Hawks 97, Celtics 86 or Where the Hawks just flat out wanted it more

The Hawks won in the Garden (the one in Boston) for the first time in forever and a day. They used their youth and athleticism to out-hustle, out-rebound and hell out-everything the Celtics. The Hawks were just better tonight. Are they the better team? Well, that remains to be seen.


The Good: Atlanta Hawks rebounding: When you out-rebound the Celtics by 18 on their floor that's better than good. That's damn near great. To put things into perspective, Joe Johnson had one less rebound than Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace combined and two less than Kendrick Perkins. All of the 50/50 balls went to the Hawks. To say they wanted this game more is an understatement. Honorable mention: Al Horford and Jamal Crawford.

The Bad: Paul Pierce and his "sprained knee". If you live in Boston or root for the Celtics, chances are you love Paul Pierce. However if you live outside of Boston and don't root for the Celtics you probably hate Paul Pierce. I don't live in Boston, nor do I root for the Celtics. Honorable mention: Kendrick Perkin's scowl. It's not scary and he should just stop it.

The Ugly: Celtics 3 point shooting. They went 1-15 beyond the arc. Rasheed hit a 3 early in the game and that was it. They were more than willing to keep shooting them and that worked out great for the Hawks. In fairness to the Celtics, the Hawks weren't great beyond the arc either. Honorable mention: Atlanta Hawks 10 first half turnovers.

Up next, Chris Paulless Hornets.


For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion, Hawstr8talk or Humanhighlightblog

Hawks Unimpressed By Opponents Win Streaks

Five Quick thoughts about the Hawks taking down the Jazz:

1. Joe The Basketball Player is back. Joe is the most appreciated slightly unappreciated Hawks player. He scores 31 points and I'm like eh...... One of the most charming things about Joe's game is how effortless he makes it look. It's also one of the things that makes us pay more attention to the other haves and have nots on the team. It's not like we don't notice when Joe is struggling. We need only look at win/loss totals over the past 2 months or so to really appreciate how much this team's success is directly connected to him.

2. Someone may want to tap Mike Bibby on the shoulder and remind him he is playing for a contract. Not necessarily a contract with the Hawks, but a contract nonetheless. He's struggling. Like for real struggling. We all want Acie Law to get more playing time, but not because we are getting next to nothing from Bibby. We'd just like him to be a part of the rotation because most successful teams have a backup point guard as part of the rotation.....

3. Marvin's injury is a blessing in disguise. Don't get it twisted, I never want to see a player injured (unless it's a Celtic) but this injury (like a few others in the past four years) forces Woody to use other players. Most coaches know they need to not only play 6 guys, but sometimes this fact eludes Woody. When I saw Mario West in the game in the first half you could have knocked me over with a feather. I'm not saying he deserves to play 20 minutes, but games when the Hawks have little to no energy he should definitely be an option because he plays hard. How about the dunk last night? So adorable.

4. The Hawks really are about entertaining the fans, that's why they don't blow anybody out. The Jazz are a good team, but the Hawks came out in the second half and played nothing like they did in the first half. I mean what actually goes on in the locker room to make them come out so lethargic? I'm convinced they just want to make sure the fans are interested in the waning minutes of the 4th qtr.

5. The Hawks absolutely must secure that 4th seed. They NEED home court advantage in the first round. It's a must. Dwyane Wade is doing everything in his power to get the Heat there. I actually think it's a good thing that Miami is right behind them. They know they have to play hard. There's no room for error anymore. I'm extremely confident they will get the fourth seed. I'm extremely terrified of the concept of them playing Wade in the first round. We all know the officials love him. ;) If/when he has a 20 free throw game against the Hawks in the playoffs, my head might explode. I'm already in the process of padding the walls in my condo..... That's weeks away though.