By now you know the Hawks were drilled in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals 118-88 Tuesday night and were swept out of the series by the Cleveland Cavaliers. To go to MyAJC and read the column on the game, click here.
Here are my three "Short Takes" on the game.
1. THE REAL STORY ON CARROLL'S INJURY: DeMarre Carroll was ineffective at both ends of the court in the series because the Hawks said he was playing on a sprained knee. In fact, the situation was worse than that. Carroll told the AJC he also developed turf toe so he could not put any pressure on his left leg or get any elevation. "That's why I kept getting shots blocked," he said. If the injuries had taken place during the regular season, Carroll said, he probably would have sat out three to four weeks. But surgery will not be necessary. Carroll will become an unrestricted free agent but left the door to a return to the Hawks, pending negotiations with them and other teams.
2. SHOOTING WOES: The Hawks' three-point shooting continued to suffer Tuesday night. They were only 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) from outside the arc in Game 4, 26-for-111 (23.4 percent) in the series and 145-for-458 in the postseason (.317). This was one of the top three-point shooting teams during the season at 38 percent, led by Kyle Korver's 49.2 percent. But Korver hit on only 35.5 percent in the playoffs before he got injured in Game 2.
3. FRONT OFFICE/PR FAIL: Speaking of Korver, coach Mike Budenholzer said his shooting guard, who suffered an ankle injury in the second game, will undergo surgery in New York Tuesday. This announcement came two days after the team denied post-game comments from Carroll that Korver would have surgery and be out for four-to-six months. Strangely, even while the Hawks finally acknowledged the surgery, they refused to say what the surgery was for -- or even what body part it was on. So it appears the organization not only has a problem with honesty but discerning what subject is really worth lying or evading the truth. I mean, what's the possible reason for not saying, hypothetically: "Korver has a torn ligament in his ankle"? From now on, I guess we should just get our Hawks medical reports from DeMarre Carroll.
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