The chatter
There’s still good news.
Every time the Hawks take the first two games of a postseason series, two things usually happen.
They lose Game 3.
They win the series.
Counting Saturday’s loss, five times in franchise history, the Hawks have won the first two games of a four-game series and only once did they win Game 3, that coming in the 1970 against Chicago. The Hawks have never swept a seven-game series in 39 tries, while they have been swept four times.
Results when they went up 2-0:
Year; Opp; Rd; Gm 3; Series;
’57-58; Pistons; 1st; L 109-89; W 4-1;
’68-69; *Rockets; 2nd; L 104-97; W 4-2;
’69-70; Bulls; 2nd; W 106-101; W 4-1;
’09-10; Bucks; 1st; L 107-89; W 4-3;
’14-15; Nets; 1st; L 91-83; —;
*-San Diego
Turning points
Brooklyn took charge with an 18-0 run, a 9-0 finish to the third quarter and a 9-0 start to the fourth.
Empty seats
The Nets are getting no more support in Brooklyn than they did in New Jersey. And for once, you can clearly say that Atlanta is supporting its team more than New Yorkers are supporting their only playoff team. Reminder: The Knicks stunk and did not come close to making the postseason.
The crowd at Barclays Center was estimated by beat writer Chris Vivlamore to be about 60 percent occupied at the tip. Just as in Atlanta there was a late-arriving crowd (for a 3 p.m. game? maybe they overslept in the city that never sleeps?). And yet there were plenty of seats filled only by T-shirts over the back of a empty chair as part of a giveaway.
Liking the nightlife?
The Hawks are back in New York for the first time since reserve swingman Thabo Sefolosha was lost for the remainder of the season to a broken right leg when he and Pero Antic were arrested by New York police outside a nightclub. Coach Mike Budenholzer said then his players didn’t have a curfew, and he wasn’t worried about them on this trip, either. “We’re trying to keep our routine and everything on the court and off the court as close to normal as possible, and I think we’ve got guys that are very mature, very responsible,” he said. “I think they’re all in a good place and know how important what’s happening is.”
Twitterati
buck belue @buckbelue8
Our #Hawks couldn’t throw it into the ocean today. Teague, Horford, Korver & Schroeder combined 9-42 (21%) = ugly loss.
He said it
“The first thing I said when I came into the locker room was, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t give you guys anything tonight.’ I have to be better.” — Thaddeus Young, the former Georgia Tech one-and-done forward for the Nets, after his 1-for-7 Game 2. He rebounded Saturday to score 18 points with 11 rebounds. And then said this: “No matter what or how I felt about Game 2, I knew I had to come back and bounce back in Game 3 for us to get a win.”
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