Official Game Thread: Hawks at Pacers

[BrazilianHawk]

None of these plays would have mattered if they played like they should from tip-off. 

Hawks had 7 turnovers on the 1st quarter alone. They shot the ball surprisingly well, but didn't play a lick of defense until the middle of the 3rd. 

They went down by 18 early in the 3rd. That won't win many games, it doesn't matter who missed what play in the final minutes.

[Gray Mule]

Hawks entered this game and didn't really play like a team headed to the playoffs.  Instead, they looked like they couldn't wait for the season to end so they could go home until next season.

Pacers were focused.  Hawks were not.  Turnovers and lack of defense.  Down by 10.  They never recovered from this sorry start.  Game lost in the 1st quarter.  This falls on the starting five.  Bench exploded in our last game and pulled the Hawks to victory.  They were unable to duplicate this last night.

Opening the game.  Pacers slapped the Hawks down and patted the breath out of them.  They never recovered. Second quarter was a tiny bit better.  Third quarter, terrible.  Tried to fight back in the 4th.  Made a game of it but couldn't play enough defense to get the job done.  Then, to seal up the game, offense hit an iceberg and sunk their ship.

Lesson learned?  We hope so.  You can never take any NBA team lightly.  You can't sleepwalk your way to victory.  Now they have several days to lick their wounds and prepare for the remainder of the season.

[macdaddy]

Pacers made just about everything.  Yeah our D was suspect but you lose some when guys are hitting all their shots.  of their top 7 guys all shot over 50% but one.  frigging sabonis was 12-14.  

We had some lazy play and turnovers.  You can't do that in this league against good teams.   1 week to go.  Let's get it.

[macdaddy]

I'm a Bulls, Twolves, Suns fan tonight.   Let's get 3 wins from those guys. 

[Spud2nique]

28 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Bulls, Twolves, Suns

A chance with the Bulls and Suns at home playing the Celts and Knicks respectively no doubt, but no chance in hell the Wolves beat the Heat on the road. JINX NO JINX  

[bleachkit]

32 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I'm a Bulls, Twolves, Suns fan tonight.   Let's get 3 wins from those guys. 

We needed that W last night. Having that extra home game in a series against New York could be the difference. We basically have to win out. Getting two against Wiz will be hard.

[kg01]

11 hours ago, REHawksFan said:

Games like tonight and against the Pistons where they had a let down after a big win are what give me pause about their chances in the playoffs. Just not sure they are ready for the big moment. 

I hear you but not sure I'd go as far as to think it bodes poorly for the playoffs.

Honestly, bad efforts against DET/IND could be because they're thinking too much about the playoffs rather than just handling the bidness at hand.

Holman was in rare form last night railing against the team not coming out with the appropriate amount of urgency last night.  Basically said they look like a team that started to read their own press after the PHX win.  He ain't wrong.

11 hours ago, marco102 said:

Lol..I was rage posting.

You are Hawksquawk Holman. 

Not that I frown upon rage-posting (because I don't) but if you ever wanna calm it down, feel free to take two of these and post in the morning ...

Peppa Pig and Bluey are the best things on TV right now, folks.

[Final_quest]

We were humbled.  This was the first bad loss under Nate.  The Detroit loss there was a lot of injured and tired bodies.  We had our full playoff roster, but came out flat. 

When we got back in the game we missed critical open shots in the last couple minutes and Sabonis and Lavert hit tough shots.  Lessons learned.  We can come back from this, and I'm not convinced that:

1. Homecourt advantage will decide a series with NY.  ( I think the better team wins)
2. We are out of the running for 4th seed. (NY has to play at Clippers, Lakers, and Phoenix.  Then play at home agains Spurs, Hornets, and Celtics. They could easily lose 3 of those games.) 

[bleachkit]

36 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I hear you but not sure I'd go as far as to think it bodes poorly for the playoffs.

Honestly, bad efforts against DET/IND could be because they're thinking too much about the playoffs rather than just handling the bidness at hand.

Holman was in rare form last night railing against the team not coming out with the appropriate amount of urgency last night.  Basically said they look like a team that started to read their own press after the PHX win.  He ain't wrong.

You are Hawksquawk Holman. 

Not that I frown upon rage-posting (because I don't) but if you ever wanna calm it down, feel free to take two of these and post in the morning ...

Peppa Pig and Bluey are the best things on TV right now, folks.

 

I think we tend to overdue the psychoanalytical stuff after a loss. Like they were thinking about the playoffs, reading their own press clippings, etc. You know, a 30-35 team, at home, beating a 37-30 team, on the road, is not the upset of the century. We actually have a sub .500 record on the road, and coming off a big win, second night of a back to back, a loss shouldn't be too surprising. Also, the Pacers played well, McConell 9-12, Sabonis 12-14, LeVert 12-20. They were shooting the lights out. 

[macdaddy]

23 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

1. Homecourt advantage will decide a series with NY.  ( I think the better team wins)
2. We are out of the running for 4th seed. (NY has to play at Clippers, Lakers, and Phoenix.  Then play at home agains Spurs, Hornets, and Celtics. They could easily lose 3 of those games.) 

Curious for clarification here

1. you think who ever has homecourt wins?   not sure which team you are saying is better

2. do you mean we are NOT out of the running?

[bleachkit]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Curious for clarification here

1. you think who ever has homecourt wins?   not sure which team you are saying is better

2. do you mean we are NOT out of the running?

We aren't out the running, but we dont control our destiny. We have to win out and they have to go 3-3. If we lose one to the Wizards, we need NY to go 2-4.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[kg01]

33 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

 

I think we tend to overdue the psychoanalytical stuff after a loss. Like they were thinking about the playoffs, reading their own press clippings, etc. You know, a 30-35 team, at home, beating a 37-30 team, on the road, is not the upset of the century. We actually have a sub .500 record on the road, and coming off a big win, second night of a back to back, a loss shouldn't be too surprising. Also, the Pacers played well, McConell 9-12, Sabonis 12-14, LeVert 12-20. They were shooting the lights out. 

I think you're overdoing your assessment of what I said.

I think pretty much everyone agrees this was just a loss not much more than that.

[REHawksFan]

59 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

I'm not convinced that:

1. Homecourt advantage will decide a series with NY.  ( I think the better team wins)

I was thinking last night that if the Hawks and Knicks face off in Round 1, there's bound to be a TON of nerves in that 1st game because so much of both rosters will be making their debut.  It will actually, imo, put added pressure on the home team to win so as not to lose homecourt advantage.  For a young team making its first appearance in the playoffs, early success is going to be HUGE for momentum and just to settle them down.  I say that to say I'm not convinced the team with homecourt would necessarily have a huge advantage in that particular series.  

[Final_quest]

39 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Curious for clarification here

1. you think who ever has homecourt wins?   not sure which team you are saying is better

2. do you mean we are NOT out of the running?

1. Home court will not be the deciding factor.  Got to predict a Hawks win, but that wasn’t my main point.  Mainly saying losing home advantage isn’t the end of the world.

2. We still have a good shot at getting 4th seed.  Knicks could easily lose 3-4 games to close the season.

[Final_quest]

12 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I think you're overdoing your assessment of what I said.

I think pretty much everyone agrees this was just a loss not much more than that.

Exactly, last night was a loss.  This is the NBA.  

[JTB]

11 hours ago, REHawksFan said:

I was thinking last night that if the Hawks and Knicks face off in Round 1, there's bound to be a TON of nerves in that 1st game because so much of both rosters will be making their debut.  It will actually, imo, put added pressure on the home team to win so as not to lose homecourt advantage.  For a young team making its first appearance in the playoffs, early success is going to be HUGE for momentum and just to settle them down.  I say that to say I'm not convinced the team with homecourt would necessarily have a huge advantage in that particular series.  

Completely agree with this...it will be interesting for Nate and this young team to focus solely on one opponent for once.

im really interested in how the young core will adapt in a series no matter if they start off strong or start off bad. 
 

I have a good feeling about this team and how they adapt however. Take last game vs knicks ...coming into that game we were getting cooked in previous games. But 3rd quarter Trae was really starting to figure it out and bother them . Trae took full control of the game in the 3rd despite Randle getting his numbers. If not for the injury I felt a big 4th quarter coming in that game. The momentum was all hawks  and Trae was just being a floor general at that point ....it’s important to note because it seemed as if Trae really figured out how to expose their defense and honestly even after he got hurt the hawks still forced the game into overtime! I’m telling ya the hawks saw some weaknesses of the knicks that last game they didn’t catch in the games before .

most media will have the knicks beating us and some believe it will be fairly easy but they are going to be in for a surprise it that’s the rd 1 matchup ....I don’t care who has home court.

 

[Atlantaholic]

Defensive effort needs to pick up. Players in this league are sharks if you come out bleeding playing half assed defense players will get hot.