Official Playoff Game Thread: Celtics at Hawks -- GAME 3

[lethalweapon3]

“You’re not the Bawse of me, now!”

 

Marvin Williams eyed a long two-pointer, off a nifty dish from Joe Johnson. Splash! Atlanta leads!

For a moment there, the Atlanta Hawks had the Boston Celtics, in TD Banknorth Garden, right where they wanted them. For all of 23 seconds, Marv’s bucket was the pinnacle of the game for Atlanta – 2-0 Hawks! For the ensuing 46 minutes of the opening bout in 2008’s first round? Not so much.

It’s a good thing they always say to take no quarter at Playoffs time, because Atlanta wasn’t able to seize any of them, 15 years ago yesterday, versus the Eastern Conference’s darling top-seed. Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and playoff-savvy savior Mike Bibby were horrible from the field. Things didn’t get much better once Boston coach Doc Rivers subbed in Leon Powe and James Posey to close things out. Atlanta’s 27-point deficit was only neatly trimmed down to 23, a 104-81 loss at the final horn.

Things turned out a bit better for the Hawks in Game 2, one could argue, even though they mustered four fewer points than the first game. Kevin Garnett and his newfound amigos were amicable enough to allow Atlanta to borrow the lead for all of 66 seconds in the first quarter – 7-5 Hawks! – before deciding playtime was over.

Atlanta fell behind by 11 in the first quarter, 15 in the second, 20 in the third. It was a 24-point Celtics lead before Rivers called off the dogs and let the Big Baby Davis Showcase begin. 96-77 was your final.

No one, genuinely, remembers the particulars of those games in that series. Because the fun wouldn’t begin until the scene shifted to Atlanta.

Especially over the course of the prior two decades, Atlanta players had grown used to seeing the home stands donning opponent colors, none more garish than Celtic green. But in Game 3, the first postseason contest in Georgia since the fans in Knick orange packed the Dome, nine years before, for an upset-on-paper second-round sweep, the vibe at Philips Arena was decidedly different. These Hawks saw red, and a lot of it.

Emboldened by a ravenous home crowd at The Highlight Factory, the Hawks were a different species for Paul Pierce and the Celtics to deal with. Ray Allen, suddenly, couldn’t buy a bucket. Josh Smith was in full Matrix Mode. Bibby repeatedly sprinted the ball downcourt, his teammates catching Kendrick Perkins flat-footed. And a new star was born. Al Horford, the rebounding machine!

Smoove’s pass for Horford’s dunk put the Hawks up by 14 with just over two minutes to spare. As the Celtics waged a comeback to cut their deficit in half, Pierce took a page from the Rasheed Wallace Guide to Intimidating Foreign-Born Players, reminding Horford of Pierce’s wager of ten-grand (stacks, if I recall the lingo correctly) that Atlanta would get swept. Paul picked the wrong guy, on the wrong team, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

The two-time NCAA champ and NBA rookie center responded by unleashing a stunning mid-ranger with under 24 seconds to go to ice the game, sending the arena crowd into a frenzy, then kindly sending Paul the directions to the nearest Western Union.

Garnett thought it wise to consult Sheed’s Guide in Game 4, only to be met head-to-ginormous forehead by Zaza Pachulia. KG had clearly elbowed Zaza, and shoved a ref (No suspensions? Where they do that at?) but neither the Hawks nor the refs were swayed by his gambling antics.

Smoove returned seven Celtic shots to sender. Iso Joe’s crossover shook Powe clean out of his British Knights. And the Smith-Johnson duo turned the tables completely, with a 32-17 fourth-quarter blitz, on a Boston team that thought they would never need to return to A-Town again.

Game 5, another blowout in Boston? Yup! Game 6, did the Hawks finally yield? Nope! (Word to E-40). This time, it was bench guys Josh Childress and Pachulia who helped the Hawks cross the finish line first by putting the defensive clamps on the eventual champs. Zaza grabs the postgame mic to rally the ecstatic faithful ATL locals: “Nothing Easy! Nothing Easy! We going to Game 7, baby!” General Custer would have been impressed by the brazenness of it all.

For the hastily-constructed Celtics, this first-round series was supposed to be mere re-affirmation of their championship mettle, merely a road bump along their quest for a redeeming 17^th NBA title. And they got just that. Only, they would have to receive all of that affirmation in the cooler comforts of New England, where they concluded the series with a 99-65 swashbuckling in Game 7.

Still, egged on by their growing legion of fans, in the space of seven days, coach Mike Woodson’s 37-45 Hawks turned Atlanta from a footnote to an exclamation point, as the series became more about the pesky 8-seed that wouldn’t wilt at home. The Celtics were team of the moment, but the Hawks were the team on the come-up, as the NBA shifted from gravity-bound pivots like Perkins to futuristic lean-and-mean ones, built more like the bicep-flexing Horford. If only they could keep this team τΩΓεφερ, the Atlanta Hawks would be the NBA’s hot young team on the rise.

Horford would indeed make his mark in the NBA Finals, but he would be neither hot nor young by then, and he wouldn’t be in Atlanta. Commentators look down upon the Trae-vails of Atlanta’s current superstar in these 2023 Playoffs, as evidence that an elfish, defensively deficient leader could never earn the respect of championship-starved veterans while guiding a team through treacherous playoff waters to reach The Finals. Yet it wasn’t too long ago that Al found himself wooed by the siren song of Isaiah Thomas, a revelatory Celtic All-Star that he and the Hawks dispatched in first-round action mere months before.

As Atlanta turns the page from a pair of fruitless outings in Boston, to Game 3 tonight (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Boston, ESPN), Trae Young is feeling the pressure from outsiders to succumb to deflated expectations, much as what happened to Thomas (24.2 PPG but 39.5 FG% vs. ATL during 2016’s series loss) in the Celtics’ prior postseason incarnation, the seasons before upstarts Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were both on board.

Despite the constant ragging on the road, Young (last 8 playoff games: 31.7 FG%, 17.5 3FG%, 6.6 APG, 5.8 TOs/game) can take comfort in knowing, as was the case for Joe Johnson and company in 2008, that there is only encouragement flowing down from the State Farm Arena stands. In at least one prominent fan’s eyes, among the spectators, Trae and the Hawks have vastly exceeded his expectations, to date.

Tony Ressler is revenue-driven, and the Hawks’ majority owner has a shortlist of things in mind when it comes to his Basketball Club. Annually, 81 home games, and a minimum of two postseason home dates. 2023? Check. 2022? Check. It’s just that 2021 produced so much unexpected, bountiful catnip that his desired slow-growth approach, with management building youthful talents around the still-youthful Young (RIP, great grandpa!), is no longer the cat’s meow.

2008’s Hawks figured out that victories against the league’s mightiest teams were not coming without a sound team approach, rather than putting everything on Joe, or Al, to carry the water for 48 minutes. Dejounte Murray began to get the gist of this in Game 2 (7-for-13 3FGs, 6 assists, 4 steals), taking over the alpha-scoring reins from Young as Atlanta threatened to dig out from yet another impossible hole at TD Garden. But they need more finishers, inside and out, to extend their season beyond this weekend.

As the great Wesley Morton at Peachtree Hoops noted, Atlanta sits last among the 16 playoff participants with 26.5 percent of wide-open shots (closest defender 6+ feet away) converted into points (incl. 17.5% on wide-open threes), despite having the second-most such shot attempts. During the regular season, Atlanta’s 43.3 wide-open FG% ranked 7^th in the league, not far behind Boston’s 44.1 percent.

If the mystique of The Gahden is simply what has been spooking the Hawks to this point, those ghosts should be scarecrow-ed away from the very tipoffs of Games 3 and 4 down on The Farm. Getting forwards De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, Saddiq Bey and Jalen Johnson (combined 5-for-31 3FGs, 24-for-68 overall) going across the floor, and more effective screens from Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu, opens up better looks for both Young, shielded to this point with impunity by Derrick White, and Murray.

Hunter and Bey continuing to run in transition, alternatively to the corners and at the rim, and better backcourt pressure on Boston’s ballhandlers can keep the Celts from controlling most of these games at their desired halfcourt pace. Collins, Capela and Okongwu provide enough rebounding support to overwhelm Robert Williams and Horford, while forcing Tatum (team-highs of 10.5 RPG, all defensive, and 27.0 PPG) to continue playing end-to-end. If Marcus Smart resorts to Sheed’s Guide tactics to try and distract the Hawks, rest assured, Bogi Bogdanovic will have none of it.

Atlanta’s fans will do their part to demonstrate that victory over an oft-favored foe requires an effort where everyone pulls together. Now, they’ll need to see the same collective swag-surfing zeal on our arena floor. No matter what transpired up in Beantown, nothing will happen for the Hawks up there anytime soon unless the Hawks, both today and Sunday, show up presenting less punk, and more spunk.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

“You’re not the Bawse of me, now!”

 

Marvin Williams eyed a long two-pointer, off a nifty dish from Joe Johnson. Splash! Atlanta leads!

For a moment there, the Atlanta Hawks had the Boston Celtics, in TD Banknorth Garden, right where they wanted them. For all of 23 seconds, Marv’s bucket was the pinnacle of the game for Atlanta – 2-0 Hawks! For the ensuing 46 minutes of the opening bout in 2008’s first round? Not so much.

It’s a good thing they always say to take no quarter at Playoffs time, because Atlanta wasn’t able to seize any of them, 15 years ago yesterday, versus the Eastern Conference’s darling top-seed. Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and playoff-savvy savior Mike Bibby were horrible from the field. Things didn’t get much better once Boston coach Doc Rivers subbed in Leon Powe and James Posey to close things out. Atlanta’s 27-point deficit was only neatly trimmed down to 23, a 104-81 loss at the final horn.

Things turned out a bit better for the Hawks in Game 2, one could argue, even though they mustered four fewer points than the first game. Kevin Garnett and his newfound amigos were amicable enough to allow Atlanta to borrow the lead for all of 66 seconds in the first quarter – 7-5 Hawks! – before deciding playtime was over.

Atlanta fell behind by 11 in the first quarter, 15 in the second, 20 in the third. It was a 24-point Celtics lead before Rivers called off the dogs and let the Big Baby Davis Showcase begin. 96-77 was your final.

No one, genuinely, remembers the particulars of those games in that series. Because the fun wouldn’t begin until the scene shifted to Atlanta.

Especially over the course of the prior two decades, Atlanta players had grown used to seeing the home stands donning opponent colors, none more garish than Celtic green. But in Game 3, the first postseason contest in Georgia since the fans in Knick orange packed the Dome, nine years before, for an upset-on-paper second-round sweep, the vibe at Philips Arena was decidedly different. These Hawks saw red, and a lot of it.

Emboldened by a ravenous home crowd at The Highlight Factory, the Hawks were a different species for Paul Pierce and the Celtics to deal with. Ray Allen, suddenly, couldn’t buy a bucket. Josh Smith was in full Matrix Mode. Bibby repeatedly sprinted the ball downcourt, his teammates catching Kendrick Perkins flat-footed. And a new star was born. Al Horford, the rebounding machine!

Smoove’s pass for Horford’s dunk put the Hawks up by 14 with just over two minutes to spare. As the Celtics waged a comeback to cut their deficit in half, Pierce took a page from the Rasheed Wallace Guide to Intimidating Foreign-Born Players, reminding Horford of Pierce’s wager of ten-grand (stacks, if I recall the lingo correctly) that Atlanta would get swept. Paul picked the wrong guy, on the wrong team, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

The two-time NCAA champ and NBA rookie center responded by unleashing a stunning mid-ranger with under 24 seconds to go to ice the game, sending the arena crowd into a frenzy, then kindly sending Paul the directions to the nearest Western Union.

Garnett thought it wise to consult Sheed’s Guide in Game 4, only to be met head-to-ginormous forehead by Zaza Pachulia. KG had clearly elbowed Zaza, and shoved a ref (No suspensions? Where they do that at?) but neither the Hawks nor the refs were swayed by his gambling antics.

Smoove returned seven Celtic shots to sender. Iso Joe’s crossover shook Powe clean out of his British Knights. And the Smith-Johnson duo turned the tables completely, with a 32-17 fourth-quarter blitz, on a Boston team that thought they would never need to return to A-Town again.

Game 5, another blowout in Boston? Yup! Game 6, did the Hawks finally yield? Nope! (Word to E-40). This time, it was bench guys Josh Childress and Pachulia who helped the Hawks cross the finish line first by putting the defensive clamps on the eventual champs. Zaza grabs the postgame mic to rally the ecstatic faithful ATL locals: “Nothing Easy! Nothing Easy! We going to Game 7, baby!” General Custer would have been impressed by the brazenness of it all.

For the hastily-constructed Celtics, this first-round series was supposed to be mere re-affirmation of their championship mettle, merely a road bump along their quest for a redeeming 17^th NBA title. And they got just that. Only, they would have to receive all of that affirmation in the cooler comforts of New England, where they concluded the series with a 99-65 swashbuckling in Game 7.

Still, egged on by their growing legion of fans, in the space of seven days, coach Mike Woodson’s 37-45 Hawks turned Atlanta from a footnote to an exclamation point, as the series became more about the pesky 8-seed that wouldn’t wilt at home. The Celtics were team of the moment, but the Hawks were the team on the come-up, as the NBA shifted from gravity-bound pivots like Perkins to futuristic lean-and-mean ones, built more like the bicep-flexing Horford. If only they could keep this team τΩΓεφερ, the Atlanta Hawks would be the NBA’s hot young team on the rise.

Horford would indeed make his mark in the NBA Finals, but he would be neither hot nor young by then, and he wouldn’t be in Atlanta. Commentators look down upon the Trae-vails of Atlanta’s current superstar in these 2023 Playoffs, as evidence that an elfish, defensively deficient leader could never earn the respect of championship-starved veterans while guiding a team through treacherous playoff waters to reach The Finals. Yet it wasn’t too long ago that Al found himself wooed by the siren song of Isaiah Thomas, a revelatory Celtic All-Star that he and the Hawks dispatched in first-round action mere months before.

As Atlanta turns the page from a pair of fruitless outings in Boston, to Game 3 tonight (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Boston, ESPN), Trae Young is feeling the pressure from outsiders to succumb to deflated expectations, much as what happened to Thomas (24.2 PPG but 39.5 FG% vs. ATL during 2016’s series loss) in the Celtics’ prior postseason incarnation, the seasons before upstarts Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were both on board.

Despite the constant ragging on the road, Young (last 8 playoff games: 31.7 FG%, 17.5 3FG%, 6.6 APG, 5.8 TOs/game) can take comfort in knowing, as was the case for Joe Johnson and company in 2008, that there is only encouragement flowing down from the State Farm Arena stands. In at least one prominent fan’s eyes, among the spectators, Trae and the Hawks have vastly exceeded his expectations, to date.

Tony Ressler is revenue-driven, and the Hawks’ majority owner has a shortlist of things in mind when it comes to his Basketball Club. Annually, 81 home games, and a minimum of two postseason home dates. 2023? Check. 2022? Check. It’s just that 2021 produced so much unexpected, bountiful catnip that his desired slow-growth approach, with management building youthful talents around the still-youthful Young (RIP, great grandpa!), is no longer the cat’s meow.

2008’s Hawks figured out that victories against the league’s mightiest teams were not coming without a sound team approach, rather than putting everything on Joe, or Al, to carry the water for 48 minutes. Dejounte Murray began to get the gist of this in Game 2 (7-for-13 3FGs, 6 assists, 4 steals), taking over the alpha-scoring reins from Young as Atlanta threatened to dig out from yet another impossible hole at TD Garden. But they need more finishers, inside and out, to extend their season beyond this weekend.

As the great Wesley Morton at Peachtree Hoops noted, Atlanta sits last among the 16 playoff participants with 26.5 percent of wide-open shots (closest defender 6+ feet away) converted into points (incl. 17.5% on wide-open threes), despite having the second-most such shot attempts. During the regular season, Atlanta’s 43.3 wide-open FG% ranked 7^th in the league, not far behind Boston’s 44.1 percent.

If the mystique of The Gahden is simply what has been spooking the Hawks to this point, those ghosts should be scarecrow-ed away from the very tipoffs of Games 3 and 4 down on The Farm. Getting forwards De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, Saddiq Bey and Jalen Johnson (combined 5-for-31 3FGs, 24-for-68 overall) going across the floor, and more effective screens from Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu, opens up better looks for both Young, shielded to this point with impunity by Derrick White, and Murray.

Hunter and Bey continuing to run in transition, alternatively to the corners and at the rim, and better backcourt pressure on Boston’s ballhandlers can keep the Celts from controlling most of these games at their desired halfcourt pace. Collins, Capela and Okongwu provide enough rebounding support to overwhelm Robert Williams and Horford, while forcing Tatum (team-highs of 10.5 RPG, all defensive, and 27.0 PPG) to continue playing end-to-end. If Marcus Smart resorts to Sheed’s Guide tactics to try and distract the Hawks, rest assured, Bogi Bogdanovic will have none of it.

Atlanta’s fans will do their part to demonstrate that victory over an oft-favored foe requires an effort where everyone pulls together. Now, they’ll need to see the same collective swag-surfing zeal on our arena floor. No matter what transpired up in Beantown, nothing will happen for the Hawks up there anytime soon unless the Hawks, both today and Sunday, show up presenting less punk, and more spunk.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

Horford got got by Delly  though…  
 

 

Thanks Lw3! #Al’samigosTURNTENEmigo

Vegas got Celts -5 … wow. Slap in the face.

2k comin..

GO HAWKS!!!

Edited April 21, 2023 by Spud2nique

[Spud2nique]

Can Garrison Mathews being Delly part duex.. aka the return of the cocoon? 

[sturt]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

Random thought: I’m not trying to get beat by losers like Derrick White and Al Horford. That’s not the way it’s gonna be and me being ok with that $hit. They are glorified scrubs playing out of even their own realm of imagination . 
 

That’s all for now..

[DieHardHAWK]

Thanks for the memory. That was one hell of a time. The arena was rocking. I was hoping the steps didn't collapse coming from the nosebleeds lol. I hope we can reincarnate that same energy tonight. LFG Hawks!!!

[Spud2nique]

Ugh I don’t know maybe this is a reverse jinx good sign cuz last game I won and we lost so this time I went ahead and dropped it by 29. @LongTimeFan I swear they had a pro going against me or somethingZ I even went 22/22 FT like gramps likes and nothing. Man, I hope we are ready to go in real life. Geez. I got beat the f up doh! 
 

Losing by 29 at home even in 2K is unacceptable. 
 

Dear Hawk players, if you are reading this, I just want to let you know that Ronnie 2K is also against you and has rigged NBA2K in favor of teams like the Celts and Lakers. 
 

Win one for the underdogs!!!! Comon guys!!!! LETSSSSS GOOOO!!!!

[Packfill]

Don't go down by 20 in the first half!  Please!

[Gray Mule]

Come on, Squawk posters!  It can't be that bad.  After all, ESPN says that there is a 24.4% chance that we win this first home game!

[macdaddy]

4 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Come on, Squawk posters!  It can't be that bad.  After all, ESPN says that there is a 24.4% chance that we win this first home game!

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Ugh I don’t know maybe this is a reverse jinx good sign cuz last game I won and we lost so this time I went ahead and dropped it by 29. @LongTimeFan I swear they had a pro going against me or somethingZ I even went 22/22 FT like gramps likes and nothing. Man, I hope we are ready to go in real life. Geez. I got beat the f up doh! 
 

Losing by 29 at home even in 2K is unacceptable. 
 

Dear Hawk players, if you are reading this, I just want to let you know that Ronnie 2K is also against you and has rigged NBA2K in favor of teams like the Celts and Lakers. 
 

Win one for the underdogs!!!! Comon guys!!!! LETSSSSS GOOOO!!!!

I've been waiting for the score.  Ugh.  
This is ALL on you... I mean the reverse jinx for a Hawks win!

[Spud2nique]

Random thought: Marcus Smart is gonna do something stupid tonight. Part of the NBA script.

Plus, he counts on his fingers 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Let's Win Hawks!

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

Nor sure whether it's damning with faint praise, or praising with faint damnation.

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Let's Win Hawks!

 

 

Damn really? 10-2? That’s pretty awesome I would guessed 7-5 or something wow. 
 

COMON FOLKS GET ROWDY!!!

[givemesome1ce1]

God I hope we win this game….This may be John Collins’s and Clint Capela’s last two home games as a hawk…LETS GO HAWKS!!

[Spud2nique]

39 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Nor sure whether it's damning with faint praise, or praising with faint damnation.

~lw3

He’s just a piece of crap isn’t he? He’s devaluing our 2008 team with himself included. If I’m JJ Smoove or Bibby I get on Twitter immediately and rip Alice a new one. What a freakin tool!!!

[benhillboy]

Series doesn’t start until home team loses.  I’m depending on the bench and the crowd to make that statement true.

Edited April 21, 2023 by benhillboy

[BrazilianHawk]

It's do or die tonight.

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!