lethalweapon3

Last night's victory by the Hawks marks the first season that two teams won Game 1 of their first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs as the lower-seeded road team. The 2010-11 Hawks have the lowest regular-season record among teams accomplishing the feat since the NBA expanded to a 16-team format in 1984. Only Del Harris' and Moses Malone's 1981 Rockets (NBA Finalists) went into the playoffs with a worse regular season record. The 2010-11 Grizzlies are the only 8-seed other than Jeff Van Gundy's and Latrell Sprewell's Knicks (also NBA Finalists) of the strike-shortened 1999 season to accomplish the feat. NBA Playoff History: Two or More Game 1 Road Wins by Lower Seeds (8-team format) Boston Celtics (4) 1969 (48-34) – @ Philadelphia (2) 114-100, @ New York (3) 108-100 (12-team format) Houston Rockets (6) 1981 (40-42) – @ LA Lakers (1) 111-107, @ San Antonio (2) 107-98, @ Kansas City (5) 97-78 (16-team format) New Jersey Nets (6) 1984 (45-37) – @ Philadelphia (3) 116-101, @ Milwaukee (2) 106-100 Chicago Bulls (6) 1989 (47-35) – @ Cleveland (3) 95-88, @ New York (2) 120-109, @ Detroit (1) 94-88 Indiana Pacers (5) 1994 (47-35) – @ Orlando (4) 89-88, @ Atlanta (1) 96-85 New York Knicks ( 8 ) 1999 (27-23) – @ Miami (1) 95-75, @ Atlanta (4) 100-92, @ Indiana (1) 93-90 Houston Rockets (5) 2009 (53-29) – @ Portland (4) 108-81, @ LA Lakers (1) 100-92 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES ( 8 ) 2011 (46-36) – @ San Antonio (1) 101-98, @ Oklahoma City (4) 114-101 ATLANTA HAWKS (5) 2011 (44-38) – @ Orlando (4) 103-93, @ Chicago (1) 103-95 Go Underdogs! Can you just imagine the barbeque??? ~lw3

Bulls are awakening to the cold reality they're gonna need a heck of a lot more than Bogans and Brewer just showing up to the game. Where were these guys? ~lw3

Somebody ask A$$burner what happened to his "rugged" Bulls? ~lw3

Is Smoove our Manny? ~lw3

Under Woody it seemed like we needed almost perfect games from all our stars just to have a shot to win. LD's Goof Management skills with this roster is clearly superior. ~lw3

There was one guy on the floor who played like an MVP throughout the night. ~lw3

"Cry Me a Chicago River..." https://twitter.com/#!/AschNBA http://twitter.com/#!/kcjhoop http://twitter.com/#!/REALSKIPBAYLESS ~lw3

Stat line I'm hoping to see in the boxscore by night's end: 3-Point Goals: J. Smith 0-0... ~lw3

I knew it was A$$burner without even reading the article. Which I won't. "Rugged..." ~lw3

Really liking the value of Cliff Matthews as a 7th Rounder. ~lw3

Awakening time for the New Agent Zero! Speed, meet Speed! Just promise me no 40 minutes a game of Jamal at the PG spot and we're good! ~lw3

Waiting on Da'Quan Bowers' name to get called is starting to make MY knee hurt. For free agent DEs, any interest in Charles Johnson (Panthers)? ~lw3

Final tallies. The bad news is the Bulls reach the Finals if the trend mentioned above holds up. And where in blazes did the Bucks come from? (Delfino?) Lowest opponents' 3-Point FG%: 1. Bulls 32.7% 2. Bucks 33.4% 3. Lakers 33.5% 4. HAWKS 33.8% 5. Celtics 34.0% Fewest opponents' 3-Pointers made per game: 1. Bulls 5.2 2. Bucks 5.3 3. Celtics 5.4 4. Rockets 5.5 5. HAWKS 5.6 In the Hawks' 44 wins, opponents' averages were 4.9-for-16.5 (29.7%) and in the 38 losses, opponents went 6.4-for-16.6 (38.6%, a percentage which, if theoretically extended season-long, would've ranked second-worst in the NBA, after the Cavs). ~lw3

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7542464.html ~lw3

I almost started this thread yesterday, so glad you did it instead... Alas, poor PitBullzEP (2011-2011), we knew him well... They're waiting for the next Hawks loss, perhaps? Like Pitbullz disappeared until after Game 5? ~lw3

Tread carefully, K.C. Johnson! ~lw3

Trivial Trivia: Which player led the four remaining Eastern Conference teams in Blocked Shots (regular season)? They may come in handy next series. On both ends of the floor against the Bulls, Smoove's shadow should not be seen anywhere near the 3-point line. And if he is on offense, boo to whoever hands him the ball out there. ~lw3

To: Drew, Larry <Atlanta Hawks> From: Weapon3, Lethal <Hawksquawk> Re: Apology Enclosed -- DO NOT OPEN UNTIL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS! ~lw3

Can't you just see the yahoos peeling off their D12 jerseys around here and putting on the D-Rose unis? Bandwagon Don't Lie. We know D-Rose will drive, drive, drive, but the Hawks absolutely must cut off passing lanes to the bigs. No easy assists to Booz/Noah/Kurt/Taj. Keep piling up the turnovers on the Bulls (first in TOs per playoff game) like the Pacers did (first in Steals per playoff game) in the first round. And when D-Rose and the guards miss shots, we cannot let their bigs bail them out with offensive boards (Bulls first in ORebs per playoff game). ~lw3

Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants. All taken by Pick #14 in 2005. Six seasons in, how many of these guys even sat on the bench for second-round NBA Playoff action? That's just a lil' frightening. ~lw3

I'm feeling a little Rick-Sund-warmed-over with the trade. Certainly gave up too much, but if we finally get back to the Super Bowl a couple times with Roddy and Julio (and if Holmgren screws up all those picks), noone will remember what we unloaded to the Browns. Is Matt Ryan going to be able to get the deep ball to our newest JJ consistently? And, sooooo, any need to make a run at Mr. "Nice knowing you, N'Awlins," Reggie Bush? I'd say no, but he'd be a heckuva upgrade from Jerious Norwood if he can stay on the field. ~lw3

Annnnnnd the desperation begins.... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-dwight-2012-interactive,0,1600830.htmlpage Really, should their local paper be doing this? I think SVG gets a repreive but Otis is a goner. ~lw3

Marvin took big shots instead of the dreaded extra-passes, and nearly made all of them. Keep that up in Chi-town next week Marvin! Remember, the United Center was the site of your big showcase just seven years ago! ~lw3

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! And the answer on the first trivia question was the impregnable Blair Rasmussen. Congrats to LD and the Angry Brids! ~lw3

or Craw. ~lw3