Me, I think the Hawks have a real chance to steal Game 6
Philips Arena might not have seen its last NBA game of the season. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Not wanting to be a jinx or anything, I’ll refrain from making an actual prediction. But I do think the Hawks have a real chance in Game 6, and here’s why:
1. Al Horford changes the dynamics at both ends. You’ll notice that Boston, which prides itself on playing D, couldn’t stop Horford in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter of Game 5. He scored the go-ahead-for-good hoop off a pick-and-roll with Jeff Teague — surely a called play out of a timeout — and made a tough hook over Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass to put the Hawks up four. And you had to notice that Horford’s slipping of Garnett’s screen forced Rajon Rondo to dribble into the corner on the final sequence, whereupon he lost the ball. Would all the folks who picked the Celtics to win this series have made the same choice if they’d known Horfy would be back?
2. A personal rule: A team only gets so many opportunities to win a series. The Celtics squandered a prime one in Game 5. The Hawks were at sea early, and if Paul Pierce had hit a 3-pointer to make it a 13-point game the home team might have wilted. But Pierce missed and Joe Johnson found Kirk Hinrich running long for a layup, and what could have been a 13-point spread was instead eight. The Celtics also had two chances to nose ahead in the final 20 seconds but Pierce tried a tough shot — Johnson defended expertly — that didn’t touch iron and Rondo couldn’t find anything in the 10 seconds after he stole Josh Smith’s inbound pass. (It helped that Smith was alert enough to impede Rondo in backcourt; it also helped that Doc Rivers had no timeouts.) Two chances, neither resulting in the ball getting as far as the rim: It could be that the Celtics will close this out tonight and forget all about Game 5, but what if they don’t?
3. The Hawks, as noted, are pretty good when you expect them not to be. They looked a beaten team after Game 4, and for much of Game 5 they acted as if they weren’t sure if they could pull this off. But winning in the way they won — holding off the more seasoned team at the end — had to swell their self-esteem. They’re still alive, and if they can steal Game 6 they’ll have Game 7 here. They’re a six-point underdog tonight, but to me they’re a mighty live ‘dog. Then again, I’ve been known to be wrong about the Hawks — oh, only about a hundred times this century.
By Mark Bradley
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126 comments Add your comment
Bradley Curse
May 10th, 2012
4:55 pm
“Me, I think the Hawks have a real chance to steal Game 6″
really testing the waters with that one title ……
me thinks, if Hawks steal Game 6, Hawks fans need to start gearing themselves up for a really huge letdown game #7, “Here’s what we do: Game 6, we elevate you to a high where we make you think we can do anything this year then BOOM! Game 7 …. let down game and we’re talking potential blowout type stuff here”
Double Zero Eight
May 10th, 2012
5:02 pm
The best the Hawks can hope for is to keep the
game close. It will be a “moral victory: in their
minds if they lose by single digits, and Sund will
put his spin on things about what will happen
next year..
I expect the Hawks to fall behind by double digits
in the first quarter and never recover. They will be
intimidated by the crowd and the banners hanging
in the arena.
I hope that I am wrong.
ZaZa GoneFoolYa
May 10th, 2012
5:07 pm
Hawks will win 89 – 79 tonight. Just playing..They will win 90 – 79…
Felix
May 10th, 2012
5:23 pm
These Atlanta Hawks win at Boston?
Mark, have you been smoking weed?
Columbus
May 10th, 2012
5:49 pm
Wish Zaza was playing. He gets under Garnett’s skin and plays him physical and with Al in the lineup, the Hawks would win the series. Zaza’s game is perfect for the playoffs and is sorely missed. Hawks can still win with defense and running the Celtics out the building but will they do it?
Paul in NH
May 10th, 2012
5:55 pm
Justin
May 10th, 2012
1:38 pm
Uhm Bulldawg, Horford did make a difference in past seasons. How do you think the Hawks took the Celtics to 7 games in 2008 as an 8 seed? That was Boston’s best team ever.
—–
The 2008 team were the best Celtics ever? Really??
Better than Bird, McHale, Parrish, Johnson, Ainge and Walton?
Better than Russell, Heinsohn, Jones and Jones?
Pete
May 10th, 2012
6:17 pm
Delusional to think a Hawks team could win in a place like Boston in a “must” situation.
Better chance seeing Ga. State defeating UGA in football………..for the national championship.
CamiloAtlanta
May 10th, 2012
7:02 pm
Win or lose, we all know heartbreak is there waiting. The question isn’t if we lose, it’s when? Yes, I’ve seen this movie a thousand times.
The Fat Lady
May 10th, 2012
7:17 pm
I sing tonight.
BravesFan79
May 10th, 2012
8:31 pm
Hawks will take tnights game and force game 7!
Bigguy
May 10th, 2012
8:53 pm
Doc Rivers is fugly
Spinniker
May 10th, 2012
9:11 pm
LOL, Celts went on a 16-0 run, the hawks are pathetic. Joe Johnson’s play is proving that he is not worth that $100 mili he got, sad!
amondi
May 10th, 2012
9:52 pm
the hawks will choke away another round 1 series. It’s loserville again in THE ATL! Rise up!
Bigguy
May 10th, 2012
9:57 pm
Mike crapello should shut his trap
Joe
May 10th, 2012
10:11 pm
The Hawks have no heart.. and this starts …. at the head. Ownership, coach, and then our 121 million dollar man.. all heartless. blow it up.. if it can be done before teh announce twooooo minuuuutes in the gaden, all the better
Bradley Curse
May 10th, 2012
10:42 pm
“Me, I think the Hawks have a real chance to steal Game 6″
mmmm … nope, wrong again
Dwayne C
May 10th, 2012
10:44 pm
“The Hawks have never come through when people start getting optimistic about their chance”
-CelticsCraig
^Spoken for truth! The Atlanta Hawks have a decent team. They also are no closer to winning an NBA championship now than anytime in the past. Period.
cdbgolf
May 10th, 2012
10:45 pm
once they took the lead 79- 76 they played not to lose.The took all the air out and dribbled the shot clock all the way down till they had to force up a crappy shot.Same ole same ole Hawks!!!!
Bradley Curse
May 10th, 2012
10:48 pm
“They also are no closer to winning an NBA championship now than anytime in the past”
just need to face facts, in all sports you have teams that might one 1 championship game in 100 years (some worse than that). I think the Hawks fall into this group
Jackson B
May 10th, 2012
11:20 pm
Was an admirable effort near the end, but they fell back into their old habits…standing around and dribbling, running the shot clock down, and then taking poor shots, especially at critical times. Our half court game continues to be lame. And our guys simply show no passion. Except for Horford. It is unfortunate that he was the one to miss the free throw at the end. Bet he’ll feel much worse about that than either Iso-J or Smith.
Celtic Pride
May 11th, 2012
12:11 am
The bottom line is this….The Hawks just weren’t a great team. Every Celtic fan out there got a big smile on their face every time Josh Smith would take a 20ft jump shot…..it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he doesn’t shoot well from the outside. Good luck with your summer hobbies Hawk player…..you’re average at best!
PMC
May 11th, 2012
12:31 am
and the Bradley curse holds true. Why not write an article about the future success of Michael Gearon or something and get some use out of this ability.
Please get the ASG bums completely totally out of town never too return. They have been worse than Sherman.
James
May 11th, 2012
6:20 am
Yeah…Another Atlanta team not advancing in the playoffs….and the Atlanta media telling all of us…I think they can win game 6..Haha!
Topher
May 11th, 2012
7:35 am
While the owner is certainly entitled to his opinion, he poked the Bear with his comments on Garnett, and the Big Ticket sent the Hawks packing. His comment about all of the Hawks injuries was also misguided- every team has them- heck, the Celtics lost their starting center and had two key players need heart surgery during the season- top that. Also two things we don’t need to do in Boston- have the PA tell us when to cheer (the “lets go Hawks” in the silent highlight factory is embarrassing) and we don’t send the confetti down until we win it all (as opposed to wining a first round game)
PMC
May 11th, 2012
9:25 am
You don’t have to do anything in Boston because the Celtics have won half of the NBA titles in the league Topher.
The Hawks during thier history in this town have never advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hard to have fans when there are scarcely any marketable players on the team.
ArthurSinclair
May 11th, 2012
12:44 pm
When the Hawks had the lead 79-76, not only did they play not to lose, but they didnt box out the Celtics and let the celtics get offensive rebounds, which killed our chances of winning. Had we grabbed the rebound and scored, the score would have gone up to 81-86 and the hawks would have hung on and forced game 7. Then in game 7 on their home floor, the hawks would have won the series and moved on to the next series against the 76ers.