NBA Playoffs 2012: History Not on Atlanta Hawks' Side in Game 6

The Atlanta Hawks have a rotten history of not showing up for critical playoff games and getting blown out by wide margins during those games.

In the past five years, dating back to 2008, the Atlanta Hawks are 4-18 on the road in the playoffs. Fifteen of the 18 losses are by double-digits and nine of them by 20 or more. 

The average margin road defeat in the playoffs for the Hawks is 20.5 points per game from 2008 to the present.  

Now, the Hawks have to win on the road in Boston for Game 6 in an elimination game. Like the prior two games in Boston, the Hawks should expect a full house of Celtics fans at the Garden. The deafening crowd noise is one factor why the Hawks struggle to rally from slow starts on the road. 

The Hawks trailed the series 3-to-1, but prevailed in a nail-biter during Game 5 at home. Entering the 2012 postseason, only eight of 186 teams have ever come back from a 3-to-1 series hole, according to ESPN.com.

In Game 5, Atlanta struggled from the field early on. After the slow start, the Hawks played hard, running in transition, hitting three-pointers and stretching out the Celtics defense.

Forward Marvin Williams, of all people, sparked the furious Hawks first-half rally with a barrage of three-pointers, electrifying the partisan Hawks crowd. 

Having Al Horford in the lineup surely made a difference in Game 5. Horford had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, steals and blocks, and he still isn't 100 percent healthy.

Right now both squads are banged up. The Celtics' Paul Pierce and the Hawks' Josh Smith also looked hobbled in Game 5.  

Still, the Hawks are going to have to overcome their road woes if they want to extend this series to a deciding seventh game.

The Hawks played much better on the road during the regular season. The Hawks' 17-16 regular season road record ranked seventh in the NBA. But in the postseason, as I've already mentioned, the Hawks have four wins in eight different series. 

This current series is reminiscent of is the 2010 first-round series against the No. 6 seed Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks lost three straight games in the middle of that series, and then won two elimination games—one in Milwaukee, and the other at home—to take the series. 

But the Celtics are considerably better than those Bucks. The Hawks have struggled mightily in guarding Celtics guard Rajon Rondo all series long. Rondo had a "bad" game in Game 5, and he still had 12 assists and five steals. 

History is not on the Hawks' side. Their inability to win on the road in the postseason could cost them.