The Hawks have already exceeded expectations. And i agree Smith is a beast. I actually watch them b/c of Horford. I adore him.
stern in the House...does he talk to refs at halftime to make sure his this series only goes five? Did you see the look on his face when Garnett and Pachlua got into each others face? That incident seem to re-energize the Celtics as they were down 7 then. Hawks playing like they belong with a 51-48 halftime lead. Lets hope they don't fold and extend this one to six games. The more games the Celtics play the less stamina they will have come the end of May. The Hawks trailed the Celtics 16-3 to open the game and came back to lead by as many as nine points. This is probably the biggest crowd to see a basketball game in Atlanta since the 96 Dream Team played there in the Olympics
Hope our coaching staff taped the firstv half ofg this game. The secret to beating the Celts is right there; plain as day!
it is cool to see atlanta with an actual crowd. they sports team get terrible support, so this is definitly a suprise for me. since ATL is an up and coming team, i hope they can build off this and atleast draw a ecent crowd next year. its depressing watching basketball in empty gyms.
Not really. It can be depressing watching basketball in a full house, just depends on who is playing!
i would never have guessed this would be the best series of the playoffs. when jj made that three it was unbelievable. i really hope atl holds on here.
The way ATL is playing, who would believe they are the 8th seed in the 'inferior' conference? Celts seem a little rattled. I'm enjoying this
Wow, how 'bout them Hawks! Johnson was totally unstoppable down the stretch. 32-17 in the 4th for Atlanta, amazing. As much of a headache as the Pistons have given us so far in this first round, let's take a moment to notice that the Celtics are in EXACTLY the same situation as the Pistons are in after 4 games: tied 2-2. The fact that this Boston group is in their first playoff run EVER together might actually be a factor, despite everyone already having crowned them as East champs. So let's chill out a bit before we call for this Pistons team to be blown up.
Wht a effin great game! I'm so pumped. I feel like a Hawks fan. LOL I've loved Joe Johnson since his PHO says. I voted for him for the all star team the last few years. He's just fantastic. Was on a losing team. Didn't complain, demand to be traded, stuck it out, and had confidence in his teammates. Superstar performance. And the Celtics interior D getting crushed. Hope this gives Pistons some motivation. On second thought, i hope it doesn't give Philly motivation. edited to add; It's funny that the two better teams are stuck tied in their respective series, but the two teams with the better coaches are on the verge of clinching/clinched. If we get to the ECF we just might be seeing CLE instead.
It was an amazing win. When you think about it the Hawks are not that bad of a team with the 2 Smith's and Bibby. I am sure this will be the last game they will win, who thought the Hawks would tie it up.
Joe Johnson was a man among boys. That was so enjoyable to watch the Celtics lose. Hooray for the Hawks!
Lets hope the whole team sat there and watched the whole game. I won't say the Celtics are in trouble, but this one could go seven if each team takes care of business on their home floor. If you can penetrate the Celtics defense and score more than 90 points on them, you got a good chance to beat them... Joe Johnson did to them what Lebron did to us last year, with the help of course of Josh Smith. Took them apart in one qtr. Looks like the number 1 and 2 seeds in the east are having a much more difficult series than the 3 and 4 seeds..
Key. We should actually try to drive against them whether it be for the pass or the finish. They're not nearly as quick as the Sixers.
I agree, but let's hope the Pistons players don't start pointing to the Hawks-Celtics series as a diversion from their own poor play.
I'm worried that the Cavs have been sandbagging all along. Either that or the new players are meshing with Bron Bron. I haven't been following that series.
And not as young, but they did have the best defense all season...if you wear them down though they can be broken.
philly is obviously a decent team, and orlando will likely be the same, but how lucky did detroit get with the seedings. i would gladly trade HC in game 7 for philly > orlando over atl > cleveland. atl is a talented team, i just thought they were atleast a year away. last i heard, bibby was playing 1 handed and horford was only a rookie (how much of a stud does he look?). a bibby / johnson backcourt probably isnt THAT far down the pecking order from billups / hamilton, and atl has a young, talented, athletic front court. thats the ingredients for a nightmare if they play well. im also happy for woodson. he weathered a rough storm there in atl and now seems to be getting some notice for being a respectable nba coach. for those who dont remember, he was a highly respected assistant coach for brown here.
Atlanta is better than Philly in my opinion. Boston has played at a high level all year. The problem is that they don't seem to have another gear for the playoffs. Their key guys also seem to get tired (Atlanta kept coming at them)as they are all over 30 which is on the older side in the NBA. Boston did continue to run their sets and hit big shots. But I would worry if I were a Boston fan...
How well would Atlanta have to play to actually win this series? They would need to take it to ludicrous level.
Makes me wonder...how well would Detroit have to play to actually win the same series? They would need to focus and play to their potential...like a few years ago. How bad do they want it?
