There are going to be screams about the officiating, as if LeBron James, otherworldly being and television ratings king that he is, was not expected to get a few calls swing his way.
But that’s not why the Hawks trail a playoff series today.
They didn’t play didn’t play four great quarters Wednesday. They didn’t even play three. That may work against the Brooklyn Nets, an eighth seed, and against the Washington Wizards, who missed their best player for part of the series. But it’s not going to work in the foreign territory of Round 3.
It’s not going to work against any team James is on, because he’s that good and he knows how to win playoff games and it’s clear he can orchestrate miracles because there’s really no other only explanation for J.R. Smith draining eight three-pointers and scoring 28 points off the bench (the only Cleveland reserve to score a point).
The Hawks face-planted in their Eastern Conference finals debut, losing to the Cavaliers 97-89. They lost not only because of Smith’s shooting and James’ command of the moment but because they stopped moving the ball offensively after an impressive start, shot poorly — 12 for 39 in the second half, including 2-for-13 on three-point attempts – defended horribly at times and got destroyed on the boards (49-37 doesn’t accurately illustrate the lopsidedness).
It gets worse. There’s a chance DeMarre Carroll could be done. He left the game with 4:59 left with what the Hawks optimistically announced as a left knee sprain. If that’s true, it was one the most agonizing looking knee sprains in sports history. Carroll got hurt as he was driving to the basket, immediately went down and grabbed his knee, before eventually being helped off the court.
“We’re hoping for the best,” Kyle Korver said. “I don’t want to speculate.”
It seems fair to speculate to this degree: Carroll, who will have an MRI on Thursday, likely won’t play Friday in Game 2, which even Jeff Teague characterized as “must win.”
The Hawks lost the series opener at home against Washington before winning four of the next five. The chances of them pulling that off in this series are infinitesimal.
The Cavs less than 35 percent in the first quarter. They shot 48 percent in the next three. Now the Hawks may be asked to stop Cleveland without its two best defensive players, Carroll and Thabo Sefolosha.
“There’s a lot of things we can do better,” coach Mike Budenholzer said.
He didn’t really feel like listing them.
But rebounding is a good place to start. Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson had nearly as many offensive boards (five) as the entire Hawks’ team (seven).
“That’s going to be a key all series,” Kyle Korver said, referencing the rebounding problems. “Tristan Thompson – all he thinks about is offensive rebounding.”
The last time the Hawks faced James and Cleveland in the playoffs came in a second-round series in 2009. It was expected to be a smackdown, and it was. They lost four straight games by an average of 18 points. James averaged 34 – not that he needed to.
This is/was expected to be different.
The Hawks were leading this game for a while and were tied at 63-all in the third quarter. Then the Cavs went on a 22-4 run and it was good night. A Hawks’ late-game scramble made it close but Cleveland wasn’t blowing this one. James’ opening game contribution: 31 points, eight rebounds, six assists.
It was a most unusual night: They were playing in an Eastern Conference final game, which had never happened before. LeBron James played in Philips Arena but it seemed like every fan attending was rooting for the Hawks, which probably also had never happened before.
There’s the greatest illustration of the Hawks’ rise in Atlanta: Home fans rooting for the home team instead of a visiting jersey.
There were some good signs early. Teague was on top of his game and there wasn’t a Cavalier who could stay with him. When he got the ball, he drove to the basket. This was the attacking Teague. There was no need to distribute. His halftime numbers: 17 points, 1 assist.
Another early positive was Korver, who went cold in the Washington series, hitting his first three jumpers. Problem was two of them were nullified by suspect offensive fouls.
“Really frustrating,” he said.
Big problem: Then he disappeared, finishing with nine points. So did Paul Millsap, who had a miserable shooting night 3 for 11. As a team, the Hawks made only 4 of 23 from three-point range. That’s not going to get it done, not in this round against this team and against that player, regardless of the officiating.
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