Game Thread: Hawks @ Celtics 8PM Est On TNT

[Admin]

TNT game preview (after the game, longer one should be coming up):

http-~~-//nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/channels/playoffs/2012/05/09/0041100136_atl_bos_lookahead.nba_nba_576x324.flv

Hawks-Celtics Preview

By JIMMY GOLEN

Posted May 09 2012 3:35PM

BOSTON (AP) John Havlicek against the 76ers.

Larry Bird against the Pistons.

When Rajon Rondo intercepted a Hawks pass in the final seconds of Game 5, he had a chance to add to the list of memorable Celtics playoff steals.

Then he fumbled it away.

"I hate that the game ended the way that it ended," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after Atlanta held on for an 87-86 victory in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series to force a sixth game in Boston on Thursday night. "I thought that Rondo willed us back into the game. He really did."

Rondo already had 13 points and 12 assists when he grabbed his fifth steal of the game, intercepting an inbounds pass from Al Horford to Josh Smith with 10.9 seconds left and Atlanta leading by one. Boston had no timeouts left, so Rondo moved up the court along the left side, where Horford trapped him.

Kevin Garnett stepped back to receive the pass, but Rondo lost control of the ball and Smith tipped it away as the buzzer sounded.

"My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour on the last sequence," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "We didn't make a smart play inbounding the ball, but I'm glad (Smith) had the presence of mind on the last play to step up on Rondo when he came flying up the court."

The Celtics have a record 17 NBA titles and a lot of history over the years, and steals are prominent among their most memorable plays. Johnny Most's call of "Havlicek stole the ball!" in the 1965 Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia is one of the most famous in sports history, and Bird's steal against Isiah Thomas to beat Detroit during the 1987 playoffs was just as impressive.

Rondo's steal had the potential to be remembered just as fondly, especially after he took control of the game during a 10-0 run that cut as 12-point deficit to a single basket at the end of the third quarter.

Instead, it all went for naught.

"I cornered myself," Rondo said. "Give Al credit. I just didn't come up with the shot."

Although Rondo's outside shooting has always been the weakest part of his game - he was 6-for-17 from the floor on Tuesday - he made 8 of 11 shots in Game 4 and Horford considered him dangerous.

"I didn't want to lose the series in that way, with him hitting a jumper over me or something like that," Horford said. "So you're fighting for your life out there. My thing was to force him to pass the ball, to bottle him up the best I could and then Josh made a great deflection."

Rivers, a former point guard himself, said he thought Rondo should have gone up the middle of the court instead of the sideline. And he wanted Rondo to drive toward the hoop, instead of setting up on the perimeter.

"I was hoping he would attack the basket, but he lost control of the ball and that blew up any chance that we had," Rivers said. "We didn't capitalize on the situation."

The Celtics will have another chance on Thursday night, and this time they can close the Hawks out in Boston. Game 7 would be in Atlanta on Saturday, if necessary, but the Celtics would surely like to finish it up early to rest their aging stars.

Rivers and Drew both gave their teams the day off on Wednesday to rest.

After missing almost three weeks with bone spurs in his ankle Ray Allen returned for Game 3 and has avoided any setbacks. Paul Pierce tweaked his left knee in Game 4, but he said it wasn't bothering him much on Tuesday.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are getting healthier.

Horford played in Game 4 - his first action since January - and was back in the starting lineup for the fifth game, scoring 19 points with 11 rebounds. Smith, whose sore knee knocked him out of Game 3, had 13 points and 16 rebounds.

"I know Josh is still having a little discomfort in his knee but he is playing through the pain," Drew said. "I think everybody else is fine."

I will leave the great preview stuff for LW3 when he's ready to post it...

[Admin]

Pierce and Smoove: The battle of wounded knee!Sure hope that we can come out with the energy tonight like we did in the last 3/4's of game 5 and hopefully Pierce and Allen and Rondo aren't shooting lights out again like they were in game 4.

[benhillboy]

Joe needs his third memorable, lead-us-to-victory playoff performance dropping 30+, point blank period. He had his first two against arguably stronger defenses, so the excuses about the wall around the foul line or how well Pietrus or Bradley or even a hobbled Pierce defends him should be thrown out the window. Just ball out like it's an important game in your career and win like you realize we'd trash either the Bulls or Philly in the next round with Zaza and Al back. Simple as that for our Max Man. The team will get it done at home in Game 7.

[arhawkfan]

Ben I agree with you. JJ needs a game like game 1 last year against the bulls.

[ATLSmith]

Time to dig deep Hawks.

[lethalweapon3]

That the Hawks had not (until Game 5, with 46.6 FG%) been shooting the rock with some sense of ease should be no surprise to anyone following the Celtics’ team defense all year long. This season, Boston had the stingiest opponent 3-point FG% in eight seasons, while their defensive rankings at-the-rim (58.8%, 3^rd best), between 10-15 feet (32.9%, 1^st in the NBA and just ahead of the Hawks’ 33.6%), and between 16-23 feet (35.9%, 6^th best) were almost as formidable.

If there is a poison to pick from, it’s on short-range shots 3-9 feet from the basket (Celtics foes shot 36.9% this season). Boston’s opponent FG% at this range ranked 11^th lowest in the NBA, but a mediocre 9^th lowest among playoff teams. It’s at this range where, conversely, the Hawks’ offense was among the more efficient in the league (41.5%, 4^th highest). An array of Teaguedrops, Joefloaters, and Smoovehooks, coupled with some persistent board-crashing will keep the efficiencies modest and the defenders honest.

In particular, Joe Johnson (48.5%) was the league’s second-most efficient converter among guards/wings taking more than 2 shots a game at this distance (second to Chris Paul at 49.7%). In his short stint, Al Horford (52.9%) had the third highest FG% at this range among NBA players taking 1.5 or more attempts per game this season (Carlos Boozer and J.J. Hickson, at 53.8% and 53.7%, respectively). Tracy McGrady (55.6%) and Kirk Hinrich (50.0%) were also among the league’s most efficient with their short-range shots.

Much like a plurality of female baseball fans, Boston digs the long ball. In 2011-12, only Charlotte (43.6% of FGAs) and Philly (43.4% of FGAs) took a higher proportion of their two-point shots from 10 feet out (42.2% of FGAs). Toss three-point shots in the mix, and only the Nets (62.4% of FGAs) shot more proportionately outside of 10 feet than the Celtics (61.7%). Unlike the aforementioned teams, the Celtics convert their shots, second only to the Spurs (40.0%) in all shots from 10 feet and beyond (39.9%), and highest by far in assisted buckets (75.4% of FGs Made). It’s like having a team loaded with Corey Maggettes and B.J. Mullenses that actually know what they’re doing and how to get open looks.

The Hawks cannot get into jumpshot contests with Boston at this range, especially early in the clock. Instead, they must counter on offense with jumpers further in as noted above, circumventing hobbled wings like Avery Bradley and Paul Pierce and forcing Boston’s bigs to do something other than wait for the rebound. Productive minutes from Ivan Johnson and the way-past-due Jannero Pargo will help keep any lead the Hawks get from being so close.

Defensively, they have to continue closing out on the mid-range and long-range shooters, while boxing out all who dare bring their shadow into the paint. We’ve got to continue being more disruptive (14 Celtic TOs in Game 5 an upgrade from prior games) and convert points off of their goofs. And don’t double-team Rondo: keep a man in front of him and make him settle for jumpers or passes to well-defended shooters.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

Edited May 10, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[Swatguy]

The Gearon shot. May very well be a stroke of genius. Everyone will have in there mind (KG is Dirty), EVERYONE. The fans, players and the officials will have it in the front and back of their minds. Because Gearon said it, it falls back on him. No media pressure on the coach (he didn't say it) or player. But it is out there in the spirit. KG IS DIRTY!!!Of course the C's will be feisty and emotional. We Will Have To Counter.How will KG be treated by the ref's? Will he be Physical? Can we take advantage of his obviously fragile psycology?

[Nicholasp27]

I have a really good feeling about this right nowI think smoove is gonna beast tonight and we will win

[DJlaysitup]

I have a really good feeling about this right nowI think smoove is gonna beast tonight and we will win

OK...I appreciate your opinion...but throw some salt over your shoulder and knock on wood just in case.GO HAWKS !!!!!

[lethalweapon3]

Tonight's loss and this series loss was a team effort. A franchise effort, really. It's so easy to pin the tail when there are ohhhh so many donkeys to choose from.From the A$G to the coaching and "player development" staff to the "Leaders" to the VetMins right on down the line, a lot of straws were put on this here camel.That said, another nice and maddeningly fun season. We got some entertaining soldout crowds and A$G got some more playoff revenue out of it.2012-2013 season starts NOW!~lw3

[High5]

The upside is we don't have to watch Philly school us.