Man, that one hurt. The Hawks played so well in so many ways tonight. They really deserved to win, and yet the final score showed Cleveland 88, Atlanta 87. I was really impressed with Atlanta tonight. Even as they fell behind for most of the first half, you could tell the energy and intensity were there, they just couldn't catch a break. And when things finally started to go their way, they took advantage. When Marvin Williams hit a 3-pointer to make it 87-82 with 1:42 to play, I thought that would just about do it. But Cleveland showed why they are the top seed in the Eastern Conference, coming back and stealing the victory on the road in a very frustrating fashion.

Even still, I can't help but think Atlanta showed tonight that they won't be an easy out for anyone come playoff time, no matter what round. Hopefully what they will take away from tonight is not that they lost, but that they competed toe-to-toe with the best team in the Eastern Conference (in my opinion, anyway) and nearly came out ahead (and probably should have).

Let's just channel all that aggression and frustration from tonight's loss and take it out on Washington tomorrow night, whaddya say?