Thanks to the Atlanta Hawks, NBA fans everywhere will have to be subjected to at least two more games of the 2014-15 Brooklyn Nets. So yeah, thanks for that, Hawks.
After last night’s 120-115 overtime loss in Game 4, top-seeded Atlanta finds itself tied with a Nets team that won 38 games during the regular season. The Hawks won half that many games IN A ROW at one point during the regular season and posted the best point differential in the East. And yet, they’ve looked completely out of sorts in their first round series so far.
It’d be easy to chalk up these four underwhelming games to coming down with the yips, but the truth is, there’s more to it than that. The Hawks could be in serious danger of becoming the fifth No. 1 seed to ever lose in the first round (and only the third team to do so in a seven-game series).
Could the Hawks be heading home early? Should we be concerned that this once favorite to win the East has now gone 9-10 in their last 19 games? And can these early mistakes be corrected?
In order to understand how we got to this place where Deron Williams and Joe Johnson are winning playoff games over an Eastern juggernaut, it’s time to take a look at what’s gone so horribly wrong for Atlanta.
Next: No. 5