Some final thoughts from tonight's win, before I head into a blissful slumber...

You really couldn't ask for a better start to the series for the Hawks. I know it's only one game of the series, but we made Miami look bad tonight. This wasn't a case of Miami just missing a bunch of shots that should normally go in - they looked completely outmatched and outclassed. Dwyane Wade was the only guy on the floor who was able to do much of anything against Atlanta's defense, and I don't think he's going to have fond memories of his performance tonight either.

The Hawks shot out of the gates with fire and intensity, and they gave the raucous crowd at Philips Arena several opportunities to stretch their vocal chords. Like this. Or this.

Josh Smith was the lead story in this one, leading all scorers with 23 points and getting a double-double with 10 rebounds. Marvin Williams had 7 points early, and finished with 10 in his first start since March 7 - and Coach Woodson was able to limit him to just 17 minutes without penalty. Otherwise, there wasn't really anything of note to talk about offensively. Everyone who played contributed, but other than Smoove no one went crazy. Which bodes very, very bad for Miami.

The Heat offense never got it going in Game 1, and the run most people assumed they'd eventually go on after getting down by 20 in the first half never came. You want a crazy stat? If the Hawks had scored only 6 points after halftime, they'd still have won the game.

The Heat will no doubt go back to the drawing board to try to figure out how to get back in this series on Wednesday (have you gotten your tickets yet?), and if there is one thing we learned from last year's playoff series with the Celtics, it's that blowouts don't count any more than 2-point victories. This series is not over.

But if I'm the Hawks, I'm feeling pretty confident right now about where this thing is headed.

Game 1 Analysis