AtLaS

LOL we literally can't guard the Celtics. To be fair, noone really can. We still have a shot here. I like the way we are playing. The team is motivated and confident.

Capela really doesn't need to play in this series. He really struggles against all the top playoff teams. He's terrible against Philly and Milwaukee too.

We are getting great shots on offense. Just missing. We can't guard the Celtics at all. Really just have to hope they miss.

HUGE WIN for the team. Now lets get to business. We are out of our heads, we can beat the Celtics.

You have to look at the individual games though. He had a few stinker games that dragged down his percentages (including the final game against Milwaukee on one leg), but he had some dominant games, and he was also EXTREMELY clutch. The dude was a closer ALL playoffs. Even in his bad game 7 against Philly he closed out that game at the end with key buckets and free throws.

Noone has unshakeable confidence. Maybe Kobe did. It's subtle. But I can see it with his play, once he has a few bad plays in a row he is hesitant for the entire rest of the game. Him throwing the ball to the referee out of bounds for his 3rd turnover in like 2 minutes, missing free throws, floaters, 3pt shot being off, not attacking like he normally does, his clutch play. It's just how he is making decisions and being a step slow. That is confidence. Of course we could use better spacing, but that's only a very small piece of this. I don't mean that he isn't confident. It's that he's gone from 100% to maybe 75% confidence. It's taken him down a peg, and enough to effect his game. B/C of his size Trae needs to be at 100%. It's like an RB in football, if you lose 1/2 a step it's the difference between getting tackled for a loss and hitting the hole for a 60 yard TD. Trae isn't Shaq or LeBron where he can just overpower others and get his usual performance. His game is based on accurate and very fast decision making. Watch game 4 and 5 against Miami last year, that's a guy who didn't want the ball. I have never seen that from Trae. I don't give a damn who is on the floor with him, he was shook. Trae played with some garbage players in his first few years and this never happened. In my completely irrelevant basketball career, I've been there after tough games/matchups and then play like shit for the next month, I know that feeling doing stupid crap that i know not to do but I'm clouded. This is not something that only Trae has gone through. Lebron vs 2011 Mavs, Harden has laid major eggs in the playoffs, CP3 has done it, Lillard, Kyrie, Melo has. It happens. He can get through it he just needs a dominant PLAYOFF game to get the F out of his own head. A big game in the regular season isn't going to fix this. Because once the playoffs begin all that noise of his playoff struggles picks up again. He needs a big game on the big stage.

100%. After the 2021 playoffs, in the 2022 regular season he took his game to another level we hadn't seen before. The Miami series broke him mentally. It's pretty clear that Trae lives and dies by his confidence. Check his summer league and the first 2 months of his rookie year, the criticism was in his head until he overcame it. Miami series happened and it took him down a peg and he's still trying to get through it. The reason he's not a winning player right now is confidence. If we have 2021/22 Trae confidence he is a legitimate winning player that is extremely hard to stop. Because of his size, so much of his game is based on quick/fast decisions, so if his confidence is shaken AT ALL he's going to struggle.

We are just way too soft for the Celtics. They just overpower us. If we get physical at all we get called for fouls.

You must not have watched game 4 and 5 against Miami last year.

It's because he has lost his confidence. When that happens your decision making is bad. He's in his own head like crazy.

Trae is almost unplayable like this.

When Trae is bad he is BAD

His last 6 playoff games have been atrocious. When he starts a game going 2-12 with 5 turnovers in the first half and playing below average D, we just aren't going to win. Since Trae isn't a great defender (although improved), it's nearly impossible to win against a good team if he isn't dominating offensively. He's my favorite player and led us on the most exciting playoff run I've ever seen, but he just isn't the same player he was 2 years ago (or last year before the Miami series). I hope he gets it back soon.

It's not that teams have gotten better at defending Trae, he just doesn't have the confidence that he had in 2021 and 2022 regular season. That Miami series screwed him up and he has not been the same since. He's making worse decisions than he used to and his shot is broken. It's mental IMO.

They are just so loaded with 3pt shooters. It is crazy. Any one of those guys could make 8 3s in one game. And those are just the bench guys. If C's shoot 40% from 3 we have zero chance of beating them unless we are just on fire offensively. We need to play tight and keep them around 33-35% to have a chance. Hopefully things tighten up a bit in the playoffs.

Lowry, seriously?

BS call. Not a foul on Butler. FT's are killing us.

We just fold against this team. It's unreal. Heat have so much confidence against us as well. They know we will fold.

Heat will make a run. We have to counter it.

Going to be a tough game, it's on the road and Miami is the Hawks worst matchup in the league. I love it. If we somehow beat them in this game (and Trae plays well) it's a huge monkey off our back, we might go and beat Boston. If Trae can get back to 2021 confidence level we can beat anyone. This is where you find out what you got on the squad. Very excited to see what Murray brings also, this is his first real chance at a game like this. He only played spot playoff minutes like 6 years ago for SAS.

Would get the Miami monkey off our back, and give us a ton of confidence going into the playoffs IMO. Boston can be beat. All they do is shoot 3's so if they are off we will beat them.

CC is expendable now. Okongwu is stepping up and his jumpshot is way better than I thought it would be. We need him playing 30 mpg. Can probably recoup some picks or another rotational player and save some salary.

I think OO/JJ is a good fit with Kat. We more need defense and toughness if we add Kat to this team. Offense clearly won't be an issue. I still worry we will be a soft team and struggle to beat physical teams consistently with Kat. But i think we have to take the chance if available.

Teams eyes just light up when they see the Hawks on the schedule. Just no fear of our defense, seems like almost every game opposing teams shoot 50% or better from 3. And of course Towns is playing like he never missed a game.

Man we should be 2 games over .500 and on a 3 game win streak if we just took care of business against SAS. Really hope we can end the season on a hot streak.