Guest Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 ATLANTA -- The No. 657 northbound car on the MARTA train left the downtown Five Points station just after 11 p.m. without a seat available and jammed with people standing shoulder to shoulder. If anyone was tired, it hardly showed. If anyone was uncomfortable, you'd never know. About 60 percent of the passengers on this Gold Line train to Doraville were white and the majority of the rest were black. And just about all perked up when the train pulled into the next station, where a middle-aged black man who just got off work stepped on and immediately asked the question after spotting noise-making sticks and replica jerseys. "Did the Hawks win?" The answer was shouted from four rows of seats away by a white man with a beard and brown hair. "We were the best team in the league before tonight's game," he said loudly enough for the entire train car to hear. "And we're definitely the best team in the league after what we did to those Warriors." Loud cheers and laughter erupted. By the time the train pushed into the North Avenue stop at11:08, the "Let's Go Hawks" chant ripped through the car. Although the Hawks were roiled by questions of racial insensitivity in ownership and management during the offseason, the only version of race that seemed to matter on No. 657 northbound to Doraville was the one to the best record in the NBA this season. This is just a small slice of the Atlanta that these Hawks are playing for as they took another step in a magical season in Friday's showdown between the two best teams in the league. The Hawks ran away from the Golden State Warriors 124-116 in a game that was widely billed as an NBA Finals preview -- and certainly drew the media coverage of a playoff series in June. Since having their franchise-record winning streak snapped at 20?? (19 Buddy) games Monday with a loss in New Orleans, the Hawks have regrouped by beating the rugged Wizards on Wednesday and then taking out the swift, sharp-shooting Warriors on Friday. Atlanta's gantlet of a week wraps on the road Sunday against a Memphis team that has the second-best record in the West behind Golden State (39-9). The Hawks (42-9) have won 35 of their past 38 games, have already eclipsed their win total from 2013-14, have dominated the best teams in both conferences so far and eventually wore down a Warriors team that boasts the most explosive backcourt in the league. The always humble Hawks didn't celebrate or get too emotional about Friday's victory, but 3-point specialistKyle Korver did take a little aim at skeptics who might still be reluctant to believe in what his team is capable of accomplishing. "I feel like last year, we kind of put the bones in of who we were going to be," Korver said. "We've been confident. We feel like when we're healthy, we have a lot of unique pieces. It's a lot of talk of us not having a so-called superstar. But we have good players, man. And we fit well together." [+] Enlarge AP Photo/John BazemoreAl Horford and the Hawks couldn't be stopped by Marreese Speights and the Warriors. There was indisputable evidence of that on the way to making their latest league-wide statement. Seven Hawks players scored in double figures, led by their All-Star trio ofJeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford. During a pregame ceremony, they were presented their official All-Star jerseys for next week's game in New York. Then Teague went out and scored 23 points and forced Stephen Curryinto a rough start after the MVP candidate came off a 51-point effort in Golden State's previous game. Millsap did what he always does -- a little bit of everything on both ends of the court -- and finished with 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. And Horford, perhaps the one irreplaceable player on this team, added 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. The good pieces extend far beyond those three and to a supporting cast that saw Korver knock down five 3-pointers, Mike Scott come off the bench for 17 points on a combination of dunks and long-range daggers, and bothKent Bazemore and DeMarre Carroll provide essential defensive energy. Backup point guard Dennis Schröderhad nine points and dished seven assists. This is who they've been all season, and that balance and brilliance were rewarded when the league office made an unprecedented decision to award the NBA player of the week award to the Hawks' entire starting unit of Teague, Horford, Millsap, Carroll and Korver. Carroll said Atlanta is successful because everyone keeps the formula simple. There's no showboating or gloating after dunks, no excessive celebrations during timeouts after big plays, no nonsense. "We go out there and handle business," Carroll said. "You go out there and do your job. Then you go home to your family. We don't try to humiliate anybody or show anybody up. We let the ATL fans do that. This was two of the best teams playing. It's one of those games that you dream about." Both teams tried to downplay the significance of the matchup. But that didn't last very long. Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr saw the massive media presence at the morning shootaround and greeted reporters by saying, "welcome to the Finals." "It's one game out of 82," Kerr said. "I think in the end, win or lose, it probably doesn't mean that much. But whenever you play the team from the opposite conference that is clearly the best team and has been dominating ... it's a great challenge." Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer also acknowledges there was a measuring-stick element to the game. "You learn more about yourself," Budenholzer said. "There are some things we can build on. You always look forward to these games when you're going to be really tested and really challenged. You learn how much focus it takes to beat a team like this." Teague said the Hawks didn't need the victory to validate anything. "We already know we're a good team," Teague said. "We come out every night and just try to play like we're supposed to play. We do that and everything really does fall into place." Yet still, this is a franchise that draws motivation from the doubters. Seconds after the final buzzer sounded, the arena announcer posed a question over the loud speakers. "Now do you believe?" he said. "Any questions?" That swagger spilled into Atlanta's downtown streets Friday night. And it permeated the city's train transit system. Back on the No. 657 train car, a Warriors fan among the dozens of Hawks supporters was asked by someone in the group how it felt to root for "clearly the second-best team" in the league. "I like the Hawks, too," the fan said. "I grew up here in Georgia, but I went to college with Steph Curry." Another Hawks fan seated near the front of the train overheard the conversation and chimed in. "So you were going to get on here after the game in a win-win situation, no matter what," he said. Both men, initially strangers, got off together at the Lenox having agreed on at least one thing. Inside the arena and out, these high-flying Hawks are taking this city on a harmonious NBA ride. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12292163/atlanta-hawks-right-track-warriors-nba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 National media members starting to cover this team means we are going to see lots of stupid questions and poorly researched articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan2331 Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 National media members starting to cover this team means we are going to see lots of stupid questions and poorly researched articles. Maybe so, but do you prefer it all coming from one source in C-Viv? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post benhillboy Posted February 7, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) National media members starting to cover this team means we are going to see lots of stupid questions and poorly researched articles.All this "are the Hawks for real?" stuff just makes me feel sad for these people. Lost souls. So interested and concerned about basketball but know absolutely nothing about the game. To be fair though, we have a front seat for the changing of the guard in the NBA. They just refuse to recognize it when the Spurs have only been doing it since the turn of the millennium, but now a cosmopolitan city is bucking the trend of star-centric basketball. You can almost feel a small spark of a basketball revolution in the city last night, hopefully anyway. Study of the Hawks and regular trips to the games should be required of youth teams now. Let them learn how to listen, communicate, cut, and screen before they try to be the next Kyrie: shooting, dribbling, and nothing else. Edited February 7, 2015 by benhillboy 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HighFlyer Posted February 7, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Everytime I hear about us playing as a team and being one unit, i think this game of thrones quote Robert Baratheon: Which is the bigger number, five or one? Cersei Lannister: Five. Robert Baratheon: [holds up his left fingers] Five... Robert Baratheon: [clutches his right fist] ... one. One army, a real army, united behind one leader with one purpose. Not the most exact analogy, but it fits. Instead of just a collection of players, they play as one powerful unit driven by a single purpose. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUhawksfan Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 At least the one accurate thing is the Marta ride. The racial divide in this city is way overblown by speculators. I've always had a great time chatting with any and everybody at the game and Marta regardless of who they were. These old stereotypes need to be shut down and I'm glad he at least made an actual portrayal in the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_dave Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 I loved this article. These kind of articles let you into the excitement that the city is building up for this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS17Fanboy Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Isnt it so much more awesome to catch all of them wafflers completely off-guard? And then them getting quieter and more introspective each time we build another building-block around whiping the floor with the entire league? It makes it all the more delicious... I mean who saw this coming at the start of the year, but at some point you got to give respects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Everytime I hear about us playing as a team and being one unit, i think this game of thrones quote Robert Baratheon: Which is the bigger number, five or one? Cersei Lannister: Five. Robert Baratheon: [holds up his left fingers] Five... Robert Baratheon: [clutches his right fist] ... one. One army, a real army, united behind one leader with one purpose. Not the most exact analogy, but it fits. Instead of just a collection of players, they play as one powerful unit driven by a single purpose.It is a GREAT analogy: One Army, One Leader, One Purpose, #TrueToAtlanta Edited February 7, 2015 by JayBirdHawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bird_dirt Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 #OneAtlanta 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benhillboy Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 #OneAtlanta #OneSeed #OneTrophy (it's not too early anymore, Vegas said it, not me) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrathbun4pres Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Cool article. I think everybody in atl gets along with everyone at all sporting events here. Idk why people act like were a bunch of racists. Having been to the north numerous times I can tell you there's just as much there if not more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dejay Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 I really think that the atmosphere at Philips come playoff time will be at an all-time fever pitch. It will be like it was in '88 when Bird and Nique got it on at the Omni. There will be no large group of folks cheering on Lebron or John Wall. There will be no one chanting 'MVP!!!' whenever Rose hits a shot. If the last dozen games there is any indication, it will be downright hostile in that building come postseason. Can you imagine the insults, chants, and language thrown around by the locals if Barkley and Steven A. had to show up here for Game 1 of the Finals? I bet ABC won't do their pregame show out in the lobby like Fox SportSouth does... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benhillboy Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) There were more than a few drunk Hawks Mobs throughout Phillips concourse ready for a Warriors fan to say something. There will be no boisterous support for opposing teams this year I assure you. Weird enough, there was a drunken Warriors group chanting "let's go Hawks!" Go figure. I would assume all the chumps like Stephen A and Fat Dummy will do a complete 180 when the time comes. They don't want their fun passes revoked in The A or worse yet get into a serious altercation. Edited February 8, 2015 by benhillboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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