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[center][b][i][color=#FF0000]“Look at me... Look at me... I’m the coach now.”[/color][/i][/b][/center]
[color=#FF0000]If anyone, Tyronn Lue certainly recognizes the
“If this doesn’t scare Teague out of the paint, nothing will!”
Any True Believers still left around here?
There won’t be terribly many snooping around Quicken Loans Arena for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight (8:30 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL), not after the Atlanta Hawks disintegrated at home by allowing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to dictate the pace and style of play over the course of two games. There will be even fewer TBs now, considering a Krucial K
“You trying to get the pass?”
A Stay of Execution. That’s not what’s happening in the literal sense with these Atlanta Hawks, at least not yet. They’re hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in the Eastern Conference Finals at the Highlight Factory (8:30 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL) for what hopefully is not the final time this season.
Things were looking dire late in Game 1, Atlanta down by double-digits in the final five minutes when their Playoff MVP, and LeBron Impeder, DeMarre
“It’s only my jumpshot that’s regressing!”
So… now that we’re all here…
Falcons fans, think back to where you were in 2009 when, for the first time in its 44 seasons, your favorite football team went over .500 for the second-straight year. Or how about in 2011, when the Falcons reached the playoffs in back-to back seasons for the first time in 46 years. You were probably in front of a TV, somewhere? Hi-def, maybe?
You likely don’t recall exactly where you were in either of those inst
“PEACE OUT! So, Nene… you’re still, like, driving this thing, right?”
“Series!”
The Atlanta Hawks aren’t so brash to assume their skin-of-their-teeth Game 5 victory was enough to seize the momentum, once and for all, in this conference semifinal with the Washington Wizards. After all, Game 6 (7:00 PM Eastern, ESPN, 92.9 FM in ATL) is back in the Wizards’ house, Washington’s star John Wall appears to be all the way back, and the Hawks needed heroics from Al Horford just to win a pivotal
“Stepping out the lane to contest Horford? Bah! That’s for the birds!”
Will the Atlanta Hawks join the 82nd percentile tonight? According to ESPN Stats, when teams are tied at two game apiece in best-of-seven NBA Playoff series, the team that takes Game 5 has gone on to win the series (in either Game 6 or 7), 81.7 percent of the time. Will the top-seeded Hawks take care of business tonight at the Highlight Factory against the Washington Wizards (8:00 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL)? Or wi
The last time Paul Pierce had mad hops.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Here Lies “Playoff Teague.” We hardly knew ye! R.I.P. 2011-2015.
Playoff Teague was on life support back in 2013, when his inability to find his way to the cup rendered him ineffective in the final four games against the third-seeded Pacers. Then, when all seemed lost, he found new life in 2014, terrorizing George Hill and Paul George while almost throwing top-seeded Indiana completely off their game. A full return to
“You watching, Teague? Do it just like this…”
On the second lap of these NBA Playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves racing neck-and-neck around the turn, but against a team that now knows it needs a pit stop to either repair or replace its engine. Having dropped Game 1 at home, the Hawks know that the road to its first-ever Eastern Conference Finals must include at least one victory in Washington against the Wizards (5:00 PM Eastern, ESPN, 92.9 FM in Atlanta).
The Hawks were on the f
“On second thought… I probably should've left John Wall in the game...”
Sorry to burst your bubble, top-seeded Atlanta Hawks, but you have to burst the Washington Wizards’ bubble. Tonight, preferably.
Down 1-0, the Hawks can’t afford to put up a Stinko de Mayo and then explain it away with “Welp! It bees like dat sometimes.” “We got good looks, they just didn’t go in,” and “We just didn’t make shots,” are explanations quite suitable for wheelchair basketball tryouts. But these were fami
“Seriously, Paul? We just tipped off!”
As Rakim once said, “It’s been a long time.” As Staind once crowed, “It’s been awhile.” As Sam Cooke crooned, “It’s been a long time coming.” Is a change gonna come? For the teams meeting in today’s second-round affair at the Highlight Factory, the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards (1:00 PM Eastern, ABC, 92.9 FM in ATL), a trip to the NBA’s version of the Final Four seems eons ago, from a time when people endeavored to be the answer on the Soul
“Oh, No! We suck again!”
“You heard Deez is going fishing?”
“Deez? Deez Who?”
“Deez Nets!”
I’m at Ruby Tuesday (don’t judge… I had the salad) and my buddy orders the Mega-Super-Duper Colossus Burger or whatever it’s called. The thing comes out like a Big Mac on HGH: big juicy double-decked patties, cheese bubbling out between the fluffy buns and pickles, onions and lettuce hanging out everywhere.
My friend advises the server: “Ma’am, sorry, take this back. My burger’s not DONE.” Ab
“Brace Yourself, Deron. Summer is Coming!”
Oh, now you’ve gone and done it, Atlanta Hawks! Blow a double-digit second-half lead on the road, and now the GAPPs (Ghosts of Atlanta Postseason Pasts) are out in full force. That's not your "True to Atlanta" fans haunting you with "Boo!"... that's the GAPP band!
The Brooklyn Nets are back in the ATL for Game 5 (7 PM Eastern, SportSouth, TNT, YES Network) and have proven they’re not yet ready to eliminate themselves from this first-round serie
“We are all safe from Jeff Teague! Hooray!”
Okay, so this is nobody’s idea of a Fo-Fo-Fo type of playoff team. Even Moses Malone could agree with that.
Still, whenever a number-one seed is beaten in an NBA playoff game, it’s supposed to be when they’re bested by another team while playing at their best themselves. Rasheed Wallace diagnosed the clinical term as “sunshiningonadogsasseritis.” The cure for that temporary condition is to stop playing like a dog yourself, lest you find yourse
“So, which one of you three is Curly?”
Oh, you big teases!
Those hungry for style points while watching the Atlanta Hawks tame the Brooklyn Nets in this opening round series have come away disappointed so far. “Where are the mudhole footprints?” ask the bellyachers. They peer at the final deficits, and suffice to say, they are not entertained.
Never mind that the Nets, who have oodles more postseason experience than either 6-seed Milwaukee or 7-seed Boston, have led in this series fo
“What did the four fingers say to the face?”
Time to dish out another dose of Southern Hospitality! The Atlanta Hawks are Back for the First Time, hoping to build a 2-0 lead in their playoff series with the Brooklyn Nets (7:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth, NBATV outside ATL) tonight at the Highlight Factory. Fans will have plenty reasons to Stand Up; hopefully, most of that action will be induced by the Hawks’ play on the floor.
Chris Bridges knows what it’s like to be persistently comin’ for
“DAGGER!”
Oh. It’s You.
Pardon us Atlanta Hawks fans for not trumpeting the arrival of your Brooklyn Nets, Joe Johnson, just in time for Game 1 in this opening round of the NBA Playoffs, here at the Highlight Factory (5:30 PM Eastern: GET DOWNTOWN EARLY!, SportSouth, TNT, YES Network). We trust you can find your own way back to the floor.
Most Hawks fans were hoping Joe and his underwhelming supporting cast would be watching the playoffs from the comfort of their own brownstones. But
“Now, that’s what I call a DEEP dish!”
Onto The Last One!
For Chicago Bulls fans, tonight’s regular season finale at the United Center with the Atlanta Hawks (60-21) brings a bit of a conundrum. Beat the Hawks, and their Bulls lock themselves into the 3-seed in the “OMFG LEBRON!” sub-bracket of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, taking on Jason Kidd’s fear-inducing deer in the opening round. Chicago (49-32) might prefer to land in what’s perceived as the kinder, gentler sub-bracket that’s
They’ve had their Phil.
17 seconds left, tie game. Tim Hardaway, Jr. collects the pass from the top of the arc after an offensive rebound. Hardaway backs up and drives left, springing free from a confused Elfrid Payton as the Magic’s interior defense sags. Sensing an opening, Hardaway, who shot 3-for-15 from the field to this point, lofts up a 25-foot bomb. This one goes swish! The Knicks are gonna win!
And the fan reaction, from back home from Manhattan? “BOO!”
The poor, poor New Y
Nene, Hilarious!
The Brooklyn Nets are perilously close to falling out of the playoffs and into the lottery. The Atlanta Hawks are tantalizingly close to benefiting from that misfortune, via the drafting of a lottery prospect.
Sorry, Hawks fans. Randy Wittman doesn’t share your enthusiasm.
The head coach of the Washington Wizards (6:00 PM Eastern, CSN Mid Atlantic), today’s host for our Hawks, Wittman has a hard enough time as it is keeping his team consistently competitive now. If h
“I just checked with Johnny's Hideaway. Last call in Atlanta is at 2:30.”
60! It’s a nice, round number.
There are no big cheers for a 359 dunk. “59 Minutes” would be an incomplete news program. Nobody is rushing to the cinemas to see “Gone in 59 Seconds.” Nobody cares how long it takes for a racecar to go “from 0 to 59.”
Nobody ever looks back fondly on “Nine” numbers – maybe 69, but that depends on the context. And nobody wants to look back on that time the Atlanta Hawks won “almos
“DUMMM-DAA-DUM-DUM...”
“DRAG NETS!”
First shot-clock-era NBA team to LOSE their initial playoff round after finishing the regular season in first place?
The Hawks! St. Louis, that is.
In 1959, the defending NBA champions were still smelling themselves a bit when the Minneapolis Lakers, led by fresh-faced rookie Elgin Baylor, came to town. Even in an eight-team league, the Lakers looked to be out of it in February with a 19-31 record, before going on a 14-8 run to finish in second
“So, Eric… how’d your Cats make out last weekend?”
Elimination Practice!
It will be just about a wrap for the Phoenix Suns if they lose tonight to the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, Fox Sports Arizona) at the Highlight Factory. The most successful regular-season franchise in NBA history without a single NBA title (55.2 Win%) will have gone five seasons without a postseason shot at championship glory. If they grant the winningest franchise in NBA history without a single cha
“We’ll just trade for John $@%#*^ Wall!”
They’re not dead yet!
Okay, fine, they’re dead. Suffering two ten-plus-game losing streaks in a season is usually enough to do any team in, even in the Eastern Conference. Despite a 4-1 run of late, the Detroit Pistons (28-45) sit 4.5 games out of the final spot in the playoff race, with three other teams on the waiting list ahead of them and just nine games to go.
So stick at least a spork in them, if you wish. Just don’t try to convince them
