The Mixed Martial Arts series continues Saturday.
Dwight Howard has a different view of the MMA talk that has dominated the early play of the Eastern Conference first-round series between the Hawks and the Wizards. The Hawks center has no issue with the physical nature of the series, but he said his team can take a lesson from the strategy of the combat style.
“When you talk about MMA fighters, you watch these guys closely, (and) no matter how hard they brawl, it’s all tactics,” Howard said Friday as the Hawks prepared for Game 3. “They just don’t run in the ring and throw punches. Some crazy guys do, and they get knocked out. The good fighters are precise when they hit.
“Even though they are physical and they pick and choose their moments to be super physical, (they use) finesse, and that’s what we have to do.”
The Wizards lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after winning the first two games in Washington. The series switches to Philips Arena for the next two games. The Hawks believe the change to friendly scenery will get them back in business.
Paul Millsap stood by his comments following the Game 2 loss Wednesday that the Hawks are still very much alive.
“We’re good,” Millsap said of the team. “I said it the other day. We feel like it’s 0-0. Our confidence is still high. They still have to win two more games. We like the way we played the other night.
“This has been a resilient group all year long. At the end of the day it doesn’t come down to X’s and O’s. It comes down to the heart and the fight that we have. We’ve been fighting all year even though things haven’t been great. We feel like we can overcome this challenge.”
Millsap, now famously, said after Game 1 that the difference in Game 1 was “we were playing basketball and they were playing MMA.” Game 2 was a physical contest, and the teams combined for 55 personal fouls in what the Wizards’ Markieff Morris said would be “double MMA.” However, in the end, the Wizards prevailed in two close contests based greatly on the play of guards John Wall and Bradley Beal. They remain the focus of the Hawks.
Don’t look for major changes from the Hawks despite the 0-2 hole. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said he will keep the same starting lineup.
“In the playoffs, it’s more the subtle things than any major changes that are going to save the day,” Budenholzer said.
The Hawks reduced the number of transition points the Wizards scored from Game 1 to 2. However, they pointed to Wall’s 15 free throws in Game 2 as an area for improvement.
The Hawks’ starting unit has been an issue early in the series. The starters have an offensive efficiency rating of 83.9 and a defensive efficiency rating of 119.2 in 28 minutes playing together. Efficiency rating is the average points scored or allowed per 100 possessions. The starting unit also has an average plus-minus rating of minus-28.8.
Budenholzer said those numbers may be skewed by a small sample size of games. He did acknowledge the Hawks need better play from the individuals and the collective group.
“We’ll take it,” Millsap said of the onus on the starters. “We’ve got to be better.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. is one starter who has struggled. He is a combined 7-of-25 from the field and 2-of-10 from 3-point range. The shooting guard is known to be tough on himself.
“I take it to heart,” Hardaway said. “I like to embrace everything. But everything isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s not a one-game game. It’s a team sport. I know my guys have my back. They are going to be on me constantly. I wouldn’t want it any way else.”
The Hawks continued to take positives from both losses as they face a must-win Game 3. The have lost by seven and eight points, respectively, and had leads in each game that slipped away.
“Just because you lose a game or two early doesn’t mean it will dictate how the series will go,” Howard said. “What we don’t want to happen is to get down 3-0 and put ourselves in a really big hole. They did a good job at home. Now, it’s our time to protect our court.”
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