Official Game Thread: Hawks at 76ers -- GAME 2

[lethalweapon3]

The OFFICIAL Meme of Winning Atlanta Sports Teams!

 

Zaza Pachulia didn’t quite get there with us. And it’s not what he intended when the words fell from his mouth in front of a roaring crowd. But near the end of Atlanta’s first post-millennial journey into the NBA postseason, Zaza’s words proved prescient.

"Nothing Easy! Nothing Easy!"

Our Atlanta Hawks overcame a decades-long hex to finally reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015. Alas, no, we were not allowed to just chill, kick back, and watch the clock come down before celebrating a monumental moment in franchise history.

The Hawks coughed up a ten-point edge with nine minutes to go, leading to a nail-biting final five minutes of Game 6 in D.C. At the final buzzer’s sound, Washington was going bananas, Paula Pierce was Paula Piercing, and Atlanta was meandering aimlessly around like somebody stole their baby pet hippo.

After further nail-biting review, though… HAWKS WIN! Don’t you feel ECSTATIC, Hawks fans? Yay. Plop, Plop! Fizz, Fizz!

“Hawks Win, but D@MN!”, is the default banner-headline emotion after many major victories. And it’s not just them in this crazy sports metropolis.

The Bravos’ last trip to the World Series? Playing at home, the baseball club blew a 5-0 first-inning, and a 7-3 lead in the top of the 7^th, then needed a Brian Hunter single to salvage a tie in the 8^th. The Mets strategically loaded the bases in the 10^th with one out, to pitch to a kid hitting .217 for the NLCS. Thankfully, Kenny Rogers’ 3-2 pitch was so wild, even Andruw in good conscience couldn’t let the bat leave his shoulders. “Bravos Win, but…!”

Earlier, that same year. The Falcons’ first trip to The Big Game? It wasn’t Morten Andersen’s clutch kicks, or Chris Chandler and Jamal Anderson’s final drives, that was the story. It was Mister Automatic, Vikings kicker Gary Anderson, failing to secure Minnesota’s destiny with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, after Atlanta seemed to have let the gains of a late rally slip away. “Falcons win, but…!”

It’s not simply our local teams blowing chances at victories that’s part and parcel of The Atlanta Story. It’s also about when they *do* win a big game, it is rarely decisive and without late, often seemingly unnecessary, drama.

Whatever deals we made with our own personal Mephistopheles to get our Hawks into this year’s NBA Playoff party, and then to be as successful as they have been at this stage, we as fans are well past the point of negotiating how games and series must end. In the space of just over three months, Nate McMillan took over a club that was underwhelming to most everyone and he has them exceeding the wildest and most irrational of expectations. If it has to come with a sprinkling of Atlanta Sports? So be it!

McMillan’s charges sprinted to a 26-point lead early in the second quarter of Game 1 at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday, then withstood volleys from a prideful, top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers team in the third quarter. With Atlanta holding a 19-point lead over the Sixers with just over eight minutes remaining, Nate Mac handed the strategic coaching keys over to Dan Quinn.

Either that, or Trae Young and the Hawks are just merrily rolling the ball up the court, toying with the game clock and daring the Sixers not to force turnovers before plays can develop. Five of Atlanta’s six fourth-quarter turnovers came in the final 4.5 minutes of play, the spoils of enhanced Sixer pressure compounding a spell of missed jumpers, a blown putback layup from Clint Capela, and referees confusing whistles for lozenges.

Sixer Basketball is forcing turnovers and scoring in transition while the opposing defense is destabilized, and Philly did that to great effect as Atlanta’s 107-88 lead was whittled down to 126-124 with ten second to go.

Atlanta’s saving grace came at the Gray Mule line, as Capela’s third-quarter miss was the only one of the Hawks’ modest 21 free throw attempts that did not hit nylon. They need not tempt fate again in Game 2 tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL, Postgame coverage on Bally Sports Southeast). A raucous Sixers crowd will do all they can to try throwing the Hawks off their game and keeping the Sixers from falling into Clippers territory heading into games in Atlanta.

Philadelphia’s late-game barnstorming could not have come to pass without their likely MVP runner-up. Playing through his torn meniscus for 38 grueling minutes, Joel Embiid (39 points, 14-for-15 FTs, 9 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals), gave Capela his best shot. Unfortunately for Joel, he found woefully himself out of position and behind plays in the final frame (zero 4^th-quarter D-Rebs or blocks) while trying to will Philly to victory on offense.

Like Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter (sore knee, DNP Game 1), Embiid is again listed as questionable to play in Game 2. The Hawks will need to assess which side of the court Joel, assuming he plays, is favoring and pressure his Sixer teammates at the other end accordingly.

If Embiid is going heavy on offensive post play, get to the cup in quick-strike transition, compelling Sixer defenders to commit fouls even the refs can see. If he is camping out in rim-protection on defense, Trae and Lou Williams should use dribble-drives and kickouts to free up shooters (ATL Playoffs-high 15.8’ average shot distance; 37.3 3FG%, 5^th among remaining 8 teams).

Meanwhile, Hawk frontcourt contributors should place emphasis on limiting Ben Simmons (7-for-7 FGs in Game 1, all within 4 feet of the rim; team-high 10 assists to match Young, but 5 TOs and 3-for-10 FTs) from playing catch-up with interior shots. A league-high 91.0 percent of Philadelphia’s three-point makes in the postseason are assisted, and Hawk wings and roving guards must stay active in anticipating chances for deflections and steals. The team that is more disruptive with dishes off penetration is likely to hold the upper hand in Game 2. If Atlanta can be more consistent across quarters, we can have a “Hawks Win… OK!” kind of game.

The ‘98-99 Falcons, the ’99 Bravos, and the ’15 Hawks each had major, history-making wins, but took so much skin off their own teeth in the small-p process, they had no bite left once it was time to sink them into the likes of John Elway, Derek Jeter or LeBron James in the next big rounds.

The ’21 Hawks have a bit of familiarity with letting momentum slip away in recent games, but so far have come away on the fortunate side. Atlanta allowing an early 11-point lead to evaporate in Game 1 of the conference semis was overshadowed by Trae’s closing heroics, but it gave New York and their fans confidence that they could seize momentum back in Game 2, and beyond. That didn’t happen, because Knicks, but the Sixers have far better talent and awareness to make their hopes come to fruition.

Rather than merely hoping Embiid runs out of gas, the Hawks must have the high-quality ballhandling and passing under pressure, the focus to create and make open jumpers and layups, and the will to hound Philly’s perimeter threats, such that it becomes obvious that Embiid is perilously running on E to everybody, especially coach Doc Rivers.

The pride of Nutbush, Tennessee, Tina Turner must have been a lowkey Hawks fan in 1971, when she grabbed the mic before covering Credence Clearwater Revival and announced, “You see, we never do nothing NICE and EASY. We always do it NICE and ROUGH. So, we’re going to take the beginning of this song, and do it EASY. Then, we’re going to do the finish ROUGH.”

Like “Proud Mary,” this is the way we do, “Atlanta Sports.” The 2015 edition of the Hawks perhaps found itself a bit too shellshocked, with the way they crept into the conference finals, to be properly focused on the juggernaut that awaited them. This new version, hopefully, never lost one minute of sleep over the close of Game 1, worrying about the way that things might have been. The approach to this game must stay on what could be.

It’s Game 2, Atlanta. Big wheel? Keep on turnin’!

 

Thank You, Squawkdonors! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[macdaddy]

Solid gold.   ^

[JayBirdHawk]

7 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Atlanta’s saving grace came at the Gray Mule line,

Indeed!

[RandomFan]

 

[DieHardHAWK]

Thanks for memories...I lived through each of those grueling moments and never wanted to read the only name that can cause instant bowel movements, Dan Quinn . Great write up and I hope the team is better prepared and ready to shock the world again. And F Embid with that fake injury. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by DieHardHAWK

[lethalweapon3]

5:30 Boo-Boo report still has Joel and De'Andre questionable, so it looks like the dreaded Game Time Decision is afoot once more.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

 SCOTT FOSTER ANNNNND TONY BROTHERS ALERT  

 

Methinks even the Sixers would rather have HGTV's Scott Brothers reffing out there. Whoever wins tonight had better not leave the game close!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

I would like to think that the Hawks contributed to the 9 1st quarter TOs.  Everyone is focused on the offense, meanwhile the defense is doing work. I went back and looked at the 1st quarter, our defense was active and on point for those TOs.

 

 

[bleachkit]

56 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

5:30 Boo-Boo report still has Joel and De'Andre questionable, so it looks like the dreaded Game Time Decision is afoot once more.

~lw3

My guess is we dont see Dre until Friday. Maybe even Cam plays Friday. Imagine that, Getting the young horses out of the stable. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

This is a must tonight. Take care of the ball.

 

 

[MarylandHawk]

I will be at the game representing!!

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, MarylandHawk said:

I will be at the game representing!!

Please be like this guy

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[warcore]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

I see they're still making rookies carry all the luggage. Skylar looks like he needs a spot.... Clint and Trae aren't carrying anything hahaha.

[cam1218]

1 hour ago, RandomFan said:

 

These extra minutes Liam Neeson is providing us may play a pivotal role in the statuses for Embiid and Hunter.

[bleachkit]

3 minutes ago, cam1218 said:

These extra minutes Liam Neeson is providing us may play a pivotal role in the statuses for Embiid and Hunter.

keep icing that knee

[JayBirdHawk]

Bummer!

 

 

[BrazilianHawk]

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

 I'll hit 3 threes tonight. I PROMISE! Please don't let me rot on the bench. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by JayBirdHawk