NBA Playoff Schedule 2015: TV Coverage, Live Stream Guide for Friday's Matchup
The first round of the NBA playoffs is nearing its end, and on Friday, the Eastern Conference's top-seeded Atlanta Hawks have the chance to send the Brooklyn Nets home for the summer.
The two teams face off at 8 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center with Atlanta leading three games to two. The Nets, who went 38-44 in the regular season, have already pushed this series farther than many predicted. But with one more loss, their season will come to an end.
| 8 p.m. ET | Atlanta Hawks vs. Brooklyn Nets | ATL leads 3-2 | ESPN | WatchESPN |
The Nets have stymied a Hawks offense that was nearly unstoppable in the regular season, ranking sixth league-wide and second in three-point shooting. Lionel Hollins has constructed a defensive scheme that has blocked off Kyle Korver through most of the series, holding him to a pedestrian 35.4 percent three-point clip and limiting Atlanta's options.
Hollins has adjusted by going with smaller lineups filled with more athletic wing players so that Brooklyn can easily—and successfully—switch different defenders onto Korver around screens, instead of forcing one defender to chase him around the perimeter.
Deron Williams saw a bit of a renaissance in his game in Game 4, going for 35 points—a number he hadn't eclipsed since March 8, 2013. He spoke about Hollins' adjustments in the series, which were sorely needed after Brooklyn's regular-season struggles against the Hawks.
According to the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy, Williams said:
"(Hollins) has done a great job, made a lot of adjustments. We had to,” said Deron Williams, referencing Brooklyn’s 0-4 record against the Hawks in the regular season. “The way we played against them in the regular season, that wasn’t going to work. In the first couple of games (in the playoffs), our ball movement wasn’t as good as it’s been the last couple. And we’ve been stressing that in practice, watching film, guys are definitely buying in, and a lot of that is because of the job he has done.
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Mike Budenholzer's 60-win team may be starting to adjust, too. After shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range over the first four games of the series, Korver drilled five of his 12 attempts on Wednesday, or 41.7 percent. Atlanta was able to drop 107 on the Nets in 91 possessions, or 117.6 points per 100 possession—the Los Angeles Clippers led the league this season at 109.8, per ESPN.com. They won by double digits.
While several Hawks starters have struggled as a result of Korver's minimal production in Games 1 through 4, DeMarre Carroll is having the series of his life. The impending free agent dropped 24 points Wednesday, a mark he eclipsed just twice in the regular season. He's averaged 17 points and 7.6 rebounds this series while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 42.3 percent from three and 80 percent from the foul line.
SB Nation's Paul Flannery wrote about Carroll's effectiveness and mentality this series:
"With apologies to Horford, Carroll has been their most important player throughout the series. When Carroll is on the court, the Hawks have outscored Brooklyn by more than 10 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com's stats page. In the 58 minutes he'd been on the bench, they've been outscored by a staggering 32.7 points per 100 possessions. Long known for his defense, the self-styled Junkyard Dog has been phenomenal offensively. He's averaging better than 17 points per game on 50 percent shooting that includes a 42 percent run behind the arc.
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"My biggest thing is defense," Carroll said earlier in the series. "I'm gonna stick with defense, I'm gonna hang my hat on defense. At the same time, who says I can't get better on offense?
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The 6'8" forward certainly looks much improved on that end, riding momentum from a nine-game stretch to end the regular season, when he averaged more than 16 points.
It'll be an interesting Game 6, with the Nets at home fighting for their season against the Hawks, who suddenly have everything to prove—and, with Kevin Love out for the rest of these playoffs, have as good of a chance as ever to come out of the East.
It's the lone game on Friday's NBA slate, and if Game 6 is as close as the first five tilts of the series, it'll be one to keep an eye on.
