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 that Number One Spot… and, more importantly, what it takes to stay there. The star of Fast and/or Furious Whatever, seeking to nail down his fifth-consecutive #1 rap album, the man better known as Ludacris will be Disturbing tha Peace tonight (in a good way, Thabo!) by serenading the Philips Arena crowd with a selection of his hits spanning over 15 years.

After dropping Game 1, the Nets got two days to hang out in Atlanta, where gangstas roaming and parties don’t stop ‘til eight three in the morning. They’ve had ample opportunity to regroup, and their Game 2 adjustment will come with a more aggressive approach toward Atlanta’s ballhandlers.

At the risk of being perhaps too dismissive (“It’s not like we’re talking Stephen Curry,” he quipped), Nets coach Lionel Hollins was correct in his postgame commentary that the focus cannot be solely on stopping Kyle Korver. It’s not that Korver was able to make five uncontested treys, a postseason career-high gained largely on spot-ups and dribble-hand-offs. It was how easily he received the ball, and how the Nets continued resorting to panic mode once he did, that were greater issues.

Brooklyn’s guards were mostly passive participants during critical junctures of Game 1. Atlanta’s Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder combined for just 5 assists (eight of the Hawks’ 14 turnovers), but still made more than half their shots (11-for-21 FGs) and looked like John Stockton relative to the Nets’ lead duo of Deron Williams and Jarrett Jack (10-for-19 FGs). Just four of Brooklyn’s 18 assists came from this pair, who must be more proactive in feeding Lopez (17 points, 14 rebounds) inside.

D-Will and Jack must be more disruptive with the Hawks’ passing lanes that lead to shooters like Korver and DeMarre Carroll, who were at times so open they could pop J’s on a handstand. As the Nets failed to learn from Atlanta’s last game-clincher in Brooklyn, Korver may wind up leading the Hawks in assists (team-high 3 assists and 21 points) if multiple defenders continue to ignore opponents cutting to the hoop to make a run at him.

Joe’s got foes in different Area Codes, but Johnson will gain a few more in the 718 if he doesn’t help counteract the Hawks’ perimeter activity. While the boobirds in the stands didn’t completely shake this Money Maker, Joe missed several open shots from downtown (0-for-6 3FGs) and also clunked three of his eight free throws while the Hawks shot a scintillating 21-for-22 from the charity stripe. Like Williams and Jack, Johnson seemed satisfied with a spectator role on defense – we’ll just try to outscore the Hawks – by the time the fourth quarter arrived, and that has to change if the Nets have designs on evening up this series any time soon.

Paul Millsap (2-for-11 FGs in Game 1) will be able to Throw Dem Bows around the paint with greater ease, now that he’s taking off the protective shoulder pad and shooting shirt for Game 2. Donning the kinesiology tape that worked wonders for John Wall yesterday, Sap will be able to knock the perceived rust off of his all-around game. He can start regaining his rhythm by being a more assertive rebounder on both ends of the court, particularly taking Thaddeus Young (7-for-15 2FGs, 10 rebounds, but 4 TOs) out of his comfort zone.

If you got some scrub forward trying to break your hand, Al Horford, whatcha gonna do? Kyle’s nose, Paul’s shoulder, Al’s finger. When you’re on top, it seems like everybody wants to extract a pound of flesh and/or bone. But while Horford nurses his Pinky, it’s The Brain that benefits his team most on the floor. There’s no need to Act a Fool and try to win playoff games single-handedly.

Among players with more than 70 regular season games under their belts and averaging over 20 minutes/game, Horford’s 7.3 turnovers per 100 possessions ranks 5^th fewest among all playoff participants. While pundits were praising Lopez’s productivity during the halftime break (9 points and 9 boards, before getting hopelessly deprived by his own teammates), Horford kept right up with him (8 points and 8 rebounds, 3 offensive) and generally benefitted from a superior supporting cast.

Al’s ability to set the table for his offense (17.8 assists per-100, 5^th best among NBA centers), even without touching the ball (107.6 Offensive Rating, 6^th among NBA centers), is without peer when one considers the ability to minimize costly turnovers. Except for the ill-advised occasions when he’s trying to gallop fullcourt with the ball on the break, he’s as composed and sound a playmaker as you’ll find at his position.

When you have a whole team intent on playmaking at both ends, you need as many hands on deck as possible but, unlike some teams, you don’t need one player to be The Man. Nine of the ten Hawks that played in Game 1 registered at least one assist; nine of the ten (shot-struggling Mike Scott the sole exception) took at least one three-point attempt; and seven of the ten managed at least one steal. “This is what we’ve done all year,” Kyle Korver reminded the media postgame. “We’re not just one person on this team. We’re not playing Hero Ball.” Make a note of it, TNT!

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer seemed satisfied with his dual-point-guard sets featuring Teague, Schröder, and even Shelvin Mack, whom Bud praised explicitly in post-award commentary on the radio yesterday. The lead guards could stand to show a little more Runaway Love by expanding on the advantage in fastbreak points enjoyed in Game 1 (15-4).

The Nets want Atlanta’s guards to get bogged down in an iso-heavy halfcourt battle of wits, as it puts Brooklyn in its best position to succeed. Even when well rested, Brooklyn’s big guns cannot keep up with their opponents fullcourt, and Atlanta’s speedier guards need to exploit that. When they move, the Hawks move. Just like that.

Coach Bud did note that starting and ending transitions needed better focus. Atlanta’s bigs white-flagged on offensive rebounds too easily (11 between Lopez and Young), while the failure of supporting players to box out got Markel Brown on the highlight reel. There were several consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter where Brooklyn failed to get a shot-on-goal (turnover or blocked shot) and Atlanta failed to finish on the subsequent runout. Tighten up that focus and the door is no longer cracked open for the Nets.

After being nagged by the postgame media, Hollins will grant Brown, who started as the 2-guard, much more than the paltry five and a half minutes of time he logged in Game 1. But Brown must avoid silly turnovers and make defensive stops. Otherwise, Hollins will turn again to Jack, who gives (five turnovers in under 17 minutes) as much as he gets (5-for-8 FGs, 3-for-3 FTs) but had success getting inside on Schröder.

If Lopez going for 20-and-20 doesn’t do the trick, Hollins may choose instead to get involved a land war with Asia, and try keeping up with the Hawks’ perimeter shooters by unearthing Mirza Teletovic in this game. Whether it’s Teletovic or Bojan Bogdanovic, they must contribute on defense to be fully effective. Korver ran circles around Bogdanovic in Game 1 to help lead the Hawks in scoring.

My coach bad! My coach good! My coach do stuff your coach wish he could! If there’s anyone who despises distracting accolades amid an NBA season more than yours truly, it’s Budenholzer, whose tireless work (along with Steve Koonin) helped keep the Hawks’ value propped up for ticket-buyers and billionaire franchise purchasers alike, all season long, and now everyone is reaping the benefits.

Bud will informally accept the Red Auerbach Trophy, before a wildly appreciative crowd, with as much humility and rapidity and humanly possible. Then he’ll get down to the brass tacks and strive to demonstrate, once again, why he’s earned such an honor.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3