Atlanta Hawks Must Find Bench Production with Nothing Guaranteed Out East

Dropping one game to the eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets was expected. Heck, ceding two in enemy territory was understandable to a degree. But the Atlanta Hawks weren't prepared to surrender control of their first-round series at home with a third straight loss.

At least, that was the message Mike Budenholzer's starters sent as the Hawks put the kibosh on Brooklyn's fourth-quarter rally led by Jarrett Jack and Joe Johnson to take Game 5, 107-97.

But just because the Hawks zeroed in after allowing Brooklyn to start the final frame on a 9-0 run doesn't mean they're out of the woods just yet.

As has been the case all series long, the Hawks' starting five did everything.

And I mean everything.

While Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll all finished in double figures, Atlanta's second unit consisting of Kent Bazemore, Dennis Schroder, Pero Antic and Mike Scott scored 16 points combined.

Collectively, the Nets outscored the Hawks by 12 points during the 44 minutes racked up by Atlanta's reserves, which paled in comparison to the starters' robust plus/minus marks—all of which were at least plus-10.

Not surprisingly, Budenholzer didn't take any chances when it came to his personnel groupings in the fourth quarter, as SB Nation's Mike Prada explained:

Call it the Los Angeles Clippers'  conundrum.

To their credit, the starting five opened with a bang and closed with a flourish. After dropping consecutive contests at Barclays Center, the Hawks' big guns came out energized and ready to take advantage of slow perimeter rotations, and they did so effectively during a 33-point first quarter, which was their highest-scoring period of the series.

The Hawks opened up 9-of-14 from the field, as Korver (17 points, 5-of-12 shooting from three) finally found his stroke after shooting a combined 4-of-18 from three in Games 3 and 4.

Horford (20 points, 15 rebounds, five assists) and Teague (20 points, eight assists) then cleaned up late, scoring six and nine points, respectively, over the game's final eight-and-a-half minutes. The big man's hustle was commendable as well, as evidenced by his five offensive boards, which equaled Brooklyn's total as a team.

According to the Hawks' official Twitter account, Budenholzer was proud of the resiliency that defined his team's effort:

And yet, in the midst of encouraging progression to the mean, there's still reason to be concerned about the Hawks as they trudge north in hopes of closing this thing out in six.

Even though they remained undefeated at home (32-0) when leading entering the fourth quarter, the bench's inability to provide necessary reinforcements has dampened the No. 1 seed's championship hopes for the time being.

"Pero Antic was the only Hawks reserve with a positive plus-minus, and the stats aren't lying here," CBSSports.com's James Herbert wrote. "Dennis Schroder is, to put it politely, learning some important lessons in these playoffs, and Kent Bazemore has hurt Atlanta's offense."

And here's the problem: It would be one thing if Atlanta's reserves were sputtering, while Brooklyn's backups were struggling to find their footing.

But no—the opposite held true. Thus, a strange dichotomy has started to emerge.

While the Hawks search for a second unit that can help sustain their wavering title hopes, Brooklyn has been sustained for spurts by the revelatory play of its backcourt bench duo.

In Game 5, Alan Anderson dropped a playoff career-high 23 points, while drilling all four of his attempts from beyond the arc. For the series, he's shooting an unconscious 74.2 percent from the field in 24 minutes per game.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Jack, who single-handedly outscored Atlanta's bench with 18 points—including 12 straight in the fourth quarter and 16 in the second half—has provided the lift for Brooklyn that Atlanta has needed to dispel myths of a sudden decline.

For a team that relied on balance during a brilliant 60-win regular season, that's a tough pill to swallow.

Atlanta's bench is shooting under 39 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from three through five postseason games. That's a harsh departure from regular-season conversion rates of 42.6 percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from distance.

"They're pushing us, and we're pushing them," Horford said after the win, according to NBA TV. "I feel like it's going to make us better."

Brooklyn's bench may be pushing Atlanta's starters, but the Hawks can't rely on five bodies to validate their title-contending credentials. There needs to be harmony from top to bottom, and right now, that give-and-take between starters and reserves is elusive.

Now isn't the time for an identity crisis either. The Eastern Conference power structure is undergoing a sizable shakeup due to Kevin Love's season-ending shoulder surgery, which the team announced Wednesday, per TNT's David Aldridge, and Chicago's offensive woes, meaning a sudden bench resurgence could tip the scales in Atlanta's favor.

The revival tour can start Friday night (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) when the Hawks look to solidify a second-round matchup with the upstart Washington Wizards.

And if Atlanta can get the gears turning in concert with even flow from its full slate of offensive actors, Eastern Conference title hopefuls will continue to gaze up at the throne the Hawks occupied all season long.

All statistics are current as of April 29 and courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless noted otherwise.

Alec Nathan covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @AlecBNathan.