Was it? We lost. Were we from a city that wins would we feel the same. Would we accept mediocrity. Truth is, we don’t know anything but mediocrity.
Regardless of the outcome of this series we may win one game in the next round. Then what. We need a center. Haven’t had one in a while. Need to use the bench. Need to use athleticism by moving the ball rather than playing one on one on each offensive set. Need a couple of lobotomies for our players during critical times. Need a coach who is flexible. Need ownership that is stable. Need to win. Nothing less. Winning is what the fans need. We don’t know what it feels like and mistake any shiny object as gold.
But I ain’t moving. I am building lifelong character as an Atlanta professional sports fan.
Hotlanta Steamer
April 24th, 2009
11:20 am
Man those little smiley faces are so gay, are you sure you’re not the SheMale here…
rusty
April 24th, 2009
11:29 am
this is just the hawks playing their usual game. how come we are not pushing the ball,with 3 minutes remaining i still see joe j slowly
walking the ball up with no sense of urgency. joe is a smooth shooter
but just takes so much of our time off of the clock with all of his stupid dribbling into traps. in order for the hawks to be successful
they need to pass the ball to work for an open easy shot like other good teams do \. when we got bibby i thought that our problems would be solved but woodson still lets jj run the show. we will never have good
offense playing this way.people like charles & kenney see this why do nt
woody see this?
Reality
April 24th, 2009
11:30 am
Stick in there Lifelong Atlanta Fan, as a Heat fan since the beginning, there have been many painful downs and euphoric ups. But there is always hope and all it takes is the right coaching/management (Pat Riley) and the right players (Alonzo and Wade).
I believe you guys are on your way with the players, but I don’t think Woodson/Knight are the answer.
gusman354
April 24th, 2009
12:24 pm
ok the ref won game 2 =( atlanta went to the line more than the heat) hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa LEST GO HEAT
Barry
April 24th, 2009
2:36 pm
Hey Y’all:
Don’t worry. this is a “marathon” and not a sprint. This was just one game. However, I am more than confident that our Hawks are in shape and prepared to go at this series andothers for the long haul. The Heat struck back with a wicked right hand, however, we are still on our feet. That punch stunned us but it made us mad hell to chew the Heats butt up when we get to Miami.
Now we are more than prepared for game 3 and you will see. Our Hawks will be scrapping and going real “crazee”. So get in front of your TV and have the best seat. This game is Hawks and you will see in Game 3.
So relax and don’t let that loss at Phillips phase ya. The Hawks are just changing gears and strategy to really amaze ya. Now watch them dance. Now watch them move their feet to the “D”. I bet these Hawks beat the damn Heat.
Therefore, if you love basketball and you like it to the core. Be prepared to see these Hawks win this series in more than 4.
LET’S GO HAWKS!!! LET’S GO HAWKS!!!! LET’S GO HAWKS!!!!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
…………………….”ATLANTA HAWKS, BOOM-BYE-YEAH!!!!”………….
………………………..”SHOCK THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!”……………..
O'brien
April 24th, 2009
6:31 pm
Everyone says the Heat won’t shoot so well again. So what? Would anyone be surprised if the Hawks miss more FT (playing on the road), or shoot 35% from 3? The Heat have shooters, and the Hawks have to play good defense and stop talking about how the Heat wont shoot that well again. The only way to be sure is to close out defensively, and guard the 3 point line.
I’m a big Hawks fan, but I was disappointed in the way the Hawks played. Before game 2. Mike Bibby said “Pump your brakes, the series is still 0-0″. But we still come out with no intensity? Our coach makes no adjustments during the game. If we’re not getting any calls when we drive, how about design a play for JJ or Bibby to get them an easy shot? Woody doesnt know how to do that.
It bothers me that the Hawks are so inconsistent. The could come out and play really well and win game 3, but then they could just as easily lose game 4 and 5.
“Life is like the Atlanta Hawks. You never know what you’re gonna get”.
RA
April 24th, 2009
10:40 pm
Before anything else know this, the last two games are as much a part of the past as Caesar’s wars against the guals and celts, and the Hawks can no more regain game two than they can reclaim their great grandfathers from their graves. It’s gone, but choice remains. At some point in everyone’s life, they have a choice, to shrink back or to charge forward, to settle for being ordinary or be great, to excel to heights greater than they could fathom, or fall back into the darkness from whence they’d come. The life of a team during an NBA season is not so different, but it is in the playoffs that that choice is made. The Hawks can either take the fight to the Heat, or have it taken to them. They can execute on both ends of the floor for four quarters, or they can be victimized, again. They can either bring their A game for the rest of the series, and for the rest of the finals or they can all sit around for the next fifty years wondering what the hell would have happened if they had. In the end, it’s all about choice and I’ll be very interested to see what decision they make over the next five games.
Eric C.
April 25th, 2009
1:14 pm
I’ve noticed a few comments about Woodson’s ineffectiveness…and I agree completely. It is human nature to get complacent after a lopsided win as was the case in game 1. And it is painfully obvious that Coach Woodson did not have his team prepared mentally for game 2. There is no way the Hawks will win in the playoffs on the road with such a lack of discipline and consistency…and that boils down to Coach Woodson.
truth-serum
April 25th, 2009
9:29 pm
LIKE I SAID” HAWKS NEED A CENTER!”
MIAMI WENT OUT AND GOT J. O NEAL WHO IS THE DIFFERENCE…ALL WE GOT WAS SCHULTZ MOUTH AND DIVISINESS CALLING FOR WOODSON’S HEAD.
HAWKS NEED A CENTER!
Chuck Uga
April 26th, 2009
12:08 am
Unfortunately, the Hawks season is over. The Heat will win the series in five games, six max. Book it. Now the only decision is whether to make a coaching change or who to sign in free agency to strengthen rebounding and the bench.
intellibird
April 26th, 2009
1:07 am
Truth Serum,
Give me a break, there are only a handful of difference-making centers in the league. Even Yao Ming can’t help the Rockets. Who are you talking about getting a center. Greg Oden isn’t any good and he was a number one pick. Why don’t you give us some names? There isn’t anybody out there. This team has some motivational issues (also known as coaching). Plus we don’t develop young players or sufficiently use our bench. Also, coaching.
Wade County MVP
April 26th, 2009
1:03 pm
DID YOU HAWKS FANS REALLY THINK THAT YOU GUYS HAD ANY CHANCE AGAINST OUR HEAT? YOU GUYS PUT TO MUCH OF AN EMPHASIS ON YOUR LOSING SERIES AGAINST THE CELTICS LAST YEAR, TWO WORDS FOR ALL YOU HAWK FANS DWAYNE WADE!!!! MAYBE AFTER THE SERIES IS OVER YOU GUYS CAN JOIN YER BOE GREG RYAN IN MOVING DOWN TO THE FLA AND WATCH HOW REAL NBA TEAM OPERATE!!!! gO HEAT!!!!1
Truth-serum
April 26th, 2009
4:35 pm
intellibird
April 26th, 2009
1:07 am
I appreciate your choosing to address me. If you had read my many post you would have read of my suggestions of who the Hawk could get as a center.
My post here is for Schultz and all the Woody haters, who can seem to appreciate the excellent job Woody has done with such a handicap.
I would not have suggested either of the names on your list. They would not be a good fit.
Im not going to exert any enegy to enlighten you. The arrogance in your note addressing me tells me that you arent searching for truth and have very limited intelligence.
I do wish you the best and hope you have a nice day.