Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks: Postgame Grades and Analysis
With Joe Johnson returning to the place he spent seven seasons, the Brooklyn Nets could not pare down the deficit to give "Big Shot Joe" a chance at a game-winning shot, and the Atlanta Hawks held on to for the 99-92 win in Sunday's Game 1, maintaining home-court advantage.
In the first 40 seconds, Johnson opened the scoring and then Kyle Korver connected on a three-pointer. The Hawks never relinquished that lead. They were helped along by an impressive 21-of-22 shooting from the line—ironically, Korver had the lone miss after making 90 percent this season—while the Nets missed seven of their 22 attempts.
The Hawks racked up eight assists during their 32-point first quarter as the Nets had zero dimes, and it appeared the hosts would cruise to victory. Instead, the Nets continually pressured them and kept the result in doubt until the final minute. They actually outshot the Hawks by a couple of percentage points, but they also only made five three-pointers to 10 for Atlanta.
The Nets stormed out of the locker room and reeled off a 9-0 run early in the third quarter, reducing the deficit to one possession, but the Hawks countered with a 15-2 run behind a barrage of three-pointers. A spate of Hawks turnovers in the fourth quarter kept it a close game to the horn and perhaps required more perspiration than should have been necessary.
| Kyle Korver | A |
| Jeff Teague | B+ |
| DeMarre Carroll | B+ |
| Al Horford | B |
| Paul Millsap | C- |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Brook Lopez | A |
| Thaddeus Young | B- |
| Jarrett Jack | C+ |
| Joe Johnson | C+ |
| Deron Williams | C |
| Rest of Team | D |
Atlanta Hawks
Kyle Korver, Shooting Guard
Kyle Korver nailed a pair of three-pointers and reached halftime with 10 points. And when Korver's getting opportunities and making shots, it's torturous on defenses, as the core of his game involves sprinting around the offensive set over, under and around screens as he hunts for shots. Now he can put Game 1 on his mantel.
Korver stayed hot down the stretch, and his fifth three-pointer came with just over three minutes remaining. That extended the Hawks' lead to eight just when the home fans were beginning to tug at their collars. He ended with 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting, plus seven boards, three assists, two steals and a block.
Grade: A
Al Horford, Center
Al Horford found himself well on the way to a double-double with eight and eight by the half, but he jammed a finger while grabbing a rebound during the fourth quarter, which resulted in a dislocated right pinkie finger.
He headed to the locker room briefly and came back to the bench with ice on his hand, but he did return to the court and missed only five minutes of game time. Horford's gutsy reaction to the injured finger surely helped inspire his team down the stretch as the Nets kept nipping at their heels.
He got his double-double—but just barely—on 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Grade: B
DeMarre Carroll, Small Forward
DeMarre Carroll led all scorers with 12 first-half points. His athleticism makes him a versatile defender, which helped match up against Brooklyn's starting forwards Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Embodying his gritty style of play, Carroll hustled to a loose ball and dove on the floor to secure it and call timeout with 13.1 seconds left and the Hawks leading by five. Gaining possession on that play essentially iced the victory.
Grade: B+
Jeff Teague, Point Guard
Jeff Teague was plagued by two problems: turnovers and foul trouble. In fact, his fourth foul resulted directly from his fourth turnover with six minutes left in the third quarter.
He must have had a long, hard think about that while sitting on the bench, because he started spitting hot fire in the fourth quarter, when he dropped eight of his 17 points. And he didn't commit another foul or turnover. However, he did turn in an ugly ratio of three assists to four turnovers.
Grade: B+
Paul Millsap, Power Forward
Paul Millsap grabbed two steals in the first half, which was also the number of points he had after missing four of his five shots. It's possible that the shoulder injury which kept him out of five games in April is still bothering him.
Millsap ended up on 2-of-11 shooting for just six points. He did collect seven rebounds and delivered a couple of assists, but the dip in his play could be a cause for concern in the series.
Grade: C-
Rest of Team
Dennis Schroder scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and proved yet again to be a boost off the bench. But like Teague, he encountered a little turnover problem, committing four of them while notching just two dimes.
Shelvin Mack played only four minutes in the first half, but he managed to grab as many steals as the entire Nets team by halftime—two. Mike Scott chipped in two steals as well, plus five points.
Pero Antic got into some foul trouble, but he also succeeded in making all three of his foul shots to get to eight points.
Unfortunately, the Hawks do not have their dynamo defender Thabo Sefolosha this postseason after he sustained a broken right leg during his April 8 arrest by the New York Police Department.
Grade: B
Brooklyn Nets
Joe Johnson, Small Forward
During Johnson's seven seasons with the Hawks, he averaged 20.9 points and 5.2 assists per game. Since he got shipped to Brooklyn, fans in Atlanta have bore him ill will, and in his postseason return to ATL, they eagerly heckled him.
Johnson exhibited shadows of his Hawks days when 17 points on 17 shots. He missed all six of his three-point attempts and struggled from the foul line with 5-of-8 shooting. Though he did lead the team in assists with six, and he grabbed six boards and two steals, his inefficiency from the field hampered the comeback.
Grade: C+
Deron Williams, Point Guard
Deron Williams converted a contested reverse layup late in the second quarter, and as pretty as that play was, he reached halftime with just five points and one assist.
Williams faded into the background at times, and credit the Hawks defense with never allowing Williams to assert himself. His 13 points and two assists were identical to reserve guard Jarrett Jack's numbers, except Williams logged twice as many minutes.
Grade: C
Brook Lopez, Center
The Brook Lopez revival continues. He averaged 20.9 points per game in March and 20.2 in April—his best months of the season by more than four points—and he supplemented that by posting better than nine rebounds per game.
On Sunday, Lopez had nine boards by halftime, a sign of the Hawks' mediocrity on the glass; they ranked 28th in rebounds per game this season.
Lopez posted a big double-double behind 17 points and 14 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass, and he made six of his seven shots. He also snatched a couple of steals, though he did not record a block, and neither did any of his teammates. Despite the loss, yet another strong game from the oft-injured Lopez remains an encouraging sign.
Grade: A
Thaddeus Young, Power Forward
Thad Young committed four of the Nets' 11 turnovers in the first half, helping gift the Hawks a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
While he was a major contributor to the team's playoff push, it was somewhat surprising to see him launch 16 shots. Compare that to the Hawks, where every starters took 12 shots, except Millsap who tried 11.
He still recorded a double-double thanks to 15 and 10, and he snagged five of the team's 12 offensive boards, a category where the Hawks had a 12-6 deficit.
Grade: B-
Jarrett Jack, Shooting Guard
Jarrett Jack proved to be an efficient scorer, with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in just 16 minutes off the bench, but he also added to the team's turnover woes. Jack booted a game-high five turnovers, and the Nets finished with an 11-point shortfall in scoring off turnovers. Four different Hawks recorded two steals.
Grade: C+
Rest of Team
Bojan Bogdanovic saw huge minutes off the bench, but he struggled mightily from the field and missed six of his first seven shots. He did hit a triple in the fourth quarter, but that was it for him on a five-point night. He hoped for more from his 32 minutes
Mason Plumlee saw a dozen minutes and did not attempt a shot, but he did record four rebounds and two dimes.
Markel Brown stared at 2-guard, but he didn't even get six minutes of court time. While he scored four points, his turned it over twice during his brief time in the game.
Earl Clark added to the inefficient shooting, making just one field goal from six attempts in his eight minutes. At least that one was a three-pointer.
Alan Anderson scored five points, but he was the king of ones: one rebound, one assist, one steal, one turnover, one foul. And his rating? Plus-one. He did hit a triple in the fourth quarter, but that was it for him on a five-point night.
Grade: D
Coming Up Next
The teams have two days to rest up and reload before Game 2 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. NBA TV has the telecast. The Hawks swept the season series and won all four meetings, including a 131-99 beatdown on April 4.
