A journey that could span two months and end with these infamous outbound owners being handed the Larry O’Brien Trophy — and wouldn’t that be a sight? — had a skittish start. The Hawks, who are very good, were reduced to fending off the Brooklyn Nets, who aren’t.
The final score of Game 1, Round 1, was 99-92, which might flatter the Nets. They led for only 17 seconds. They trailed for the final 47 minutes and 21 seconds. That the visitors were close enough at the end to make the No. 1 seed nervous had more to do with what the No. 1 seed didn’t do.
It would be an overstatement to say the Hawks got away with one. At no time did the Nets seem apt to steal the game. It would also be wrong to say the Hawks played anywhere approaching their capacity. They led 32-20 after a strong first quarter; they were outscored thereafter. They made only 43 percent of their shots and were outrebounded 47-39
It might be possible to write this off to nerves or rust or a phase of the moon, except that Paul Millsap, who missed five of the final six regular-season games with a strained right shoulder, clearly wasn’t himself. He scored six points. He missed nine off 11 shots. He hoisted two air balls.
The moves that worked for Millsap all winter — the up-fake on the perimeter, the massive first step to the goal, the finish at the hoop — didn’t work Sunday. He looked like just another guy, and for most of this season he has been first among equals on this splendidly balanced team.
“(There’s) no concern about Paul and his shoulder,” coach Mike Budenholzer said afterward. “He impacts the game in so many different ways. I know he hasn’t had many games like that, but it happens to everybody.”
Then: “Unless he’s hiding something, I think he’s fine.”
As if that weren’t enough, Al Horford dislocated the pinkie on his right hand with 11 minutes remaining. He was taken to the locker room. X-rays showed no fracture. Fingers taped, he returned to the game with 5:52 to play. He missed a wild shot on the ensuing possession. He missed a jumper inside the final minutes with his team up five.
The Hawks had led by 16 in both halves, but the Nets — give them credit — didn’t duck and cover. The sub-.500 team that was beaten 131-99 on this floor earlier this month gave a reasonable account of itself.
Said Nets coach Lionel Hollins: “It was a decent opening game for us. After the first quarter we were shooting 35 percent (38.1 percent, actually). By halftime we were shooting 50 percent. We had turnovers early, but we figured out how to execute and score.”
Brooklyn drew near in the third quarter, pulling within 57-54 and forcing a Budenholzer timeout, which had the desired effect. The Hawks scored the next 10 points. Millsap got the first two, a driving bucket against Joe Johnson. (That his last hoop of the night.) Then DeMarre Carroll hit a 3-pointer in transition off Jeff Teague’s feed. Then Kyle Korver hit a corner trey off Horford’s pass. Then the sub Dennis Schroder, again a difference-maker, scored five points in 35 seconds. The lead was 14.
That should have been enough, but the Nets hung around. Thaddeus Young’s runner with 1:33 left drew them within 93-89, and for the first time all night, the Hawks had to have a hoop. Teague got it, scoring on a driving banker, a shot not all that different from the one he missed six days earlier that would have tied the Knicks in the regular season’s penultimate game.
In the grand scheme, that game and that shot meant nothing. This game and this shot did. They meant the Hawks won’t face a must-win Game 2 right off the bat. They meant that, even on a lesser night, the No. 1 seed that many doubt is really a No. 1 seed was good enough to win.
Said Budenholzer, sounding the theme of this giddy season: “A lot of different guys stepped up and made big plays.” And that part was true. But so was this: Even in winning, the Hawks might have left the Nets a sliver of hope.
Said Hollins: “I told the guys, ‘If you don’t believe you can play in this series, you ought to believe now.’ “
About the Author
