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Tuesday, February 27, 2007
It was all a dream …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DALLAS - If you cover your eyes during horror movies, this is the morning to skip the NBA highlights. Between the clip of Shaun Livingston’s devastating knee injury and the Dallas Mavericks shooting holes in the Hawks’ defense, it’s a slasher movie the likes of which haven’t been seen in a while.
As you know by now I’m a huge Livingston guy, so to see him go down with a dislocated knee cap for the second time in just three seasons … I hate to see injuries put the kibosh on any player’s season.
While Livingston’s injury was a freak accident, the Hawks’ inability to defend the Mavericks was something far more calculated. They tried to defend Dirk Nowitzki with smaller guys (is there any other way? Dirk is 7-1), which a scout sitting next to me last night said is the “best way to play him.” But when Dirk is nailing shots the way he was last night, there is no way to defend the guy. And Dirk made that clear by glaring at his bench after every made shot and howling, “they’re too little, they can’t guard me.”
It’s not trash talking when you’re spewing the truth.
The warnings about the month of February being the backbreaker for the Hawks were on target. I think we all understood that the season was going to made or broken by the performance during these 28 days. As crazy as it sounds, the Hawks are just 5-8 with a chance to salvage the month with a win Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, and perhaps another in Washington Friday (and winning in both places is not as far-fetched as it sounds when you consider where the Hawks have won in the past three months).
Time is quickly running out, though. There are only so many chances a team has to get into the playoff mix before they’re simply pushed aside by the “real” postseason contenders.
All the bluster about the Hawks being in that mix at all was probably a bit premature anyway. The Eastern Conference is so shaky right now that any team with 20-plus wins can dream a little dream.
But that’s all it is right now. A dream.
