What the Atlanta Hawks did in Brooklyn last night is probably a felony in at least 12 states across the country as they defeated, actually, no, they exposed the Brooklyn Nets 98-75.
Watching a Hawks-Nets game in 2014, from the Hawks’ perspective, is interesting for a number of reasons. For one, the Hawks have the option of swapping picks with the Nets, again, next summer so if the Nets just miss the playoffs this year the Hawks could find themselves in the same position the Portland Trail Blazers were in when they lucked into drafting Damian Lillard with Brooklyn’s pick in the infamous Gerald Wallace Trade. It also makes you appreciate the fact that the Hawks now have a distinct identity, while the Nets look, and play, like they’re desperately trying to remember, or find, their identity like Jason Bourne.
These are the types of things you think about when the Hawks outscore the Nets 36-13 in the second quarter. But this kind of dysfunction from a team that’s managed by this guy is to be expected. (Especially if you go back and look at Billy King’s Philly days. Woof.)
The Nets play like the Boston Celtics’ did before Danny Ainge finally put the 2008 championship team to bed in a deal, ironically enough, with the Nets — old, sluggish and struggling to be anything more than a 7th or 8th seed in the weak Eastern Conference. Essentially, Mikhail Prokhorov’s big investment is back to NBA purgatory.
This was the first Hawks’ night in a long time where it didn’t feel like Jeff Teague was the best player on the floor at all times for Atlanta. Paul Millsap (6-10, 2-4) and DeMarre Carroll (7-10, 4-5) both had big nights exploiting Brooklyn’s vulnerability on the wing with Andrei Kirilenko reportedly having his love of basketball ripped out of him by Lionel Hollins and Paul Pierce gone to where the grass is greener.
Not everything went perfectly right for the Hawks, though, as Al Horford had another game where you just think to yourself,”Are we sure he’s going to become an alpha for this team again?” Which may not be fair, considering he’s always been the perfect No. 2 option for a serious title contender. Maybe Al sliding to the No.2 role while Teague continues to blossom as the No.1 option is what’s best for the Hawks this season. I mean, it is working pretty well thus far.
The bench unit is still an issue outside of Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott. (Schroder went 5-for-9 from the floor, dished out five assists, ripped four steals and had a plus/minus of +20 in this game.)
Pero Antic is still way too slow defensively to make any kind of serious impact down low and if he’s going 0-4 from the floor I’m not sure what’s the point of having him out there over Elton Brand or Mike Muscala.
If Thabo Sefolosha couldn’t continue to grab rebounds at such a rapid rate I’m not sure he’s an NBA rotation player anymore. Whenever you think to yourself, “He’s kind of like a Poor Man’s DeMarre now,” it’s never a good sign for a guy’s career.
Did Shelvin Mack miss? You wouldn’t believe this, but yes he did. Mack went 1-for-7 from the floor, 0-3 from deep, as Mack continues to struggle shooting the basketball. Are we sure Mack shouldn’t be in the D-League and John Jenkins should be getting these minutes? I’m definitely starting to feel that way, at least.
Still, the Hawks won another game in convincing fashion, on the road, and Teague didn’t need to have a Jeff Teague MVP Experience kind of night for the team to do so. That’s always a good thing.
Next game: Sunday at 3:30 EST at Philips Arena
