Sports Page Atlanta

It is very unordinary for Hawks fans to be tuning into a game around this time of year. In fact, it hasn’t been since 1999 that both the Hawks and their fans had a post-season to look forward to. Atlanta’s rebuilding process since its last playoff appearance has taken much longer than expected, but alas this franchise has something tangible to show its development. Entering the playoffs with a 37-45 record, the Hawks clinched the 8th seed in the east and finally ended the playoff drought in Atlanta.  As impressive as it sounds, there is little time for rejoicing with a showdown against the number one seeded Boston Celtics quickly approaching. The Celtics posses the best record in the NBA at 66-16 and will own the home court advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.  This season the Hawks have gone 0-3 against the Celtics and look to face a team that has been resting their starters for the past couple weeks.  The odds are clearly stacked against the Hawks in the opening series of the playoffs, but Atlanta stands in a position with nothing to lose.

Game 1 Summary:

It didn’t take but the first 1:30 min of the game to realize that the Hawks could not even come close to matching the energy or hunger of the Boston Celtics. The T.V, showed the Boston sideline feeding off the frenzy in the Garden while the Hawks nervously exchanged chest bumps and nervous stares. After the opening tip, Boston quickly set the tone with a flurry of both inside and outside scoring and suffocating defense at every position. Their defense completely removed Joe Johnson as a scoring option, and made open jumpers a rarity throughout the entire game. The Hawks were struggling to find simple passing lanes, and found themselves in a 14 point deficit early in the first half. Atlanta regrouped and capitalized on a couple Boston miscues, and cut the lead down to 4 with about five minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.  Doc Rivers quickly plugged Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce back into the line up to help secure a ten point lead going into the second half.

There were very few bright spots for Atlanta in the second half.  All of Boston’s starters began registering double digit scoring figures until they let their bench add to the scoring frenzy. The last 8 minutes of the game appeared to be the longest of the season for the Hawks. The T.V. showed an Atlanta bench filed with blank stares and disheartened body language. The team is very aware that they have another game in Boston before they can regroup in Atlanta, and will have to find a way to change the momentum of this series. On a brighter note, Al Horford continued his impressive Rookie of the Year campaign showing a lot of finesse and dominance in the low post. He never once appeared intimidated by Boston’s post presence, and displayed his enthusiasm and heart until the last minute.  Horford may prove to be the catalyst the Hawks need to change the momentum of this series, and generate some belief that Atlanta can compete against the NBA’s best. The teams are schedule to play game two in Boston on Wednesday, April 23rd at 8:30 p.m.

Elliot Bernstein is a 22 year old native of Atlanta. He currently attends the University of Georgia, but will be graduating in August. He is an avid fan of Atlanta sports, and a very proud member of the Bulldog Nation. Elliot is extremely excited about working with SportsPage Atlanta, and believes the city of Atlanta has an exciting year of sports to look forward to!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Atlanta Hawks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.