Peachtree Hoops: Atlanta Hawks 100, Boston Celtics 91 or it is only a rivalry if you win

[Hawksquawk]

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Well, that was fun.

Jamal and Joe

If you have a shot term memory, Joe Johnson just dribbled around until he felt like hurting Boston's feelings, and upon that moment, he did. And if you remember the first half or were reminded by a steal, Jamal Crawford provided the "hey, we are going to score and you no longer have good defense" effort. Overall, and that includes the first three games, the Hawks put forth quite the resume for having the better team. And by team, I mean defense, and by team defense, I mean always having the best offensive player on the court. Jamal or Joe, Joe or Jamal. Paul Pierce was incredible, but he was only one man. The Hawks had two men to play one guy. It was like Clark Kent and Superman, if Clark Kent was a super hero too.

Ironic refs

It was certainly ironic, or at least coincidental, and at a minimum amusing that up around a double digit lead, the Hawks got a flagrant foul and a tech from a coach. Except Boston gave up a point by getting feisty over the, if not borderline, soft flagrant. Well that and Atlanta didn't collapse. Shoot, the Hawks didn't even have a non existent three point shooting foul to bail them out. In the end, that third quarter was horrible officiating. Not for the Hawks, but for the game of basketball. It was the same as I felt the game was in Boston. Bad all around. Only the Hawks kept there cool. So if you are a Celtics fan, tough to argue elite status when you can't even win the "act like you have been there before" battle.

That front court

My flaunted front court had a bad game. Offensively that is. Josh's biblical revenge turned into jump shots and dribbling just above the foul line. It was way too I Cor. 13 and far too little Revelations, but luckily Josh and Al showed their all-star births or should have been births by the way they earned them. Those guys challenged shots, blocked a few, ran people off open looks, and basically made up for bad defense all night. It was ugly. And they still locked it down and went 9-21 from the field. Not bad.

Victory Bullets

• Hawks had 14 turnovers, and maybe it was just because they were dumb or costly, but I felt uglier as a person for having watched them.
• Zaza had one of his best Zaza nights. Down around six points in the second quarter, he hit a wide open jump shot and celebrated like it was a quarter ending three. Then he went and grabbed three rebounds in a row. I love good/horrible Zaza. Which means good Zaza.
• This game may have set a record for dribbling.
• Paul Pierce did as he please, I am still convinced Rondo could have as well if he ever believed it.
  
• At one point, I was prepared to do very bad things to Mo Evans.
• Teague's block? Yea, it was enjoyable.
• Sweep, sweep, sweep!

Go Hawks!

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