There’s the history of the NBA playoffs, and there’s the recent chronicles of the Hawks.
The former gives the Magic just a 4 percent chance to win their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series against the Hawks after trailing 3-1. The latter is a story of postseason basketball that includes blowout losses, letdowns and series with promising starts followed by excruciating finishes.
One bad night in Orlando encapsulated all of that. It’s not just that the Hawks lost Game 5 on Tuesday, it’s that they folded once the Magic surged to a commanding early lead.
The nature of the 101-76 defeat is why the Hawks were queried about their state of mind, despite still leading the series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Thursday at Philips Arena.
“We are good,” Hawks guard Jamal Crawford said after Game 5. “We are still in the driver’s seat. This is just one game. We have to come out [in Game 6] and act like we are” desperate.
No act should be necessary. The prospect of returning to Orlando for a deciding Game 7 after being in control of the series should be plenty of motivation for the Hawks to end it at home.
Center Al Horford said it’s not exactly pressure the Hawks are feeling since they aren’t facing elimination.
“There’s a sense of urgency, though,” he said Wednesday. “We know that we have to handle our business here at home.”
The Hawks won Games 3 and 4 at Philips Arena. Both times they gave back large leads before making enough plays in the final moments to preserve victory.
The Hawks won Game 1 at Orlando to take home-court advantage in the series and gave a competitive effort in losing Game 2. But they flopped in their return to Orlando.
The Magic led by more than 20 points in the second quarter, and the Hawks never even showed signs of staging a rally. The poor effort came after the Hawks said closing out the Magic in Orlando would show they have matured.
“The intensity level wasn’t there on both ends,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “Defensively, we were as soft as we have been in the series. Offensively, they got up in us and we didn’t respond. They were the desperate team. They played that way. We didn’t respond to it.”
It was a surprising turn of events for what had been a tightly contested series. The Hawks explained it by citing their lack of fight, but also the Magic’s hot shooting and change in strategy.
The Hawks’ defensive philosophy in the series has been to stay home on Orlando’s shooters and not double-team center Dwight Howard. It was effective as long as Orlando’s offense ran through Howard in the post.
But when Howard went to the bench with two fouls in the first quarter, Orlando ran more pick-and-rolls with guards J.J. Redick and Jameer Nelson. Suddenly Orlando’s offense was more dynamic, and the Hawks were a step behind.
“It was different,” Horford said. “It’s something they didn’t show all series, and we didn’t have to make an adjustment all series. So now we get to. That’s where we’re at.”
The Magic’s pick-and-rolls created more good shots, and they made more of them. After shooting poorly in the previous four games and starting 3-of-14 from the field in Game 5, the Magic made 17 of their next 30 shots while extending a 10-9 lead to 58-35 at halftime.
The Magic’s shooting eventually cooled, but by then the Hawks’ offense was disjointed, too. Now Orlando has more confidence after finally having a good shooting game and winning with relatively little production from Howard.
The Hawks said they would have to play their best game of the series to avoid going back to Orlando for Game 7.
“We can’t allow that to happen,” Hawks forward Josh Smith said Wednesday. “We know the fans are going to be here tomorrow. We just have to get it done. Bottom line.”
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