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April 26, 2008
The Night the Lights Went On in Georgia
In high flight, the Hawks left the terra firma, and the Celtics returned to it as the Hawks beat the Celtics 102-93.
In my last column, I asked, Who should the Celtics fear? Perhaps we don't have to look far.
A Hawks pre-game goal of shooting in the first 7 seconds of the shot clock was working to perfection for much of the first half, as they constantly blew by the Cs on the way to dunks, alley-oops and lay-ups. The Celtics seemed to wonder, uncharacteristically, what the heck that was going by? It was a Hawk or two or three. They rarely let the Celtics set up their vaunted half court defense - and it paid off with a Hawk victory.
You can call it The Home Show, The Speed Show or the Aviation Show as Atlanta was rocking and enjoying their latest NBA play-off team after a 9 year absence.
Josh Smith and company provided plenty of shock and awe for the home crowd. Josh had three emphatic dunks, two on alley oops in the first half. But Josh Smith making three 3 pointers on 6 attempts while scoring 27 points, will tell you what kind of night it was. As the game wore on, the ball seemed to bounce in the Hawks direction far too often. Atlanta scored inside and hit from outside, making 10 of 18 threes while garnering 38 points in the paint.
When Kendrick Perkins went out early in the first quarter with a bloody nose, it looked like it would be a difficult night for the Celtics. Perkins came back in, but didn't really play like himself the rest of the night. Nor did the rest of the Celtics.
It just might have been the wrong night to decide that Tony Allen and Eddie House won't be part of the rotation. Sam Cassell did not play well and Tony could have helped, especially with perimeter defense, where the Hawks were open - often. House's quick start offense might have helped as well. I completely understand Doc trying to pare down the rotation. But still....
An example of the Celtics erratic play occurred in the 4th quarter, when, with the Celtics down 89-76, Posey hits a three to bring the Celtics to within 10 points, then makes a great defensive play on a driving Joe Johnson. Celtics get the ball. Cassell throws a careless bounce pass to KG that results in a turnover and a Josh Smith fast break dunk. Posey appears to voice his frustration (read: anger) towards Cassell underneath the rim right after it happened. That is the kind of un-Celtic-like night the Cs had.
Kevin Garnett had a strong offensive performance with 32 points on 11-18, but was unable to stop the Hawks from penetrating at the other end. Mike Bibby had 8 assists and Joe Johnson, Al Horford, and Josh Childress joined Smith in attacking the Celtics while doing a solid job of stopping the Celtics from doing what they wanted to.
The league leading Celtics became the 4th play-off team leading 2 games to none in this year's play-offs to take a loss, as the Hawks ran and leaped their way to a crowd pleasing win.
This win might raise the most eyebrows as the Hawks were an 8th seed that didn't even play .500 ball to get in. They had loss three straight games to these same Celtics in the regular season by an average of 14 points, and two more in the play-offs by over 20 in Boston. More mature teams might have folded their tents and started to think about their summer plans. This team isn't mature enough to know they can't win. Tonight they proved that - by winning.
They out ran, out shot, out rebounded, out assisted and out blocked the Green Machine in Atlanta. Though the Celtics recorded 16 fast break points to Atlanta's 15, the players on the move most of the night were wearing red, not green.
The question now is, "Did this win give them confidence enough to think they can actually play with the top team in the league?" My guess would be yes. They are young enough to not understand they can't play a 7 game series and win in this situation.
The Celtics talent should win out, and the Hawks have been much too inconsistent to expect they will make a series of this, but stranger things have happened. This Hawks team showed this evening what their potential is. They will get scarier and better every year.
The Celtics biggest lead of the night was only 5 points, early in the first quarter, as the Hawks finally took to wing. A lightning quick, fast break team in the first quarter, the Hawks maintained that effort for much of the 2nd quarter, as they blurred by the slow responding, back pedaling Celtics.
The Celtics maintained their cool, regrouped, and slowly made their way back into the game with a 21-12 run to finish to the 2nd quarter tied at 56. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett each had 9 points to power the run.
The 3rd quarter made the difference as the Hawks jumped back out to a 10 point lead they would not relinquish again.
In addition to Bibby's improved play, rookie Al Horford had an excellent game with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Joe Johnson had 23 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Josh Childress played solid defense. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 8 assists, and was 2nd with 17 points. Both teams did a very good job of sharing the ball, but the Celtics offense did not run smoothly, thanks in large part to the Hawks defense.
After Horford hit the last shot of the game, he started talking junk to Pierce who was laying on the floor. When the game ended, Paul calmly started to head towards the Hawks bench when Brian Scalabrine intervened.
Game 4 is Monday night in Philips Arena in Atlanta.
Posted by Tom on April 26, 2008 9:43 PM
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