Live from Game 6: The Hawks try again to close the door
An example of the Hawks' tenacious D in Game 5. (Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel)
After Game 4, a really dumb guy — OK, yours truly — told the Hawks’ PR folks: “Nothing surprises me about your team, but I’d be surprised if you lost this series.”
I stand by that statement, at least for the next couple of hours.
I think the Hawks will win tonight. Others don’t. They believe that Game 5 was the truer measure of these teams than the first four games, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to this reporter. (Four games were an aberration, but one game reflects the truth?) But I have been known to be wrong.
I wasn’t shocked by what happened Tuesday. The Hawks aren’t very good when they’re not very interested, and they played in the manner of a team that knew it had three chances to win once.
“It would have been a huge step for us a ballclub,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said, speaking moments ago. “We’d never been in that situation before, at least not since I’ve been here. It was unfamiliar territory for us.”
Now the Hawks are back at Philips Arena, the series again theirs to take, and there’s somewhat more pressure on them than there was two days ago. Lose tonight and they’d be in position to become only the ninth NBA club ever to waste a 3-1 lead. Which would, even by Hawks standards, be a major reversal.
But let’s accentuate the positive. If the Hawks win tonight — and I say they will — they’ll have taken a series almost nobody believed they could win. They’ll be headed for Chicago and Round 2. They’ll need to apologize to no one.
And with that, the figurative floor is open for questions, comments and NFL draft updates. (Kidding about that last part. It’s hard enough for me to keep track of any one thing.) I’ll be here until the Hawks have celebrated. Or, failing that, until they’ve gotten all glum. Join me, won’t you?
As ever, I thank you in advance.
By Mark Bradley
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278 comments Add your comment
Coach D
April 28th, 2011
10:03 pm
Pride comes before the fall Jameeerrrr!!!!!!!
GT Trumpet
April 28th, 2011
10:05 pm
Someone in Vegas just made a whole bunch of money! Good job Hawks! Maybe we can win a game in Round 2 this time!
Sid
April 28th, 2011
10:05 pm
well MB you gotta admit the way they play a lot of the time…….just lucky to have played a team that executes worse than they do.
PMC
April 28th, 2011
10:06 pm
Awesome! The reason that with a 3-1 win you always discount game 5 especially when it’s away.
Just WIN BABY!
Coach D
April 28th, 2011
10:07 pm
A win is a win, is a win!
Sid
April 28th, 2011
10:07 pm
Bianchi is sort of like the Donald Trump of sportswriters……anything for attention.
soldierman
April 28th, 2011
10:08 pm
we match up well against chicago if josh can get his head out of his 4th point of contact
Sleepy
April 28th, 2011
10:09 pm
Glad its over now we need to rest up for the Bulls.
There are a lot of things to complain about but the name of the game is winning and they did it
(does haters gonna hate strut)
haybud
April 28th, 2011
10:10 pm
Need updates on Hinrich pronto!
CaptainMudderland
April 28th, 2011
10:13 pm
It is the Hawks’ time….toughness is there, coaching is there…congrats men!
See ya in the 2nd round Jameer
April 28th, 2011
10:13 pm
what a bum, magic suck
ep
April 28th, 2011
10:13 pm
Birdbrains???? Hahahahahahaha!
deron
April 28th, 2011
10:16 pm
The Hawks have avenged their playoff sweep at the hands of the Orlando Magic in 2010. They became the 9th team in the last 30 years win a series against the team who swept them in the playoffs the previous season
http://theresastatforthat.blogspot.com/2011/04/sweep-revenge-how-teams-bounce-back.html
wolfman
April 28th, 2011
10:17 pm
The Hawks didn’t quit on Drew like Drew II did on UNC….
Tech Man
April 28th, 2011
10:19 pm
deron
April 28th, 2011
10:16 pm
Thanks for the stat!
JC
April 28th, 2011
10:22 pm
UNBELIEVEABLE!!! YOU ARE RIGHT, MR.BRADLEY!!!! ALL-RIGHT HAWKS, NOW IT’S TIME TO REALLY SURPRISE US ALL BY BEATING THE BULLS!!! GO HAWKS!!!!!
Rico Niles
April 28th, 2011
10:26 pm
Jamier Nelson: See you in the SECOND ROUND OF FISHING!
BullTIME
April 28th, 2011
10:28 pm
I’m so happy you Hawks won, you’ll be an easy team to destroy next!
CoachT
April 28th, 2011
10:28 pm
Sure hope Kirk’s not hurt bad.
And we survived J-Stooop. My girls observed as he came into the game late…
“daddy, why is the coach bringing mr. stupid back into the game?”
dumb i nick wilikins
April 28th, 2011
10:35 pm
Hacks will be swept by Bulls. What a batch of losers…
- highlight factory hasn’t had highlights since dumb-i-nick in the 80s
- dominique was a great player, more like dumbinick with color commentary; can we get another clothespin on the nose of the puker Rathbun? what a homer…..
What a sad batch of hacks…
- j lose (3-14)
- al hackford (3-9)
- joe (10-25)
- jamal (6-16)
and the great cha cha patchouli will no doubt contribute another flop
Party while you have the chance you batch of losers……no wonder the ATL is dissed in every sport
See ya in the 2nd round Jameer
April 28th, 2011
10:41 pm
LOL how stupid are you “dumb i nick wilikins”
rathbun is a hawks broadcaster, of course he’s a homer, what a moronic comment to make…I guess you’d call Munson a homer too…learn english before you post
Rico Niles
April 28th, 2011
10:41 pm
BULLTIME: Wow after what just happened I guess you didn’t learn from Jamier Nelson’s comment! Okay I got you who you can repeat your words in two-weeks!
Greg
April 28th, 2011
10:41 pm
Even when the Hawks win, they give their fans plenty of reasons to feel awful about them. Incredible how they kept Orlando in the game until the last second. Tried their best to give it away, but Orlando couldn’t make any plays to take it.
The Hawks-Bulls series is going to look a lot like Magic-Hawks last year. Without Hinrich, I doubt the Hawks win a game. 4-1 is best case scenario and at least 2 of the losses will be by 20+.
Rico Niles
April 28th, 2011
10:41 pm
“Hope you can Repeat your words in Two-Weeks”!
cwm
April 28th, 2011
10:49 pm
what happen to kirk
dumb i nick wilikins
April 28th, 2011
10:50 pm
see ya….u must be all of 15…… and a proud hacks fan. ps, munson was a homer for a gaggle of losers
captguitarman
April 28th, 2011
10:58 pm
Glad they won. Overall, they were the better team. But, they came very close to losing, and thus the whole series because the team that played tonight, although much better than the one that showed up for game 5, could not have won in Orlando. This game was actually the 7th game for the Hawks. Lots and lots of problems, but the absolute most disturbing were Nelson’s two completely unmolestd lay ups in the closing minutes. No block, no push, no hard foul, no punishment and worst of all, no weak side help – what were they thinking? Neslon should have been punished badly for each time he went into the lane. And why the Magic gave up the pick and roll in which Howard waltzed down the lane unmolested for monster jams? They could have done that a lot more times. Again, no block, no push, no weak side help, no hard foul, no punishment – just come on in Dwight and show us what a monster jam looks like out of a half court offense. Lapses like this agains Chicago will make that a much shorter series than this one. It was almost as if they were asleep, not knowing what to do. And finally, could Ryan have possibly been any more open when he missed the 3 pointer that would have tied the game? He probably missed because he was surprised he was completey and totally wide open. I cannot imagine a team like the LA, Boston, Chicago, etc. allowing something like that to happen. Replays showed two Hawks just standing under the basket watching him shoot. All of this at the end of the game the Hawks had to win. I pull for them and like to see them win, but they have a ways to go. Also don’t know how bad Hinrich is hurt. If he is down for the rest of the playoffs . . . Chicago in 4.
BoricuaHawk
April 28th, 2011
11:07 pm
Can’t wait to read Mike Bianchi’s blog on the Orlando Sentinel tomorrow! Go Hawks!! Let’s bring THIS team to Chicago!