What a way to finish the first half of the season (metaphorically speaking, the Hawks have actually played 52 games now). Last night the Hawks came back from a 15 point deficit to defeat the Clippers 96-93, ending their West Coast Swing with a 3-1 record. Ok, raise your hands if you saw that one coming?

You know what was so great about the game last night? For some reason, I always thought we were going to win. Even when we were down by double-figures, I still felt like the Hawks would pull it off. Why? I'm not sure. Part of it was because we were hustling the entire game, whereas the Clippers seemed to be almost sleepwalking at times. And part of it was just because I am gaining confidence in these boys. Remember when we were wondering at the beginning of the season who would be the player to step into Al Harrington's shoes and become the Hawks legit #2 option behind Joe Johnson (who is an All-Star, by the way)?

Well, Josh Smith has staked his claim over the past few weeks, and ever since the guys seem to have all found their niche. That was what impressed me the most last night - instead of people sitting around wondering who was going to do what, it seemed like everyone was doing what they do best to help the team win. Zaza Pachulia was doing the dirty work down low, Marvin Williams was hitting jump shots (and free throws), and Lorenzen Wright was punishing people for coming into the lane. The list goes on. I have spoken before about how the confidence of such a young team can fluctuate wildly, and I definitely think they are playing with more confidence right now than at any point in the season so far. I think they also thought they would win last night, regardless of time and score.

So, as we hit the All-Star break (more on that later today), the Hawks sit at 21-31, five games out of the 8th spot in the East. As I see it, the Heat, if they stay healthy, are in. Orlando, on the other hand, appears to be on a downward trend. To make the playoffs, the Hawks will need to make up basically six games in the standing against the Magic - and hope New Jersey doesn't catch fire. Is that likely? It's hard to say. We have to start winning at home, and we have to start beating the teams who are worse than us as often as we beat the teams that are better (weird, eh?).

Still, anything is possible. All it takes in the East is one big run - one win-seven-of-eight stretch and we can be right back in this thing.

No matter what happens, the team should be proud of the way they played on this West Coast trip (well, maybe not the Utah game so much) - coming back from second-half double-digit deficits twice to get wins is impressive anywhere, even moreso on the road.

A tip of the cap to the Hawks for the way they closed out the first half, and here's to hoping everyone uses the break to rest up and get ready for the season's second act - everyone that is, except Joe, who if you didn't know, is an All-Star. Did we mention that?

Permalink:
http://hawks.portspaces.com/post/hawksbasketblog/clips_win_a_sign_of_things_to_come.html

Trackback URL:
http://hawks.portspaces.com/post/hawksbasketblog/clips_win_a_sign_of_things_to_come.trackback

Hmmmm. In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, "That really got out of hand quickly."

The Jazz pretty much handed it to us last night, taking advantage of a clearly flat-footed Hawks squad to take a 102-76 victory in Salt Lake City, snapping the team's five-game road winning streak and continuing a 13-year run of dominance in Utah.

Though it would have been nice to see the team come out with a little more effort, I don't think anyone is probably that surprised by this particular loss. Utah is an incredibly physical and disciplined team, even without Carlos Boozer, and that is the kind of squad that will give the young Hawks problems every single time.

So, let's turn the page on Monday night and focus our attention on Wednesday's game at LA. A 3-1 west coast swing would be a tremendous way to end the season's first half, and the Hawks have already shown they can hang with the Clips with their 86-74 win earlier this season at Philips. No reason anyone should be tired for this game, it's the last one for a week (for everyone, since no one got invited to participate in the All-Star festivities. Not that I am bitter or anything).

Permalink:
http://hawks.portspaces.com/post/hawksbasketblog/well_that_didnt_quite_go_as_planned.html

Trackback URL:
http://hawks.portspaces.com/post/hawksbasketblog/well_that_didnt_quite_go_as_planned.trackback