The No. 1 seed Hawks are the heavy favorite to win their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series over the No. 8 seed Nets. They are well on their way, having won the first two games at home. Now the series switches to New York for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
The Hawks hold a 2-0 lead — despite a lower shooting percentage and being outrebounded in both games of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Nets outshot the Hawks 45.6 to 43.0 percent in Game 1 and 44.9 to 38.9 percent in Game 2.
Here’s how the Hawks have done it:
Turnovers
In Game 1, the Hawks forced 17 turnovers that led to 24 points. In Game 2, the Hawks forced 16 turnovers that led to 19 points. Poinit guards Jarrett Jack (9) and Deron Williams (5) have 14 of the Nets’ 33 turnovers.
“I put a lot of that on my shoulders,” Jack said following Game 2 on Wednesday. “I’m one of the guys the team depends on with the ball a lot. A lot of scenarios, pick-and-rolls, initiating offense, usually it’s us. Myself and Deron, if we take care of the ball it’s a domino effect. If we don’t, it’s a domino effect as well.”
The Hawks have been good at forcing turnovers all season. The finished sixth in the NBA with 15.4 forced turnovers per game. They rank second in the playoffs with the 16.5 forced turnovers.
3-point shooting
While the Nets have shot a better percentage from the field, the Hawks have been dominant from 3-point range. They made 10 and 12, respectively, from long range. The Nets are a combined 13-of-46 (28.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Kyle Korver is 8-of-18 from 3-point range. He has a combined 38 points in the series, with 24 from 3-pointers. Paul Millsap broke out of his Game 1 shooting woes in a big way Wednesday and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range. The Hawks have also gotten 3-pointers from Jeff Teague, Pero Antic, Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott.
Deron Williams
The Nets starting point guard has struggled much of this season — and the playoffs are no exception. He is 6-of-18 from the field, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range, in the series. He has the aforementioned five turnovers. He was 1-of-7 in Game 2, although he had 10 rebounds and eight assists. The Nets had a chance to tie the score in Game 2 with 10.9 seconds left, but Williams was chased off the 3-point line and missed a 16-footer. The Hawks got the rebound and secured the victory at the free-throw line.
“I thought Deron Williams had a great shot,” said Joe Johnson, who set up him for the key attempt. “He said he thought it felt good, so we’ll live with that.”
The Nets will need more offense from Williams to compete.
Defense down the stretch
Despite how close the two games have been — with the Hawks winning by an average of six points — they have been in control for most of the action. Through the first two games, the Hawks have trailed for only 5:17. Of that, 3:41 came when they led by as many as six points in Game 2.
Still, the Nets made runs to make both games interesting. The Hawks held the Nets to 1-of-4 shooting to end both games. When the Hawks needed stops, they got them.
“We’re a calm group,” DeMarre Carroll said. “We’ve been in that situation before. Coach always preaches paying attention to detail, and do it on the defensive end. That’s what we did down the stretch.”
The Hawks held the Nets to under 100 points in each game. They were 44-5 overall and 27-0 at home when holding opponents under the mark in the regular season.
Depth
The Hawks’ depth has been a factor. The Hawks are better and deeper than the Nets. The Nets used nine players in Game 2, and that included four minutes from Mirza Teletovic, who hadn’t played in three months because of blood clots. Jarrett Jack has been the only reserve to make a significant contribution for the Nets.
Dennis Schroder has scored in double-figures in both games for the Hawks, although his defense has been suspect. Pero Antic scored eight of the Hawks’ 13 points at one point in Game 2. Every Hawks reserve who played Game 2 scored except for Elton Brand. He played only 13 seconds to foul Mason Plumlee.
Although it is interesting that the Nets’ bench is 26-of-49 (Jack is 14-of-21), and the Hawks’ bench is 22-of-51.
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