AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 18
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Execution trumps effort
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - It’s the morning after and I still can’t tear myself away from this Hawks-Celtics saga that seems to sprout new legs every time these teams meet.
Just take a small sampling of the some of the postgame stuff from both teams (and there was plenty from both sides) and you’ll know what I mean.
“If they played everybody the way they play us they’d be a top five team in the league,” said Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who by the way, has slowly morphed into the most complete point guard in the Eastern Conference and the best defender at his position in all of basketball.
Hawks Center Al Horford was already looking forward to the next meeting against the Celtics, “Shots are going to fall next time,” he said of the Hawks’ inability to convert on what seemed like numerous easy scoring opportunities.
And that’s without a doubt the one thing that stuck out about last night’s game. The Celtics converted in the fourth quarter where the Hawks did not, for a variety of reasons.
A few hard facts to ponder:
— The Celtics shot 69 percent (11-for-16) from the floor in the fourth quarter, led by Kevin Garnett’s 5-for-5 showing.
— The Hawks made just 30 percent (6-for-20) from the floor in the final 12 minutes, with the misses spread pretty evenly up and down the roster.
— Neither team turned the ball over excessively in the fourth (two each), the rebounds were even at 10-10 and for all the fuss that’ been made and will be made about the Hawks’ free throw woes, they were 8-for-11 from the line while the Celtics went 6-for-8.
So in the end, the three-point lead the Hawks started the quarter with vanished by the end with a Celtics winning the fourth quarter battle 29-23.
There were four ties, nine lead changes and all the drama you could want in just the final 12 minutes.
Beyond all the numbers, the one glaring statistic that screams at me (and anyone else nit-picking) illustrates where the Celtics played in the fourth quarter and where the Hawks played in the fourth quarter.
Boston scored 18 points in the paint in the fourth quarter and the Hawks scored just four. That’s the game right there.
The Hawks gave all the effort you could ask for from a team. The world champs, however, executed the way the world champs are expected to when they’ve won 15 (now 16) straight games, and counting.
Now it’s time for the Hawks to move on until the next they meet.
But they need to make sure to learn from the mistakes, big and small, from last night’s game.
