Hawks Carry Regular-Season Success into Playoffs and Sunday NBA Takeaways
In a Game 1 win over the Brooklyn Nets that bore all the marks of their sterling regular season, the Atlanta Hawks proved they are who they were before the playoffs began: unselfish, intelligent and, ultimately, successful.
Atlanta took care of the Nets by a final score of 99-92 in a contest that saw the East's No. 1 seed repeatedly build big leads before allowing the opposition to close the gap, sometimes to within uncomfortable proximity.
Par for the course for these Hawks, who racked up 60 regular-season wins while outscoring the opposition by just 5.43 points per game. According to Basketball-Reference.com, that's the second-slimmest average margin of victory for a 60-win team in league history.
An early surge helped the Hawks build a 32-20 first-quarter advantage, and the pillars of its construction were exactly the ones you would have expected. Atlanta moved the ball beautifully, racking up eight assists on 11 made field goals.
On the year, no team tallied assists on a higher percentage of its buckets than the Hawks did (67.6 percent of made field goals), per NBA.com.
Brooklyn, by contrast, turned the ball over six times and failed to register a single assist in the period.
Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, Nets head coach Lionel Hollins' pregame analysis proved almost eerily accurate:
A strong second quarter from Brook Lopez, who finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds, brought the Nets back within striking distance. A 9-0 Brooklyn run in the third quarter tightened things up even more.
But with every threat from the Nets, Atlanta leaned on its three-point shooting and trustworthy offensive scheme. It seemed as though the Hawks executed their off-ball cuts and weak-side counters (of which there were many) with renewed urgency whenever their lead diminished.
In particular, Kyle Korver dialed in from deep with timely threes when Brooklyn put a scare into the Hawks.
He finished with a game-high 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting from long range, and his triple at the three-minute mark in the fourth quarter helped turn a mere five-point cushion into a safer eight-point advantage.
As willing as the Hawks were to bend, they simply never broke. It's difficult to say whether that's a mere continuation of good luck from the regular season, a testament to the reliability of their offensive system or evidence they possess the kind of switch-flipping ability we expect from contenders.
What's certain is that Atlanta spent the regular season doing exactly what it did against Brooklyn on Sunday, per Bondy:
The Hawks' big leads may not always stay big, but they almost never stop being leads.
One potential source of concern: Al Horford dislocated his right pinky finger early in the fourth quarter, prompting obvious distress from teammate Dennis Schroder, per The Starters' Tas Melas:
Already vulnerable due to a lack of interior defense (see: Lopez's clinic in the paint), the Hawks simply can't afford to lose any of their scarce inside size. Cleaning the glass has also been a weak spot for Atlanta this season.
Horford returned to the game, but if he's limited at all in the rest of the playoffs, it could present serious problems for Atlanta.
A second potential issue: Paul Millsap isn't right.
ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz has been with the Hawks all season, and while observing Millsap shoot just 2-of-11 from the field Sunday, he harbored doubts about the All-Star's health following a late-season shoulder injury:
The Nets put up a fight, which is something of a story in itself. But just as they have all year long, the Hawks trusted themselves and their system when things got tight.
There may come a time, perhaps against a more dangerous opponent, when Atlanta will have to be more than it was during the regular season in order to succeed in the playoffs.
Game 1 proved that time hasn't yet arrived.
The Hawks now, as ever, appear strong enough to advance.
Around the Association
Cavaliers' Playoff Learning Curve Isn't So Steep
Aside from a rough start by Kevin Love, LeBron James' sidekicks used a 113-100 Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics to prove any concerns about playoff inexperience were overblown.
Love's slow beginning gave way to a final line of 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and James' encouragement was key in ensuring a strong postseason debut.
"You’re good,” James told Love early on in the game, per Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com. “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it. Just play ball.”
Kyrie Irving, also making his first postseason appearance, needed no such affirmation. He shot confidently, attacked freely and finished with a game-high 30 points on 21 shots. James, the old head, contributed 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Despite that production, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens isn't so sure there's a way to better contain LBJ, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe:
With inexperience seemingly not an issue, the only potential problem the Celtics exposed in Cleveland was the Cavaliers' suspect defense. Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points off the bench, and Boston consistently earned good looks. If the Celtics had a few more shooters on the roster, things could have gotten interesting.
Though, to be fair, Cleveland's defensive shortcomings won't pose a real problem until a worthy foe presents itself. And Boston might not be worthy enough, as Grantland's Zach Lowe observed:
The Celtics are exceptionally well-coached, and their effort never waned in Game 1. As such, they're still confident, as Avery Bradley's indicated with his comments, per Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com:
In order to keep pace with the Cavs, it's possible we'll see more of Thomas (for offense) and Jae Crowder (who fared best in matching up on the defensive end with James) in Game 2. We may even see Stevens shake up the starting lineup to get those two involved earlier.
Grizzlies Grind Up Battered Blazers
Everyone knew the Portland Trail Blazers—hobbled by injuries of varying severity to Wesley Matthews, Arron Afflalo, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Chris Kaman—would have a hard time getting past the Memphis Grizzlies.
But nobody foresaw the thorough, merciless destruction the similarly banged-up Grizzlies visited upon the Blazers in Game 1. The final score of 100-86 didn't come close to conveying Memphis' dominance.
It's dangerous to overreact after just one contest, but as Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer noted, the Trail Blazers were clearly out-gunned:
The Grizz suffocated the Blazers with their trademark defense, limiting the visitors to just 33.7 percent from the field in the Grindhouse. Damian Lillard got the worst of it, as Mike Conley and Tony Allen hounded him all game long.
The result was a forgettable 5-of-21 for 14 points from Lillard, who also got absolutely torched on the other end.
Dying on screens like a bug on a windshield, Lillard couldn't keep Conley out of the lane or, even more concerning, Beno Udrih from getting wherever he wanted. All told, Memphis' point guards combined to score 36 points on 15-of-25 shooting.
If Portland is to have a chance in this series, it'll need more scoring from its point guard. But even if Lillard were to average huge numbers the rest of the way, it still might not be enough if he continues to defend this poorly.
Aldridge battled gamely, but he took a beating inside at the hands (paws?) of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Though he finished with 32 points, none of them came easily. Aldridge needed 34 shots to reach his total.
Portland will bounce back, if only because its pride can't possibly allow another beating like the one it took on Sunday. In addition to being relentlessly physical, though, the Grizzlies are also smart. They know the banged-up Blazers only have two serious threats on offense—Lillard and Aldridge.
Memphis got the result it wanted by focusing on those two and limiting them to a combined 18-of-55 from the field.
Barring a miracle, the Blazers just won't have the bodies to make it easier on their stars.
Clippers Got the Game They Needed
Winning Game 1 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs was important to the Los Angeles Clippers in a practical sense: They needed it to retain the precious home-court advantage their third-seed status earned them.
But you could argue it was just as important for the Clips to win Game 1 their way, which they did.
Emphatically.
Los Angeles' highlight-riddled, energetic, impassioned 107-92 defeat of the visiting Spurs was a tone-setter. Chris Paul (32 points on 13-of-20 shooting) controlled the game with his manic energy, DeAndre Jordan swatted everything in sight and Jamal Crawford hit a handful of his patented daggers.
Yes, Blake Griffin's 26 points were significant. But his serial aerial abuse of Aron Baynes mattered more.
See, the Clippers needed a statement game to prove—to the public and themselves—they belonged against the defending champs, who spent the last two months of the season crushing everyone in their path.
The caveat here is that the Spurs could hardly have played worse. Credit the Clippers for capitalizing, but don't expect San Antonio to miss the bevy of open threes it generated in subsequent games. Nor is it likely to leave a dozen points at the foul line.
And, of course, you have to wonder whether the extra rest (Game 2 won't take place until Wednesday) will be enough for L.A.'s overtaxed starters to recover from absolutely carrying the team on Sunday.
As expected, the Clippers' bench, Crawford excluded, provided absolutely nothing. ESPN.com's Amin El Hassan noted the urgency the Clips should be feeling to to make this a short series if they can:
There are plenty of questions, and this series has all the makings of a long one, which is bad news for L.A.
But the Clippers started it out on their terms.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
