Bringing Back the Buzz: Zo & '92-93 Hornets

[studbucket]

Re: 2016 Playoffs Round 1: Game 4 at Boston

Close out game time. I predict a pick performance from Larry J. to send the Celtics home for the season.

DO IT.

That was the close out game First round recap 2nd round preview coming soon.

[studbucket]

2016 Playoffs Round 2 Preview

As has been mentioned, many of the series have been relatively dire and uncompetitive so far. We’ve seen 4 series sweeps:
(1) Houston over (8) Minnesota
(2) Memphis over (7) Phoenix
(6) Los Angeles Clippers over (3) Pelicans
(1) Hornets over (8) Celtics

Only the Clippers series was a mild surprise, but with the Pelicans missing 2 of their top guards in the rotation, they had very little support for Anthony Davis, who was always going to have a tough time with Jordan and Griffin.

(2) Cleveland over (7) New York
The 4-1 series victory for the Cavs over New York was no surprise, but it leaves many wondering with what will happen to this team going forward. Carmelo will be on the team, but will be 1 year older and has never proven to be able to lead his team deep into the playoffs. Rookie sensation Joey Fletcher is a free agent, and the team needs a big man to play with Porzingis since they’ve traded away Lopez.

(5) Oklahoma City over (4) Golden State
However, the other 4-1 series was an absolute shocker. The 5^th seeded Thunder absolutely took it to 4^th seeded Golden State, with most games not even being close, including the 44 point game 5 clincher. Whether it was Harrison Barnes being gone or just Durant and Westbrook being too much, the Thunder ran away with this one. The Warriors have plenty to look forward to, but this may be the Thunder’s last run with this core group, and they look like a very dangerous team.

This leaves the two most interesting series in the East.

(4) Miami over (5) Chicago
This series effectively came down to 2 things:
1) Which team was missing more offense?
2) Which complementary players would step up?

For #1, the answer was clearly Chicago. As good as Wade is, it was tough for Chicago to make up for the loss of Butler and Rose. However, it was the answer to question #2 that really determined this series. Goran Dragic had another coming out party (much respect to his run in Phoenix) and has averaged 27 points, 9.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Dragic helped will the Heat to a 4-2 series victory and set up a round 2 date with the Hornets.

(3) Atlanta over (6) Indiana
This one was a shocker. With Hope Law out and Paul George stepping up his play, the Pacers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before shockingly letting the Hawks win 4 straight. The last game was a 2 point affair, unlike many of the other blowouts in the series, but the Pacers go home knowing their window is closing, while Al Horford looks to carry the Hawks past the Cavaliers in the next round.

As with the first round, here’s the 4 series ranked in order of how compelling they are, along with my prediction.

(1) Houston vs (5) Oklahoma City
Houston may have grabbed the #1 seed and handled a battered Minnesota team easily, but that pales in comparison to the achievement of blowing out Golden State in 5 games. OKC doesn’t have much going for them outside of Westbrook and Durant, but the playoffs are all about stars stepping up. Unless someone in Houston steps up to help Harden, this series will likely be a struggle for Houston.

Prediction: Oklahoma City in 7

(2) Memphis vs (6) Los Angeles Clippers
Both teams are coming off of dominant series sweep victories in round 1. Phoenix was overmatched against Memphis and the Clippers destroyed a Pelicans team that had lost a good chunk of its backcourt production to injuries. Both teams rely on dominant frontcourts to make their teams tick and often get unreliable production from their shooters. However, Memphis relies more than any team outside of Charlotte on their PF & C for scoring, and nobody is better at slowing down interior scoring than DeAndre Jordan.

Prediction: Los Angeles in 6

(1) Charlotte vs (4) Miami
This series will likely come down to “The Battle of Unlikely Backcourt Stars.” Goran Dragic and Kendall Gill have been on fire for their respective teams and helped hem advance to the next round, and both teams will need them to continue that pace in round 2. With Bosh, Whiteside, and Stoudemire facing off against Johnson and Mourning and Dwyane Wade still injured, a lot more pressure will be on both teams to find outside scoring. The Hornets haven’t excelled offensively from the guard spots this year, but they do have an excellent defense, which will likely propel them to the next round.

Prediction: Charlotte in 6.

(2) Cleveland vs (3) Atlanta
Atlanta’s come-from-behind victory in round 1 was truly remarkable and worth savoring. Unfortunately for them, they have very little time to savor it before the good feelings will be erased by this stacked Cavs team. Atlanta had some nice balance in the regular season, but unless Schroder and Korver can step up their scoring and Sefolosha work hard to shut down LeBron, it’s unlikely that the Hawks have much of an impact here.

Prediction: Cleveland in 5.

[studbucket]

Re: 2016 Playoffs Round 2 Preview

Been extremely busy with work and have been prioritizing my family when I can lately. Tonight's only the 2nd time I've played video games since my last post, but I hope to give an update on the next playoff game.

[studbucket]

2016 NBA Playoffs: Round 2, Game 1 vs Heat

After a big round 1 from Kendall Gill, Hornets fans wanted to see if he could continue to play well in round 2. With the Heat missing Dwyane Wade, there was a great opportunity for Gill to step up again. Was he just picking on an under-sized Celtics team, or could he bring it for another round? The Heat are a well-rounded team, and the Hornets will need good performances from Gill or Curry if they hope to make it to the conference finals.

The first quarter started off with the teams mirroring each other: trading high-flying buckets and great shooting early on, then hitting a dry spell as the benches came on. Goran Dragic was on fire for Miami, but Mario Chalmers had a terrible shooting night and you could see the Heat players almost give up when he regularly dribbled the ball for 10 seconds before launching a long three. Unfortunately for Charlotte, Kendall Gill struggled mightily through most of the first half, and was ice cold, finishing the first quarter with no points.

After 5 lead changes in the 1^st quarter, Charlotte took control early in the 2^nd. Ramon Sessions took control for about 3 minutes with his shooting, driving to the basket, defense, and passing and finished the first half with 11 points on 5/5 shooting to go along with a few dimes and some frustrating defense on a hapless Mario Chalmers.

For a few moments, Goran Dragic and Gerald Green looked to bring the Heat back into the game, but it was not to be as Chalmers undid all of their good, and Kendall Gill finally got his first 2 points of the game, hitting a long two right at the buzzer. Charlotte took a 17 point lead into half and never looked back.

Kendall Gill got going in the 3^rd quarter, showing he could make it from anywhere on floor as he racked up dunks, threes, and jumpers en route to an 18 point 2^nd half. Mourning quietly finished the game with 27 points and 8 rebounds, and Avery Bradley had 12 assists in what was a very positive start to the series for Charlotte.

After the game, Coach J was asked if this easy victory meant it would be another sweep for the Hornets. He wasn’t convinced. “No, definitely not. You could see where this Miami team had some success against us. Green’s athleticism is phenomenal and as wily as Dell is, it’s hard to keep up with them. They will also probably get better games from Chalmers and I imagine we’ll see them get more intentional about getting some buckets from Bosh. This series is far from over.”

[studbucket]

2nd Round Update, through 4 games

Miami up on Charlotte 3-1
Everything went South after game one for Coach J’s young hornets. In games 2 the Heat led from beginning to end, and won easily 128-110. They shot 14-26 from deep, compared with a terrible 2-18 from the Hornets.

In game 3, the Hornets came out motivated and finished the first quarter up by 8. Unfortunately they disappeared after that and despite 26 from Curry and double-doubles from Mourning and Johnson, they couldn’t match the 60 points from Deng and Dragic and 14-27 shooting from deep.

In game 4, it was more of the same as the Hornets couldn’t contain Green or Dragic and the Hornets are on the brink of elimination. Can they win 2 straight to bring it back to a game 7 at home? Or will it be a surprising second round exit for Charlotte?

Atlanta up on Cleveland 3-1
Cleveland won the first game by 2 with a 4^th quarter comeback, but it was all Atlanta the next 3 games. The Hawks flipped the script in game 2, winning by 2. Game 3 went to overtime and the Hawks won despite 40 from Kyrie, and the Hawks are coming into game 5 with a ton of momentum after holding Cleveland under 100 points and having 6 players score 12 or more as Paul Millsap led them with a 32 and 14 scoreline.

LA Clippers and Memphis tied at 2-2
The Clippers handled the Grizzlies easily in the first game, but Memphis came back to take games 2 and 3, riding hot shooting from Rudy Gay (37 points in game 3) and Gasol/Randolph double-doubles to close wins. However, the Clippers easily handled them in game 4 again, setting up a compelling final stretch to the series.

Oklahoma City up on Houston 3-1
Oklahoma City continues their “Cinderella” run through the playoffs as a 5 seed (though are they really ever a Cinderella?). After edging out Houston in game 1, the Thunder were easily beaten in game 2, with no player scoring more than 19 points.

However, a huge game 3 overtime win led by Durant’s 42 points, Westbrookers triple-double (29, 13, 12) and Kanter’s 17 and 17 gave them the confidence to blow out the Rockets by 40 in game 4. With as mentally fragile as the Rockets have been shown to be, many are predicting the Thunder to close out the series in game 5.

[trekfan]

Re: 2nd Round Update, through 4 games

Whoa, the Heat are up 3-1 on the Hornets?! Miami's 3pt percentage is crazy of late. Who knew?

[studbucket]

Re: 2nd Round Update, through 4 games

Whoa, the Heat are up 3-1 on the Hornets?! Miami's 3pt percentage is crazy of late. Who knew?

Yeah, it's looking quite rough. Coach J is considering starting Roberson over Curry again, just to improve the defense of the starting lineup and to get a bit more offense off the bench. We'll have to see if the Hornets can come back.

[studbucket]

Re: 2nd Round Update, through 4 games

Played a crazy game the other night. Involved a tale of 2 halves, 19 point comeback, 36 and 50 point performances, someone going 6/6 from three, and the final lead change happening with only 1:20 left before the free throw game kicked in.

I have the video made, I just need 30 minutes to finish typing everything up.

[studbucket]

2016 NBA Playoffs: Round 2, Game 5 vs Heat

Down 3-1 and struggling to stop Goran Dragic, Luol Deng, and Gerald Green, Coach J needed to make a change in his approach, lineup, or strategy when facing the Heat. With Taj Gibson injured, that gave him a shorter bench than usual, so he put Curry as his 6^th man, hoping that he, Sessions, and Olynyk could generate offense from the bench, and moved Roberson to the starting lineup to help slow down the Heat’s backcourt.

Once the game started, it was all offense once again. The teams started the first quarter a combined 10/13 and the Heat were up 29-25 despite Larry Johnson going 6/7 with 14 points. Despite Roberson starting, Miami just kept getting their buckets, especially Gerald Green picking on Dell Curry. Coach J saw it happening again, called a timeout to settle his team, but it didn’t help. Miami spent nearly the entire 2^nd quarter ahead by 10 points were up 13 at the half.

The Hornets were 24 minutes away from being handed a relatively embarrassing 4-1 series loss by a short-handed Heat team.

Heading into the half, a visibly frustrated Coach J was stopped by David Aldridge for a sideline interview. Asked “how will you turn things around in the 2^nd half?” Coach J was much more candid than usual. “We just need to quit running around pell-mell and focus on what got us here. Look for the easy basket, get the ball to LJ and Zo and play physical on offense and defense. What’d we have, 3 trips to the line? That’s not Hornet basketball, that’s some playground finesse crap.”

Charlotte appears to have listened to Coach J. Coming out in the 2^nd half, Charlotte was a new team offensively, despite being unable to slow down Miami and Gerald Green.

The comeback began midway through the 3^rd. After being down nearly 20 points, consecutive 3 pointers from Johnson and Gill narrowed the lead to 11. A bad turnover and 2 LJ buckets got the lead down to 7 points. By the time the 3^rd quarter ended, Larry Johnson had 44 points, Gerald Green had 30, and the Hornets were down 3. Unfortunately, they were gassed after a 42-point effort in the 3^rd quarter.

Knowing he needed to rest his guys for the stretch run in the 4^th, Coach J took a risk and started the 4^th quarter off with a lineup that included Bryce Cotton at the 2 and Kenny Gattison at Power Forward. For 4 minutes, the rarely used backups teamed up with Avery Bradley, Andre Roberson, and Cole Aldrich to play reasonable defense. When Zo and LJ came back into the game with 8 minutes left, it was still a 3 point game.

After a short Miami run pulled them ahead, Charlotte came chipping back and then exploded ahead with 6 straight points off of fast break dunks. It had been a fantastic comeback, but now they had to hold on for dear life. The heat ended up calling a timeout to regroup themselves.

Miami came down after the timeout and Goran Dragic missed an open jumper from the corner (he went 1/7 from three for the game), and Charlotte spend down the court. Gill got the ball under the basket and was fouled on his right-handed reverse layup, which allowed him convert the 3-point play. Charlotte was up four points and the crowd was buzzing. Miami called another timeout as LJ and Gill ignored the calls from the bench to huddle, as they were too busy whipping the home crowd into a frenzy.

Dell Curry’s clutch free throws down the stretch gave Charlotte and 8 point lead. Some clutch threes brought Miami to within 3 points, but they ran out of time and the Hornets had a 134-129 win, forcing a game 6.

Larry Johnson’s 50 points and shooting 6-6 from deep were easily the highlight of the night. Inside, outside, and everything in between, Johnson showed why he won the MVP tonight. Kendall Gill continued to step up when it mattered, getting 20 points and shooting 3-4 from three. On the whole, the Hornets went 10-14 from deep, which is a huge improvement over previous games.

However, it was a team effort. 13 assists from Andre Roberson, 10 rebounds from Cole Aldrich, and another double-double from ‘Zo.

None of this should overshadow Gerald Green’s awesome game. He was near-unstoppable as he went 15-29 for 39 points. Chris Bosh added 19 points, 13 rebounds and went 4-7 from three, Hassan Whiteside had 17 points, and Goran Dragic made up for some poor three point shooting with 16 points and 16 assists.

The Heat were very consistent, scoring between 29 and 34 points each quarter. The Hornets were consistent in their own strange way, scoring exactly 25 in the 1^st and 2^nd quarters, and scoring 42 points in each of the 3^rd and 4^th.

As we head to game 6, there are a few questions hanging over everyone’s heads: Do the Hornets have anything left in the tank? Will Dwyane Wade make an appearance in game 6 as he’s almost 100% recovered from his broken ankle? Can Charlotte do anything to slow down Gerald Green? What kind of lineup changes will Coach J make for game 6?

[studbucket]

Round 2, Game 6 vs Heat

Dwyane Wade wasn’t back for the Heat, but Coach J decided to put Dell Curry back in the starting lineup, not because having Roberson in the starting lineup didn’t work, but because he felt confident his veteran leader (Curry) would step up and deliver for the team in a big road game.

Unlike game 5, this one started out rough. Charlotte had boatloads of turnovers and Miami couldn’t make a shot. 3 minutes in, and there were a combined 7 points scored. It got better as the quarter went on, but it was still a relatively defensive quarter, finishing 26-24.

The 2^nd quarter was another story, however. The Hornets starting jacking up threes, and hit 4 of them in the first 4 minutes and built up a 7 point lead. All the offense and frenzy led to some more sloppy play, but now it was defensively: Miami let up easy transition buckets and Charlotte was giving up offensive rebounds and putbacks. As time went on, Charlotte began to play better and silence the home crowd. They turned it into a 15 point at half, and that’s where it stayed for all of the 3^rd quarter. It looked like we were going to have a game 7.

The Heat weren’t done however. They brought the game down to 10 in the 4^th quarter, and shortly thereafter Larry Johnson got his 5^th foul and the Heat brought it down to 8. They had the momentum and Charlotte was very close to being in trouble.

However, Zo was having nothing of it. He got the ball on the low block and used a strong post move to get the bucket and the foul. He made his free throw and the Hornets never looked back. Miami started pressing and at one point that resulted in 4 fast break layups for Dell Curry. With a 19 point win, the Hornets bring the series back to Charlotte with the momentum for a big game 7.

Dwyane Wade is definitely back for game 7, along with Taj Gibson. After Gerald Green was mostly absent, maybe Wade can step up? Perhaps Green can terrorize off of the bench? Wade is certainly a wild card and everyone is interested to se what kind of impact he’ll be able to make.

[studbucket]

The Rest of Round 2

Game 5s
Houston got a big victory, winning by 25 at home and holding OKC to 79. OKC had a 13 point lead early the game, then took their foot off the gas and are headed back home up 3-2 in the series.

Memphis turned a slight 4^th quarter deficit into a 7 point victory at home, as Rudy Gay continued his scoring streak with 31. Z-Bo had 19 points and 17 boards.

Cleveland staved off elimination with a 39 point victory, thrashing the Hawks and scoring 130 points. LeBron had 35 and Kyrie had 34.

Game 6s
Oklahoma City closed out the rockets, with a 5 point win at home. Kevin Durant was the star with 36-9, beating out Harden’s 34-11.

Atlanta put away Cleveland with an 11 point victory, getting at least 22 points from Paul Millsap, Al Horford, and Kyle Korver. This is a huge shock and you can bet the Hawks are cheering for Miami, as they really struggled with the Hornets in the regular season.

The Clippers tied things back up with a 105-89 victory, which they really won by holding the Grizzlies to 8 points in the 3^rd quarter. DeAndre Jordan may have only had 8 points, but got an insane 27 rebounds and no Grizzly hit the 20 point mark.

Game 7
The Grizzlies advanced to play the Thunder with an easy victory, winning by 42 points over the clips at home. Gasol and Wright had 14 boards, Randolph had 17, team effort, with 7/9 players seeing minutes scoring in double digits. Dendre Jordan had 0 points on 0 shots, 0 free throws, and 13 rebounds. Redick leader scorer with 13.

[studbucket]

2016 Playoffs Round 2 Game 7

The Hornets have rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit with 2 wins of their own and have brought the series finale back to Charlotte. Miami’s Gerald Green has had a great series, but he has been relegated to the bench as Dwyane Wade has returned from a broken ankle to try to be the hero for Miami.

Putting Wade in the starting lineup has definitely made Miami a deeper team, as Green makes their bench very dangerous. Coach J is hoping that the return of Taj Gibson after missing 4.5 games will help out his bench, protecting against the lulls the team has seen throughout the series.

The first quarter started off with a very distinctive feel. The Hornets had 4 straight dunks and Chris Bosh was on fire for the Heat. Unfortunately for the Miami fans, the Heat couldn’t keep up after that.

Bosh ended up going 4-15 on the game (although he was 3-4 from deep), Dwyane Wade went 4-17 and had 8 points, and he couldn’t take advantage of Dell Curry like Gerald Green could.

Larry Johnson finished the first quarter with 17 points and the crowd went crazy as Alonzo Mourning nailed a wide open three. The first quarter continued the trend from last game, as Miami racked up 41 points and a 15 point lead. The Hornets were on fire and no bounces were going the Heat’s way.

Things got better in the 2^nd quarter for Miami, as they narrowed the Hornets’ lead down to 7 points. Coach J responded with a lineup he had never used all season, putting Andre Roberson at point and pairing him with Gill, LJ, Taj Gibson, and Cole Aldrich for a very big lineup. Riding the defense and size of that lineup, the Hornets took the game back to 15 at the half and ended up coasting to a 25 point win as the Heat struggled to stay in the game and their big men got into foul trouble.

[studbucket]

Conference Finals Matchups and Predictions

With only 4 teams left, the league certainly isn’t left with the expected matchups. While it’s not crazy to have the Grizzlies and Hornets in the conference finals, the Thunder and Hawks took somewhat unlikely paths to the conference semifinals.

(2) Memphis vs (5) Oklahoma City
The Thunder have been rolling through the playoffs, beating star-studded higher seeds in 5 games and 6 games as Durant & Westbrook have taken their game to a new level in the playoffs. They’ll be facing a Memphis team that’s much different than the Rockets and the Warriors. The Grizzlies have ridden the interior presence of Z-Bo and Gasol and the hot hand of Rudy Gay.

The regular season series between these two teams was a split, but all of those games happened in February or earlier, and there have been some significant changes in how the Thunder play.

1. Dion Waiters (11.7 ppg) and Steven Adams (10.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg) are both out for the season and have seen Enes Kanter and former Hornet Kevin Lynch pick up the slack in the playoffs.
2. Durant led the league in scoring in the regular season, but has upped his game in the playoffs, averaging 31.2 ppg
3. Westbrook is still key for the Thunder, but has seen his scoring dip to 17 ppg as his rebounds and assists have gone up

Prediction: Thunder win in 6. The Grizzlies are a great team, but they’ll struggle to contain the star power of the Thunder.

(1) Charlotte vs (3) Atlanta
While everyone expected to see the Hornets here, the Hawks path has been shocking. After losing 3 straight to the Pacers in round 1, they rallied back to a 4-3 series victory and followed that up with a 4-2 win over the star-studded Cavaliers. All this has been done without rookie sharpshooter Hope Law as Al Horford and Kyle Korver have upped their games for Atlanta.

However, this will be a much tougher test for these Hawks. The Hornets swept the season series as the Hawks couldn’t slow the Hornets down offensively. Even with Horford playing amazing, this will be a tough task for the Hawks as the Hornets have seen Larry Johnson, Kendall Gill, and Dell Curry all take their offensive production up a notch.

Prediction: Hornets in 5.

[studbucket]

Coach J Protégé Report

As we head to the conference finals, all of Coach J’s former players are now inactive due to elimination or injury. It has been a very good year for the rookies, an average year for his 3^rd year players, and not a great year for the older guys.

Joey Fletcher, PG, Knicks
As the reigning rookie of the year, things couldn’t have gone much better for him in his first season. He showed a maturity, tenacity, and court vision well beyond his years. He had an amazing December through February, culminating with him basically averaging a triple-double in that last month with 13.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and 9.4 apg, along with 1.4 spg and 1.4 bpg. It’s a remarkable statline for anyone, let alone a rookie point guard.

What’s next? Fletcher is a free agent after getting a 1-year deal as an undrafted free agent, and it seems like he wants to head somewhere less dysfunctional than the Knicks.

Hope Law, SG, Hawks
Hope Law had a promising first season and made the All-Rookie 2^nd team along with fellow sharpshooter Devin Booker. However, his season was cut short by a season-ending injury and he’s had to watch the Hawks playoff run from the sidelines. He shot 43.7% from deep this season, and many expect him to keep that up while also rounding out his game.

What’s next? He’s settled in nicely and has a good set of teammates and a team that just made a deep run in the playoffs. Around the league, everyone believes that both sides will agree to keep Law around long term.

Tommy Camper, C, Cavaliers
The 3^rd year pro turned into a regular starter for the Cavs this year, but still found his minutes inconsistent as he shared time with 4 other big men in Cleveland. His offensive output was limited (5.0 ppg), but he was a solid defensive presence and pulled down 8.4 rpg. There’s a belief that he could do much more outside of Cleveland, and it seems he believes that as well.

What’s next? It seems likely that Camper signs on as a starting center somewhere outside of Cleveland. New Orleans, Miami, and Boston are all rumored destinations.

Chief Bing, C, Rockets
Backing up Dwight Howard all season, The Chief struggled offensively most of the year, averaging only 5.6 ppg on 42% shooting, although he averaged 8.2 ppg on 64.3% shooting in his 6 April games. His real value came in his 10.4 rebounds he averaged off the bench and his 1.4 blocks and 0.6 steals a game.

What’s next? Dwight Howard won’t be a Rocket forever, and Daryl Morey likes what Bing brings to the table. Look for the Rockets to lock him up.

Wallace Anrin, SF, Free Agents
After taking a year off because of foot surgery and contract demands that were too high, Anrin is looking to sign on anywhere this offseason.

What’s next? Backup swingman for $4-6m/year.

Paul Noonan, SG, Free Agents
Noonan has had a tough season, as he spend the entire time working to recover from his drug addiction. A tall shooter, many teams would covet his skillset, but he needs to prove he can be reliable.

What’s next? Poor man’s Kyle Korver for a team willing to take the risk on him.

Romain Martin, SG, Free Agents
He’s getting older, but that didn’t keep him from lacking the type of personality to succeed in China, despite a huge payday. He’s eager to get back into the NBA, if anyone will take him.

What’s next? Deep bench guy for an NBA team. His personality has been a problem, but Coach J may be the right kind of coach for him, given their past relationship.

Varney Shepard, C, Free Agents
After his horrific car crash 2 years ago and the long recovery, Varney Shepard is finally ready to resume his basketball career. At 7’3” with well-rounded skills at both ends of the court, he’s a tantalizing prospect. However, he may never be the same again, and teams wonder how healthy he can remain.

What’s next? Varney will be looking for a suitor this summer, a team willing to take a chance on his health.

[studbucket]

2016 NBA Playoffs, Eastern Conference Finals Game 1

The Hawks have amazingly made the Eastern Conference finals, but the general feeling amongst fans and media is that their luck has run out. Having gone 0-4 against the Hornets in the regular season, and without Hope Law, it’s hard for anyone to picture how the Hawks will win this one. Coach J, however, wouldn’t agree with their reasoning. “There’s no way we can discount Atlanta. Horford is amazing, Millsap can really stretch the floor, and their entire guard rotation is dangerous and can score from all over the floor. Their quality is what has gotten them here, and it’s not right to completely discount what they’ve done.”

The game started out promising for Atlanta. Charlotte was sloppy and the Hawks were getting easy buckets. After that, the game went back and forth, with each team going on runs. Charlotte’s 12-0 run was countered by a 10-2 run. Charlotte’s 10 point lead shrank to 4, and that back and forth run pattern continued the rest of the game.

The Hawks defensive plan threw the Hornets out of their comfort zone as they doubled both Johnson and Gill. This resulted in quite a few turnovers for the Hornets, but they also found easy buckets as LJ had 11 points and 4 assists in the first quarter.

The doubling of Johnson and Gill resulted in an unlikely first half hero for the Hornets: Avery Bradley. The former Celtic had 17 first half points and several key buckets for Charlotte, resulting in a 6 point lead at half.

The 3^rd quarter was a different story however. Bradley didn’t score once the rest of the game, and Kyle Korver came out hot for the Hawks, resulting in a 1 point lead for the Hawks. Charlotte changed their offense to pound the post, looking to regain control of the game.

To end the 3^rd quarter, Atlanta went on a run, getting up five before Charlotte battled back to make it a 1 point game. Could the Hawks shock everyone by winning game 1 in Charlotte?

In short: no. Charlotte’s free flowing offense couldn’t be found to start the fourth, but they got their points by attacking the rim and getting to the line. This got Atlanta’s big men into foul trouble and the interior defense softened up, leading to a handful of dunks from Gill and Johnson and a 7 point Charlotte lead.

The Hawks didn’t give up though, and brought the game back to 2 points with 3 minutes left. After that, you could see the tired legs as both teams missed basket after basket. In the end, what killed Atlanta was double-teaming LJ, as he hit Curry for an open jumper that took the lead up to 6 with less than a minute left.

Bradley didn’t score once in the 2^nd half, but Gill and Mourning picked up a lot of the slack, finishing with 26 and 22, after each having only single digit points in the first. Gill also managed to outrebound Mourning and Johnson, finishing 2^nd on the team with 8.

It was a much closer call than many expected, and it will be interesting to see what impact it has on the series. Will the Hornets breeze to an easy series win now that they’ve been challenged? Or will the Hawks gain confidence from this performance and push the Hornets even more?