Peachtree Hoops: Milwaukee Bucks/Atlanta Hawks Game Review: What Happens Now?

[Hawksquawk]

More photos » John Amis - AP

Yup. Looks like the truth is hurting.

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Stop me if you've heard this one before...The Atlanta Hawks blew a big lead late in the fourth quarter, snagging defeat from the ol' jaws of victory.

What new?

Guess the team never has quite learned those lessons from all the other games this year that this exact thing happened.

Guess those "meaningless" games in the regular season that the Hawks fooled around and fell out of love with winning really don't magically disappear once the playoffs come.

Guess that reporter after Game One who dared to ask Woody about this being a defining characteristic may have hit too close to home.

Whatever you feel about this team that positive, and I feel a lot of positive things about this club, there is no denying that they are extremely capable of imploding at the worst times, showing up flat even in the most important of games, and unable to deal with adversity when it occurs on the court.

The good news for the team is that they still have the talent to win the (2) games that are left, but it has to be a (96) minute effort to get it done---the Bucks have more than proved that they will not let the Hawks slide for any sort of lapse--especially not when series victory is now within their grasp.

More good news is that the Hawks can return to the feeling of "underdog" and maybe motivate themselves (can't believe you have to write that about a 53 win team) to get past this well coached crew from Milwaukee and move on to the second round.

These Hawks have the ability to do great things in the postseason, but sadly they have shown their other side all too clear in (5) games in the first round, and are now poised to either make the great comeback or give into the darkness of defeat.

What happens now?

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