INDIANAPOLIS – They wanted to get out on the break and attack the rim. They didn’t. They wanted to utilize speed and quickness, move the ball, be judicious on shot selection. Didn’t, didn’t, weren’t.
They knew that because this is basketball and size most definitely matters, they were at a disadvantage inside. So they had to make up for up that by scrambling for every loose ball and potential rebound. But instead of leading in hustle, they led in pauses.
The playoffs opened for the Hawks on Sunday. It didn’t go well.
They lost to Indiana 107-90. They led at 13-12, then must have been lured into a false sense of security, believing talent would carry them through the finish, forgetting that talent isn’t going to carry them anywhere.
Drew said before the game that, because of his decision to rest starters in the final two games of the season, players seemed “a little livelier in these last few days [in practice], not only physically but mentally.”
But it didn’t look like it once the game started. The heads went and the bodies went with them.
There are going to be whines about the officiating. The Pacers went to the free throw line 34 times (making 30), the Hawks only 14 (making seven). That’s a 27-point difference in a 17-point game.
Josh Smith called it “irritating.” Al Horford said, “To me they looked like similar plays but I’’m not out there officiating.”
Drew’s politically correct, don’t-fine-me-response: “You can look at the stat sheet and draw your own conclusion.”
But that’s not what anybody should be focusing on.
The Hawks were outworked. They were outrebounded 48-32. They allowed the Pacers 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 19 second-chance points (the Hawks had seven).
This is a team that basically decided to take the final two games of the regular season off.
Nap time wasn’t supposed to extend into the playoffs.
Offensively, the Hawks got little offensively from Kyle Korver (five points) or Devin Harris (eight). Both were outscored by Ivan Johnson (10). Nothing against Ivan Johnson, but that’s a problem.
Defensively, they couldn’t stop either guy named George. Forward Paul George (23 points) constantly drove to the basket, often around Korver. While he made only 3 for 13 from the floor, he was 17 of 18 from the line. Guard George Hill (18) hit seven of his 10 shots.
Strategy also came into question.
Horford said the team settled for jump shots too much — the bigger problem being that the shots were by design.
“For whatever reason, the play calls, we were getting away from what was working for us early in the game,” Horford said. “We focused more on playing on the perimeter. I felt like we didn’t post the ball at all in the second half and I think that hurt us a little.”
There also was the issue of how much (or little) Horford played (28 minutes). He was pulled with 3:50 left in the third quarter. Drew started the fourth with a lineup of reserves: Johnson, DeShawn Stevenson, Shelvin Mack and Johan Petro, along with Harris. That group actually trimmed the Pacers’ lead from 15 points to nine (87-78) with 8:41 left. So, one point for Drew.
But in a key sequence two minutes later, Tyler Hansbrough rebounded his own missed free throw, Lance Stevenson rebounded an airball by Roy Hibbert and Hill hit a three-point shot, just before the shot clock expired. Suddenly, the lead was back to 12 (93-81) with 6:40 left. That’s when Drew brought Horford and Smith back into the game. (Hansbrough went around Horford to increase the lead to 14 points and the Hawks managed to get it down to nine only once the rest of the game.)
Drew’s take on going with reserves: “The group that was playing was playing very well. They actually brought us back.”
Horford’s take: “Coach Drew, I guess he felt they had a good rhythm going so he wanted to ride those guys. But I thought we were probably going to get in sooner than later.”
The Pacers were considered the better team before this series. The Hawks made them look far better. Every prognosticator who picked Indiana to roll to an easy series win — and one count of Internet predictions had it at 35-2 — is feeling comfortable.
The Hawks have three days to figure out what happened to the team that scrambled to win 44 games this season despite being undersized and undermanned.
“I thought they clearly played with more of a blue collar style than we did,” Drew said.
That’s code for being outworked. If that continues, this is going to be a short series.
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