Hawks have let Brooklyn back into series

NEW YORK – They said they didn’t want to let this happen. They let it happen anyway.

They said they realized that they really been in sync for a while, but viewed it as a strength that they were still winning games and there was no reason to believe that would stop. Until it did.

A team says it’s prepared to play a desperate opponent, will fix its issues, play focused and assures the uneasy masses, “We got this.” Then it turns into one of those old comedy skits when the guy looks up in the air waiting for the ball and says, “I got it, I got it, I got it.” Then, after it drops, “I don’t got it.” First six minutes: 8-for-10 shooting, three turnovers.

Now the Hawks have managed the unthinkable: They have let the Brooklyn Nets actually believe they’re pretty good.

They even lit a fire under Joe Johnson. The former Hawk made only 5 of 17 shots but he was all over the court and played more than 42 minutes.

“He didn’t want to come out,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins.

Johnson probably never figured he would have to celebrate something in this series.

“We didn’t match their effort,” Dennis Schroder said Saturday. “We have to be more aggressive. On Monday we have to show that we’re better than them.”

Turns out, regular-season records don’t count now. The Hawks lost to Brooklyn 91-83. They still have a 2-1 series lead but the truth is that no series really starts until somebody loses a home game, and that hasn’t happened yet.

The Nets located their heart beat. They played with effort on defense. They beat the Hawks to loose balls — and that should never happen. They went on an 18-0 run after the Hawks had scrambled to take a 62-58 lead late in the third quarter and never looked back, so there’s no reason to believe that they can’t do that again.

The Hawks’ biggest concern was that their offensive rhythm, which has been off for a while, lacked flow and consistency in game three.

Also this: They missed 13 layups.

When asked how far this team’s play is from where it was for most of the regular season, guard Jeff Teague said, “Very far. We’re not playing well at all. We’re due for a (good) game.”

On the eve of the game, Kyle Korver warned about “playing with fire.” He said the Hawks needed to have a mindset of trying to sweep the Nets rather than just splitting two games in Brooklyn. Oops.

“They came out and played well and threw the first punch and we were kind of on our heels after that,” he said.

“We haven’t been sharp offensively for a little while now. Maybe this will kind of jar some things and we’ll figure some things out and we’ll play with a little more purpose and a little better on Monday.”

Hard to imagine they could be worse.

Korver: 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting (0-for-5 from three-point range).

Teague: 12 points on 4-for-13 and four turnovers.

Al Horford: 7 points on 3-for 12.

Schroder: 3 points on 1-for-9.

More ugly math: As a team, the Hawks shot 35.6 percent (32 for 92), including 20 percent (6-for-30) from outside the arc. If you take out DeMarre Carroll’s 22-point, 9-for-12 day, the rest of the team was 23-for-78 (29.5 percent).

The Nets were patting themselves on the back for superior defense. But the truth is the Hawks missed a ton of open looks. In fact, during the 18-0 run, they missed 13 straight shots, including five layups.

That’s all kinds of bad.

“We missed a lot of bunnies, a lot of open layups, a lot of floaters that we normally make,” Paul Millsap said. “Maybe it’s a lack of focus.”

Maybe?

“We had them. We just let up,” Teague said.

How does that happen?

“I don’t know.”

Did Brooklyn doing anything special defensively?

“It looked like they were doing the same stuff to me.”

Yeah. Except that they probably laughed a little more this game.