In case you wondering, the Hawks would not have won this game three years ago. Don' believe? Paging Mr. Johnson.
Two, three, four years ago, we'd have lost a game like this."
See I told you so.
And while I certainly agree, the weird thing is the Hawks played offense like they did three years ago. It was the Joe Johnson show at its finest. What we don't like about the Joe show is it bogs down the offense and does not take advantage of obvious team skill in place. And that is basically what Atlanta did for three quarters Joe just started draining shots toward the end. Because lets be honest, Joe missed more shots than anyone else on the team attempted.This was four quarters of Joe being old Joe.
This game was classic 2006 without the crying or the anger or the bed sweats. It was glorious and exciting. What was the difference? Defense and rebounding. This team is tough. They are hard nosed. And throw Zaza in the mix and they are dirty. It might not make the Joe Johnson show possible every night, but every so often, it can put it on display for all the glory that a stellar Joe fourth quarter can be. And it made last night darn right satisfying.
On an unrelated note, that was the loudest, worst crowd I have ever seen. The fans brought legitimate energy in the fourth quarter, which was amazing because the arena was half empty. If the place had been full, it would have been playoff loud, but it was not and it was sad. I know people are not going to get to every game, but we are throwing around words like "best in decades" with this team. Even if it turns out not to be true, Atlanta should at least go see for themselves. The Heat game better be different. It needs to be different. And if the Hawks keep playing this well, the Memphis game needs to be different. Soon or later, this team will have done enough to earn the city's support. In the words of Zaza Pachulia's poster, everyone rise up.
Victory Bullets
- Zaza Pachulia had nine boards (4 offensive) in 20 minutes. Sweet.
- Al Horford is now shooting 1.000 from beyond the arc for his career.
- Greg Oden fouls and gets fouled 30 times during a game. It just comes down to what the refs want to call.
- Every time the Hawks win the turnover battle it makes me happy. We need to start throwing parties.
- The Mike Woodson post was going to be heavily revised if not fouling at the end of regulation up three came back to bite the Hawks.
- Jeff Teague can play some surprisingly good defense. At the very least, it is annoying defense.
- I kept waiting for Brandon Roy to take over, and it just never happened. Not sure this comeback was possible without the Blazers worn out from a long road trip. Consider the Bobcats game made up...almost.
- When Jamal Crawford's shot is off, it is really off.
- It has been said before, and it needs to be said many more times, Josh Smith is good.
Go Hawks!