It took six days to get to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the Hawks and Nets. The Warriors-Pelicans Western Conference series was over in a sweep on the day the Hawks played their third game.
Now the series has moved to a game every other day – much to the relief of the coaches and players.
“There was a series that was over before another team played their third game,” Kyle Korver said. “We are ready to play. There has been a lot of down time in between. Fortunately we won the first two and you weren’t sitting there made for two days. We have had plenty of rest. We are ready to go.”
There might be a day or two less to prepare between games but Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will take that to get the series moving.
“It felt like forever for us to get to Game 3,” he said. “… It’s not the normal rhythm. Win or lose, it’s better for all of us to play them in a better time span. I think everybody is happy to play a little quicker.”
Schedule
Game 4 of the Hawks-Nets series will be played at 7 p.m. The time was set when the Bucks’ Jared Dudley hit a last-second shot for a victory over the Bulls in Game 4 of their series.
The Hawks-Nets game will be aired on NBA TV. It will also be televised by Fox Sports South. TNT will air Game 5 of the Bulls-Bucks series after the late basket.
With the Nets Game 3 victory, the series will return to Atlanta for a Game 5. The time has not been decided but it will be televised by TNT. According to the Hawks Website, tickets are still available for the game.
Williams hurting
The Deron Williams saga continues to play out in New York. The Nets point guard is a combined 2 of 15 and scored two and three points, respectively, in the past two games of the series. He did not play the final 16 minutes of the team’s Game 3 in Saturday and appeared to be injured.
“He’s banged up pretty good,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins told New York reporters Sunday. “His butt bone is hurting. Talking about Deron, though, from a playing perspective, he’s played well. Would he like to shoot better? Yes. Would we like him to shoot better? Yes. But he’s played extremely well. He’s gotten us off to great starts with his pace, he’s made passes … when you get seven, eight assists in a game and eight to 10 rebounds, you’re doing a lot of stuff right. He’s made passes to people who made shots. I’m disappointed in how everybody is coming down on Deron and trying to treat him like he’s a pariah. Deron is a good person, he’s a good player. Now, is he on the level you guys think he should be? That’s your fault for thinking that somebody should be something.”
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