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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Finishing kick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. - How’s that for a finishing kick?
The Hawks win four of five before the All-Star break, establish a tight grip on the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings and beat down their longtime nemesis and possible first round playoff opponent in the process.
And to think, we were all predicting doom and gloom after that nasty loss to the Clippers Saturday night.
I’ll be the first to admit that the Hawks bi-polar routine can get a little old sometime.
But when they’re good, and in Wednesday’s 99-95 win over the Pistons they were as methodical and good as they’ve been in weeks, they showed all the stuff you want to see out of your team this time of year.
Like they have all season, they got up off the mat after an ugly performance or two and proved that they’re not going to allow their shortcomings on one night to swallow them up the way they used to for long stretches in past seasons.
Flip Murray was fantastic off the bench. Joe Johnson was a clutch as he’s been all year and the rest of the Hawks filled in the gaps masterfully, each piece working in concert with the other to achieve the end result.
It’s nights like these, even against a Pistons team that clear isn’t the juggernaut it used to be, that the growth and maturity of this team is plain to see. Whenever they decide to play like this full time is when the rest of the Eastern Conference, and perhaps the league, should really start to worry.
The Pistons already are. They surely know that if they hold on to that fifth spot and face these same Hawks in the playoffs, they’re in for a nasty fight.
Go up and down the rosters and check off the matchups and it’s a battle at every spot. Of course, that’s getting ahead of the game a little bit - there are 30 games to go in the regular season.
But the reality that this is not only a playoff team but a top four seed, should finally be clear to those of you still waiting for the sky to fall.
How they handle the rigors of the next 30 games, including that five-game Western Conference road trip next week, will tell us if they’re truly ready for the big time or not.
However, they’ve already shown that last year’s run against Boston was no fluke. And that 6-0 start this season wasn’t just a mirage.
These Hawks might just warrant your attention for the next couple of months. Who knows? Maybe they’ll show some more of that finishing kick in April?
