DeMarre Carroll: The Atlanta Hawks’ First Round MVP

By Gerald Bourguet | Apr 30, 2015

Apr 27, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll (5) holds off Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) to chase a lost ball during the fourth quarter in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 120-115 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

When the 60-win Atlanta Hawks first entered the playoffs, nobody gave the Brooklyn Nets a chance. The Hawks were the top seed in the Eastern Conference by a wide margin, they were led by the NBA’s Coach of the Year and they were so well balanced that the Nets figured to be nothing more than first round fodder waiting to be swept under the rug.

Through five games, we’ve realized how badly mistaken we were.

Part of it has to do with the Nets suddenly playing defense. Part of it has to do with some unpredictable flukes occurring, like Deron Williams dropping 35 points in Game 4. But for the most part, the answer has been simple: the Atlanta Hawks’ highly vaunted starting five is struggling to make the shots they’ve made all season long.

Before last night’s resurgence in Game 5, Al Horford had been shooting a miserable 21.7 percent on midrange shots. Kyle Korver, a marksman who flirted with creating his own 50-50-90 club this season, had made only 12 of his 36 three-point attempts (33.3 percent). Paul Millsap had been consistent, but never overwhelmingly good and Jeff Teague was struggling with his shot as well.

Even with a two-point outing in Game 2, DeMarre Carroll has easily been a source of consistency for these Hawks. Believe it or not, he’s been the only thing preventing Atlanta from an embarrassing first round defeat.

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During the regular season, Carroll averaged 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. His abilities as a 3-and-D guy made him a valuable role player, but outside of Atlanta, he didn’t get any league-wide recognition. He was the only Hawks starter to not make the All-Star team, after all. That didn’t stop his fellow teammates from constantly praising him as the most underrated starter.

Forget about the fact that the dude’s nonsensical hair makes him look like Calibos from the new Clash of the Titans. Because in these playoffs, Carroll has lived up to his teammates’ praise and is doing all the Hawks could ever ask of him.

For starters, he’s averaging 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He’s knocked down 11 of his 26 three-pointers (42.3 percent) and is shooting 50 percent from the floor. Carroll was efficient during the regular season too (48.7 FG%, 39.5 3P%), but he’s stepped up his game to another level against Brooklyn.

In his last three games, Carroll has scored at least 20 points, a plateau he reached only seven times during the regular season. The Hawks went 7-0 in those games where Carroll scored at least 20.

DeMarre Carroll has been the Hawks MVP... And it's not close
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) April 28, 2015

So far in these playoffs, Atlanta is only 1-2 in games where Carroll has scored 20 points, but there’s no correlation between an increased number of field goal attempts for Carroll and the Hawks losing.

If anything, Atlanta would have gotten smashed in the last three games without Carroll stepping it up on offense, especially since he’s shooting just under 60 percent from the floor in that span.

On the defensive end, Carroll has been tasked with defending Joe Johnson, and he’s held him to 35.8 percent shooting. That’s pretty damn impressive considering Johnson’s penchant for making big shots in close-game situations.

But even if none of this has been overwhelmingly impressive to you, consider this: in a do-or-die Game 5 at home, Carroll came out and set the tone with 19 first half points. He only finished the game with 24, but that was the highest scoring total of the game and he did it on 8-of-15 shooting.

If that Hawks had lost that game, they’d be facing an elimination game for Game 6 in Brooklyn, where Atlanta has lost every game of the series so far. Instead, they have the opportunity to land a knock-out punch and end this series before nerves reach peak Game 7 levels.

It may be disappointing that the Hawks are even in a battle like this with the lowly Nets, but it could be so much worse: Atlanta could be playing this series without the only starter who didn’t make the All-Star team.

If you had started watching the past six weeks, you would think DeMarre Carroll was the Hawks' only All-Star
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) April 30, 2015

Next: NBA: 10 Players Who Deserve More Appreciation

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