BackForThe2ndTime

Go team. Rah Rah. I'm with it all, but do we have to compare ourselves to the Hoosiers?

Decent preview. Tried my best on the formatting. ESPN's new site makes this a little more difficult. Insider offers a breakdown of every playoff series using an expert combination of scouting from Amin Elhassan and advanced metrics from Bradford Doolittle to answer three crucial questions. Also included are predictions from the writers, and ESPN's NBA Basketball Power Index projection for the series. Below is a series preview for the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. We've got new blood across the board in the conference finals, though in reality we can now see that it's simply the top four seeds that remain. Despite all the drama we've enjoyed, the seeds have held true. In the East, we've got the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers right where everyone thought they'd be before the season. But the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks are a true upstart, or at least as much of one as a team can be after winning 60 games. The Hawks haven't been in the conference finals since moving to Atlanta. Now armed with home-court advantage, a healthier roster and a 3-1 regular-season record versus Cleveland, the Hawks are well-positioned to advance to the Finals for the first time since Bob Pettit and his St. Louis Hawks got there in 1961. And yet Vegas has Cleveland pegged as a prohibitive favorite to launch LeBron James into his fifth-straight Finals appearance. Can Atlanta's group beat Cleveland's star? QUESTION 1: Atlanta struggled for consistency against a stout Washington defense. Cleveland started slow on defense this season, but since mid-January or so, the Cavs have been stingy. Are there any advantages the Hawks' high-efficiency attack has against Cleveland that it did not have against the Wizards? Amin Elhassan: The most obvious answer is at the point guard position, where a gimpy Kyrie Irving and Matthew Dellavedova are a massive step down defensively over what the Wizards rolled out defensively to slow down Teague. Much of Atlanta's offense is initiated by dribble penetration, followed by ball and body movement to take advantage of shifting help defense; meanwhile, while the Cavs' on-ball defense improved tremendously since the midseason acquisitions of Mozgov, Shumpert and Smith, they still don't deal well defending sets that involve secondary or tertiary rotations. Having to help on Teague dribble drives forces Cleveland into rotations that will make it hard for them to also keep track of shooters like Korver and Carroll, and cutters like Millsap and Horford. The other option would be for the Cavs to cross-match, by using Shumpert on Teague and hiding the point guards on Atlanta wings, but that doesn't make life any easier on them, since Korver doubles as a marathon runner in games and Carroll is a physical presence. On the other hand, I just answered this question as if Atlanta's offensive struggles this postseason have been opponent-driven rather than self-inflicted. There hasn't been the same kind of trust in the system exhibited by the Hawks in the postseason as the level we saw during the regular season, as the ball has seemingly stuck a little longer in players' hands. We'd also be amiss if we didn't point out that Korver's shooting has been shockingly subpar, especially in wide-open situations that he normally is lethal in. Bradford Doolittle: The Cavaliers weren't a great shot-blocking team and struggled with rim protection for much of the season. However, their 2-point-percentage defense jumped from 29th in the first half to 12th thereafter, and it's only been getting better since. The improvement largely coincided with the addition of Timofey Mozgov. According to SportVu data from NBA.com/stats, only Portland has allowed a lower percentage at the rim than Cleveland's 46.4 percent in the postseason. And the Cavs have blocked more shots per game than any other playoff squad. The problem is that Atlanta doesn't rely on points in the paint, only getting into the paint in the first place. Atlanta's offense is egalitarian, ball sharing and depends on sharp shooting. But it all starts penetration off the pick-and-roll, which according to Synergy accounts for 37.7 percent of Atlanta's play types, second only to Toronto. The Hawks like to get jet-quick point guards Jeff Teagueand Dennis Schröder on the attack, which is why they ranked third in total drives per game during the regular season. And from there, the Hawks love to kick it out and reverse the ball for the open 3. During the playoffs, the Hawks lead all teams in assists per game and fourth in "hockey" assists. They ranked second and third in those categories during the regular season. Despite all those drives, only six teams got a lower percentage of their points in the paint this season. We're not suggesting that Cleveland try to keep the ball confined to the paint of course. The point is that what happens after Atlanta pierces the middle of the Cavalier defense is at least half the battle. Cleveland has allowed only 30.5 percent shooting on 3s in the playoffs, the best of all postseason entrants. The ability to protect the high-efficiency zones on the court has allowed Cleveland to survive during the first two rounds even when its offense isn't clicking. Cleveland did a good job of limiting Atlanta's 3s during the four regular-season meetings, but allowed a whooping 59.7 percent on 2-pointers -- their worst performance against any team. The Cavs need to continue to marry their interior defense to their recover and/or stay-at-home defense against an Atlanta attack that will put a lot more pressure on them than did the Celtics or Bulls. QUESTION 2: Cleveland is missing Kevin Love and an uncertain percentage of Kyrie Irving's usual capacity. For Atlanta to win, what will LeBron James' numbers need to look like, and what do they do to keep him there? Elhassan: I'm not a fan of presetting stat lines -- "LeBron has to be held under 18 points and 11 assists for the Hawks to win" just doesn't carry much meaning. Rather, I'll say the Hawks need to limit James' paint touches (the number of times he has the ball with at least one foot in the paint). It's been proven that James can be lulled into taking perimeter shots for stretches of games. His shooting from the perimeter (and 3-point line in particular) has been terrible during the postseason, so keeping him out there would be an especially effective approach. Doolittle: Only two Eastern Conference teams outscored Cleveland with James on the floor during the regular season -- Chicago and Atlanta. James played in three of the four games between the teams, two of which Atlanta won. It's not like Atlanta shut him down: James averaged 29 points, 6.1 boards and 6.9 assists per 40 minutes against the Hawks and had a 61.9 true shooting percentage. However, the Hawks generally blitzed Cleveland on the other end (112.9 points per 100 possessions) with James on the court. You can't blame James for that, but it does suggest that he's going to have to expend energy on that end of the floor, and it could impact an offensive efficiency that already has lagged in the playoffs. We should also mention that James committed 5.7 turnovers per 40 minutes against Atlanta, and that area has been a sore spot for him in the playoffs. DeMarre Carroll is likely to be the primary defender on James this series, and according to ESPN Stats and Info, James shot just 3 of 15 and committed five turnovers with Carroll as his main defender during the two games they played against each other. And we know that the Carroll we've seen in the playoffs will make James work on the defensive end. Cleveland has been holding Irving out of practice in an effort to get him ready, and they are going to need him to make an impact. Atlanta aggressively blitzed Cleveland's pick-and-roll during the season, putting the onus on the ball handler. However, even when James was able to isolate, the Hawks held him to just 31.2 percent shooting. So it would seem that a max-impact James in this matchup would amp up the assists column while minimizing turnovers. Key target numbers: 11 or more assists per game, and three or fewer turnovers. If those things happen, the other numbers will take care of themselves. QUESTION 3: Atlanta is the top seed and won seven more games than Cleveland. Over the second half, the Cavs were not just better on both ends of the floor, but had an efficiency margin over six points higher than the Hawks. But Cleveland is at quite a bit less than full strength. All things considered, who is the real favorite here? Elhassan: Almost any time you step on the floor with the best player on the planet, you're considered the favorite, whether you like it or not. Cleveland's injury issues are a concern, but James is exactly the kind of talent who can make up for a LOT of shortcomings. Atlanta, on the other hand, is still struggling with the absence of Thabo Sefolosha (a defender they could have used in this series), and haven't scored as smoothly as we grew accustomed to seeing during the regular season. The Hawks had the better regular season and are healthier, but the Cavs are still the favorite because of the ability of one player to enormously impact the series. Doolittle: Both teams feel more like survivors than conquerors. If this series were being played three months ago, the Hawks would certainly feel like the favorite. Yet we would all be surprised if LeBron and Co. walk off the floor as losers at the end of this series. Cleveland has the best player and its defense is clicking on all cylinders, both because of and in spite of Love's injury. So, sure, the Cavs are the favorites. At the same time, the Hawks have stepped up when they've needed to. An 8-4 playoff record is nothing to sneeze at, no matter who you play. I feel like these teams in their current forms are more evenly matched than people realize, and Atlanta presents plenty of matchup issues for Cleveland. The Hawks also have home-court advantage. Predictions Elhassan: Cavs in 5. Atlanta hasn't just been different since the playoffs started, but really going all the way back to March. For all of their flaws (and they have many), the Cavs have been able to do enough to pull out victory after victory. With the Larry O'Brien Trophy within grasp, I expect to see James kick into a higher gear here. Doolittle: Hawks in 7. Chicago wasn't able to fully exploit Love's absence, but I think Atlanta has just the right weapons to do so. Irving is going to have a hard time keeping Teague out of the lane, while Al Horford and Paul Millsap can draw Mozgov and Tristan Thompson away from the hoop. If Dave Blatt goes small, Atlanta's bigs can move down to the block on offense and are mobile enough to not get burned at the other end. I feel like over a long series, the Hawks will have the Cavaliers scrambling. Don't be surprised if ... Elhassan: Tristan Thompson has a great series. His boundless energy and offensive rebounding gives opponents problems, and he's the type of above-the-rim, athletic finisher that the Hawks don't have a match for. Doolittle: We see the return of Kyle Korver. Bradley Beal and Otto Porterlimited Korver's looks over the last four games of the Washington series, but if Teague and Schröder break down the Cleveland defense as I anticipate, the Cavs won't have the luxury to have a guy stuck to Korver all the time. BPI Projection 62 percent chance Cavaliers win series. Most likely series outcome is Cleveland in five.

Lot of glass half full, I see.

Wow. I was so lost last night. I had 2 friends text me about the game AND my brother who is a UGA/Falcons/ fan. BTW Big NBA fan...but not a Hawks fan lol. I couldn't help but think, wait...you're watching the Hawks? Don't know if it was Game 5, Wall returning in a great feat of timing, but I was surprised. With the NHL playoffs on, no less. Not a very popular sport but still....playoffs.

Hi Wall. Bye Wall. Hawks baby!

The impact of Korver whether he is intent to score or not is nothing new. It has been well chronicled through out the season and it is a thing of beauty. My favorite play in particular is when Horford’s man helps too much at the top of the key as Korver receives a pass. Korver than quickly touch passes to Horford as he pivots down the lane for an open layup/dunk. Similar plays see the ball not even making it to Korver when the D mistakenly gravitates to Korver very early. There are a couple of reasons though (IMO) why this can not be viewed the same. 1.Stylistically and on a granular level, NBA offense hold very few secrets. In the reg season, players and coaches just have less time to gameplan for specific plays/themes. This is not true in the playoffs. As a result, it’s a little easier to take away certain aspects of a team’s game . Teams have more time to pinpoint on the creative ways we get Korver open without having to thing about another team a day later. Our pass-heavy offense arguably benefits from Korver more than anyone else. That’s a pass-happy style offense that is often dependent on jump shots, which are generally not as effective in the playoffs. Add that Korver may be the only one in our starting 5 not nicked up and him not driving the offense in the same fashion is harder to stomach. We only have 2 starters who can really create their own shot. With the aforementioned nicks, less Teague time and less effective Millsap ISOs are harder to come by. Fortunately for us, those guys looked familiar last game so hopefully we’ve turned a corner. 2.(Probably more important) The talent at the SG position isn’t what it used to be in the NBA. I’ve heard Korver called everything from horrible on D, to a “good team defender” to “an underrated defender. I’ve felt all three ways at some point in time. He has his moments. One things that can’t be denied, is that he’s often able to hide on D in this league. And even if we get a good SG, we can sometime send Carroll. With Pierce at SF and real size down low, it’s hard to be creative on D. Beal is having the best moments of his NBA career right now. With the Wall injury, the offense is coming through him at a much higher rate and we have our worst defender in the starting 5 guarding him a lot. Look. I’m not pointing the finger at Korver. I don’t even think he is one of the biggest keys to win this series. In the context of this thread, I’m just saying you can’t value Korver’s non-scoring value on offense the same in this series. Mostly because of the defensive implications. These are just the cards we've been dealt in this series. He’s actually shooting fine. We just can’t get him enough shots. I don’t think we not start him at all, but the value isn’t the same and personnel changes have to be made to account for this. What those changes are and how minutes are allocated is the tough part. That’s why I’m not an NBA coach. More Bazemore sounds great to me but that is such a simple/incomplete solution on its face and the devil is in the details. BTW, All this points to why having Wall back with a healthier, aggressive Teague may not be the worst thing in the world. But that sounds crazy, right?

I'd have to disagree that Korver scoring is okay. If Korver isn't scoring and he's on the court, this team is hurting. Especially if he's guarding Beal. Korver's offensive game is not versatile enough and his D is not good enough against a more traditional offense like the Wizards.

Glad we won but this guy has to get some props despite the fact that he hasn't gotten a ton of PT IMO. In the Nets series, JJ did what he wanted against DMC even when his shot wasn't falling. IDK what the advanced stats say, but that would not be taken into account. Just saying what I see. Bazemore, on the other hand, more than held his own against JJ. In tonight's game, I couldn't help but notice how frustrated Beal was when Bazemore was on him. Really interrupted their offense. Must admit I was shocked to see us go with the heavy O guard lineup of Teague, Schröder, Korver and no Bazemore. A little mind boggling when our D has consistently collapsed down the stretch in this series. I feel like Bazemore on Beal closes this game out a little more smoothly, but I didn' win COY, so I digress. On another note, DMC was our upscale 3 and D guy all year and his offense was more of a luxury than a necessity. He's had some big offensive games lately but this team is at his best when he's locking it down on D and other guys are carrying the load offensively. Hope we can make that happen again down the stretch.

Nothing to see here. This is all just a bunch of f**kery. No idea what happened but it's safe to say somebody effed up.

Exactly. Time to put up or shut up. The injuries in particular just don't explain everything we are seeing IMO.

TL;DR: Lanes were open. Despite the way this team got here, the one on one game was successful in Game 3. We were more efficient the less we passed the ball. Teague has to be more aggressive. Both were more aggressive in the second half and it was a positive boost. No real secret here. Not passing seems like a bit of a stretch. I'd moreso lean to our passing game has been less efficient because there is no driving/fear of driving to open up passing lanes. No Thabo. Sap and Horford banged up. Korver off. The most glaring omission from our early season run is still our All Star PG has been MIA IMO. Injury or not. It won't much matter what the reason is at the end of the day. http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/john_schuhmann/05/11/hawks-playoff-identity-crisis/index.html The Atlanta Hawks are suffering an identity crisis. They've rarely looked like a No. 1 seed through their first nine playoff games. Nor have they looked like the only Eastern Conference team that ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in the regular season. There were issues on both ends of the floor as the Hawks' regular rotation went down 21 points to the Washington Wizards in Game 3 of the conference semifinals on Saturday. The third string turned things around quickly before falling victim to Paul Pierce's game-winner, but for the Hawks to even the series and re-gain home-court advantage in Game 4 on Monday (7 p.m. ET, TNT), they'll need to play like that for more than 10 minutes. Multiple Hawks will tell you that they're not playing like themselves. "We got to be who we are," Paul Millsap said Sunday. Being who they are starts on offense. Al Horford said that pace is the key, and that it's about "doing things a little quicker" in the team's half-court offense as much as it's about getting into the offense with more time on the shot clock. "We need to get it up the court faster," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "But even more important is that we attack in the half-court, we move the ball in the half-court, we sprint into screens, we come off of screens. "All of those things take pace, also. When we talk about pace, it's not just pushing it down the court. There's so many other areas that we emphasize that need to be and can be better." The Wizards deserve some credit for the Hawks not being themselves. Washington ranked fifth in defensive efficiency in the regular season and shut down the Toronto Raptors' top-five offense in the first round. On Saturday, the Wizards stayed attached to Kyle Korver, not letting him get a shot off in the initial offense (not after an offensive rebound) until the last two minutes of the game. "When he's getting shots and he's getting loose, that helps us," Budenholzer said. "To a certain degree, if they're that focused on taking him away, then it should become a four-on-four game and other people should be able to get to the basket and other people should be getting good opportunities. So it's not totally dictated on Kyle getting shots." The Raptors were unable to deal with the Wizards taking their primary options away. But the Hawks have it in their DNA to move on to secondary options and make the defense pay for aggressive defense on the perimeter. "We strive off of countering," Millsap said. "When teams take something away, we're good at getting to our next options. They've been able get up in us and be aggressive and physical with us. We just got to counter it, do the things we've been doing all year." To counter the Wizards' defense, the Raptors needed to move the ball more. The Hawks, the team that has led the league in assist rate each of the last three seasons, may need to do the opposite. Atlanta's point guards did find some offensive success in the second half on Saturday. But it was by attacking the basket rather than running the offense. Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder combined for 29 of their 36 points after halftime, with 26 of the 29 points coming at the basket (16) or from the free throw line (10). With the Washington bigs out high to pressure the Atlanta bigs looking to set screens and move the ball from side to side, they weren't in the paint to protect the rim. "They're giving us a lot of open lanes to get to the rim," Teague said. "Last night, me and Dennis, in the second half, started doing that. It opened up the floor for us." According to SportVU, the Hawks scored 33 points on 24 drives from Teague and Schröder in Game 3. And though it may defy your Spurs-and-Hawks-influenced values, the Atlanta was more efficient the less they passed the ball. The Hawks scored 1.34 points per possession on 47 possessions on which they passed the ball fewer than three times. They scored only 0.83 points per possession on 46 possessions on which they passed the ball three times or more. Some fast break points are included in the first number, but so are some fourth-quarter buckets from Schröder in which he went straight to the basket on the pick-and-roll. "We were trying to force motion [earlier in the game]," Teague said. "And all we got to do is drive the ball. There were some open lanes, but we were trying to force it. And that was making our offense really stagnant." Game 4 will be the most important 48 minutes of the Hawks' season. Lose and they face a 3-1 deficit that few teams have come back from. Win and they regain home-court advantage against a team that's still likely missing its best player. And to survive, they need to attack.

Weren't people arguing that we need to play the starters more last series and cursing the bench? No disrespect because there was reason to feel that way. Just goes to show you how unpredictable this team is. I'm done trying to read this team. Just hope they can pull out a crucial/must win game tomorrow. I don't care if they bring back Steve Smith to do it.

This team is playing so soft. I don't know this team.

So, you all must have IPhones? Knew something was off about this place. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yinzcam.nba.hawks&hl=en

Agreed. As righteous as the media like to be when it suits them, they didn't have a thing to say the NYPD broke the leg of one of our key players. Especially in this climate, that's a story and worthy cause but no "superstar" involved or impacted...let's move on. Media and their played narrative can kick a bunch of rocks.

Good. Then maybe we can get the Hawks team with fire that everybody said was on a lucky streak. You know before, we plowed through the Western conference and dragged our streak even longer?

I know people hate the phrase, but this has to be a ____ ___ ____ right? I mean despite the fact that we can technically lose 2 more and be good, of course.

I can't even get the video to play, nevertheless embed. Video & Article at ESPN.com: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/73055/jeff-teague-on-art-and-science-of-the-playmaker As the point guard brings the ball up, most NBA offenses can expect to average around one point per possession. Then things happen. Screens, re-screens, help defense, escape dribbles, look-aways, passes -- with every event, the value of the possession gets a little better or worse, in increments that companies such as Vantage Sports track carefully. When a point guard navigates one good decision after another, the result can be a possession that ends with somebody in such great position -- whether that'sKyle Korver in the corner, or Paul Millsap alone under the rim -- that the value of the possession has essentially doubled. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague says he remembers the play in the video above well, and not just because, as he points out, Kyrie Irving grabbed Teague's arm, causing him to nearly lose the ball. Instead, he remembers splitting the defenders in the high screen-roll -- it was the first time anyone had split a Timofey Mozgov screen all year -- and then rolling to the hoop thinking through his options. Teague says his first thought is always to get to the rim, but Kevin Love came to stop that, and despite a bad defensive reputation, the numbers suggest the injured Cav makes a positive difference at this end of the court. Love ranks second among all NBA power forwards in Vantage's "effective help" rate, which is the percentage of help attempts that lead directly to a well-contested shot, deflection, tie-up, offensive foul, denied pass or turnover. With Al Horford trailing the play and Korver effectively removed from it by J.R. Smith, Teague is left leading a game of 3-on-2 against Love and LeBron James. Teague finds it tough to sneak passes by James, in general, and Vantage stats indicate it's freakishly difficult for shooters to make shots when James is the defender closing out. "Of 70 small forwards who get regular minutes," reports Vantage's Chase Exon, "LeBron James ranks first in closeout points allowed, allowing only 1.73 points per 100 closeout opportunities, making it pretty unlikely [DeMarre] Carroll could even get a shot off here." So Teague uses a head fake and lean to get LeBron thinking the play is going to the left wing. With Love tracking Teague, and James misled into thinking the action is headed for Carroll, Teague has everyone where he wants them, creating a perfect high-value scoring opportunity for Millsap. Great decisions aren't always the most heroic highlight moments of games -- highlights tend to focus on unlikely buckets, and good decision-making is about likely ones. But plays like this one from Teague exist in the upper atmosphere of team efficiency, and that's precisely where games are won.

That was tough. Have to be encouraged by the fact that we lost only because we completely bombed in the last quarter. Also, have to be a little worried since this isn't exactly the first time something like this has happened. Have to wonder if the Wiz benefited from all that rest at the end of the game.

That's how you close out a series. Horford hitting that midrange shot was good new going forward.

If Horford's midrange game is back, we can go far. It hasn't been there much of the series. When Horford's man hang back on that play it limits our passing lanes to the rims and space for our guards to penetrate. On the PnR, he has to hit it consistently or force his man out there to defend him.

Please oh please oh please dominate.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/brooklyn-seems-to-be-getting-its-san-antonio-on-lately/ Remember this, the most glorious possession from all of last season? Well, check this out: That’s right: The Nets experienced a Spursgasm in their crazy Game 4 win at home Monday night! And it was fantastic. Brooklyn can’t quite cop the Spurs style, of course. The original Spursgasm just looks better. San Antonio touches the ball around so fast that it manages to squeeze three quick-hitting passes within the same half of the court. Brooklyn is bulkier and slower, and it needs to swing the rock across the floor to generate the final open dagger from Bojan Bogdanovic. More 2015 NBA Playoffs Check out all of our NBA Playoffs coverage! But the general trajectory is the same: ball handler, to perimeter release valve, to roll man, to corner shooter. It’s beautiful. Brooklyn isn’t locked with Atlanta because of its offense; the Nets have scored just 101.3 points per 100 possessions in this series, a mark that would have ranked 23rd in the regular season — a big drop-off from what Brooklyn produced once Brook Lopez got rolling again. The Nets are in this thing because they’ve tightened their defense in smart ways, but the Hawks were going to crack that shell eventually. The Nets would need to blow up at some point to steal another game, and it happened last night: 115 points per 100 possessions, a deluge of 3s, and the bimonthly return of the old Deron Williams. (Do not get fooled, Brooklyn fans. Do not do it to yourselves.) That Spursgasm was probably the most aesthetically pleasing thing in the history of the Brooklyn Nets, but it was not an outlier last night. The Nets were diligent about moving the ball, and themselves, to the point that they barely even looked like the Nets anymore. Watch how fast, and how far, the ball moves in just a few seconds on this first-quarter possession: Bogdanovic makes the most important play there. The initial Joe Johnson/Lopez pick-and-roll on the right side forces Bogdanovic’s man, Kyle Korver, to sink into the paint and get ready to bump Lopez. Korver has to slide back out to Bogdanovic when the Nets swing it there, and Bogdanovic leverages Korver’s momentum with a drive that starts almost the instant the ball arrives. Wait too long, and Korver can gather himself. These are the kinds of plays the Nets have too often failed to make during their drab Brooklyn existence, save for an exciting half-season of small ball1 under Jason Kidd. Atlanta was banking on facing the same predictable Nets — the slowpoke team that keeps the ball on one side of the floor, dribbles it into dust, and burps up a contested midrange shot. Atlanta’s defense smothers that kind of team. The Hawks are fast and long, and every player has the good habit of moving around on defense with his arms spread wide. If you bring the ball to one side, the Hawks will slide all five of their players there and try to pin you. There will be arms in every easy passing lane. The only escape is to fling a lob pass to an open man all the way across the floor, and the Hawks fly fast enough to be pecking at your face by the time the ball arrives — unless it’s a LeBron-esque frozen rope. Stop the ball there, and the Hawks can re-create the trap as the shot clock dwindles. It’s move or die against Atlanta, and if you can keep it going, you can find an open 3 or challenge the Hawks’ undersize front line at the rim. The Nets moved it on Monday, and that is the most important reason they’ve managed to give us a second 2-2 series. It required some luck: a Williams bailout 3 late in regulation, and a crucial Lopez and-1 in overtime, when the ball squirted away from Williams and landed in Lopez’s lap in the paint. But those things tend to even out over the course of 48 minutes. The Nets earned Game 4, and the insertion of Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young into the starting lineup has stocked it with willing ball-movers around the Johnson/Lopez combination — a duo that can get sticky hands. Some other notes: • The Nets have held Atlanta’s offense to just 99 points per 100 possessions, way below the Hawks’ regular-season mark. The Hawks have missed some bunnies, and Al Horford’s injured right pinkie is clearly messing with his jumper. But the Nets deserve a lot of credit for a good Hawks-specific game plan. They’re switching on a ton of Korver screens, both on and off the ball, and Korver has had a harder time than usual getting open. Bodganovic can’t keep up with him, but switching mitigates that — especially with a speedy power forward like Young. They’ve dared Jeff Teague to beat them from the outside, dialed back their pick-and-roll coverages to keep themselves out of rotation — Pero Antić can have an open pick-and-pop triple anytime — and gotten braver about letting Horford jack from midrange. A hard hedge like the one Young uses on this Teague/Mike Scott pick-and-roll could leave the Nets in a desperate scramble mode if Teague hits Scott rolling into open space: But Teague can’t thread that pass, because Lopez hangs back off Horford. The possession stalls out from there. • Still: The Hawks found some new ways to spring Korver in Game 4, and Brooklyn will see them again in Atlanta on Wednesday. Atlanta knows now that Brooklyn will switch picks for Korver away from the ball, and the Hawks players setting those picks in Game 4 began slipping away before really setting them at all. Watch DeMarre Carroll, having a wonderful two-way series, pull the trick here: It’s a way of jumping the switch — of using the threat of Korver’s shooting to get someone else open. Horford nearly got a dunk out of it later: The Hawks are also working to run Korver off screens that are less switch-friendly — picks from Atlanta players being guarded by bigger, slower Nets. One way to do that is have an Atlanta big set a typical high screen for the Hawks point guard, and then roll right into a pindown for Korver: That forces a tough choice upon the Nets: Switch Mason Plumlee onto Korver, or play traditionally, allowing Korver to run ahead of Bogdanovic. The Hawks even had Korver run a pick-and-roll himself, a rare thing that had the same effect. He hit a long 2-pointer out of it in the fourth quarter. The Nets benched Plumlee for all but 18 seconds of the second half, playing more than ever before with a super-small lineup featuring four wings and Young as the nominal center. If Mirza Teletovic can’t go again, that may be the way Lionel Hollins is most comfortable resting Lopez. • There are a lot of fun size-vs.-speed matchups in this series. When the Nets go center-less, the rangy Hawks suddenly become the big bullies, with the potential for a post-up advantage at multiple positions. The Hawks played the all-speed big-man combo of Paul Millsap and Scott against Lopez more than usual last night, wagering their edge in shooting and wheels would outweigh Lopez’s mammoth size advantage. The Nets have also used Johnson at power forward, and Millsap during those minutes has not been able to abuse Johnson in the post. The Hawks can get that matchup whenever they want; Brooklyn is switching a lot of Carroll-Millsap actions, leaving Johnson to battle Millsap down low. Atlanta didn’t care much to go there until last night, and Johnson generally held his own. Still, it’s a place Mike Budenholzer might look to keep Millsap revving, draw help, and open up 3-pointers: • When the Nets go small, the Hawks keep Carroll (or Kent Bazemore) on Johnson, and their second big man on Alan Anderson. Anderson has hurt Atlanta in those setups with the kinds of catch-and-go drives Bogdanovic whipped out in Game 4. If Anderson and Bogdanovic continue to give strong minutes, the Nets have a shot to stay competitive. They have to keep the machine moving and resist the old temptations of iso-ball.

Injury or.......