How They Got Here
Atlanta: Well, in 2012, the Atlanta Hawks traded Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets for …
If you think that’s a bit of snark, you’re right, but Atlanta’s startling turnaround began then. It needed a season in purgatory under Larry Drew in 2012-13 to expire a few contracts, a meet and greet session with then-rookie coach Mike Budenholzer in 2013-14 to iron out the kinks, and the franchise had to withstand the (ongoing) controversy regarding current general manager Danny Ferry’s pointless relaying of insensitive comments about potential Hawk Luol Deng over the 2014 offseason.
Deng didn’t sign with Atlanta, and Ferry is on paid leave, and the lack of major additions left most considering the Hawks to be just another solid enough team in the so-so East entering 2014-15. Budenholzer was respected enough, the return of Al Horford from a separated shoulder was to be acknowledged, and the team’s 2014 playoff showing was certainly impressive, but this squad screamed (well, muttered, probably) “mid-tier.” A 7-6 start to the season seemed to confirm as much.
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Then the team started winning – a nine, then five, then 19-game winning streak dotted the winter months, as the Hawks raced out to a 40-8 record. Suddenly, what was thought to be an anonymous midseason League Pass game against Golden State on a Friday night turned out to be a Finals preview of (literal) historic proportions. All five Hawks won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in February, Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Kyle Korver (who seemingly could not miss this year) and Jeff Teague made the All-Star team, and despite a somewhat-worrying 20-14 end to the season, the Hawks have earned the East’s top seed.
Brooklyn: Brooklyn barely earned anything this year. The team entered the season with Lionel Hollins as its fourth coach in three years running the show after Jason Kidd’s attempt at a front office coup fell short at Waterloo, it boasted a payroll that spun past $100 million in player salaries once luxury taxes were considered, it paid three different players eight figures this year and neither of them sniffed an All-Star berth. Teams wouldn’t even sniff at the Nets’ “stars” at the trade deadline, due to their onerous salaries and lacking production, save for one. In a February surprise, Kevin Garnett was dealt back to Minnesota on the trade deadline for scoring forward Thaddeus Young, who provided solid play for the Nets down the stretch of the season.
One of those well-heeled semi-stars, Nets center Brook Lopez, did eventually start to produce at a rate commensurate with his pay – he earned two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards late in the season and was the strongest force behind a six-game winning streak that put Brooklyn back in the playoff picture. Of course, Brooklyn lost four of six following that (losing two consecutive games by a total of 50 points, with their playoff lives on the line) before squeezing into the playoffs with a win over Orlando on Wednesday.
That win cemented the unseemly – a 38-44 team that at one point was 10 games under .500 (playing mostly in the East, no less) will make the postseason while a 45-win Thunder team and an honest-to-goodness batch of basketball saints from Indiana will sit out. The playoff appearance will also deny the Hawks a chance at a lottery pick this season – because Atlanta still has the right to swap its 29th pick for Brooklyn’s 15th pick as a result of that Joe Johnson trade that seems ever so long ago.
Head-to-Head
The Hawks didn’t need the incentive of that looming potential lottery pick to sweep Brooklyn 4-0 in the season series this year. Atlanta is just that good, and the Nets are so completely “meh.”
Atlanta won by an average of 17.2 points per game in those contests, the most embarrassing one for Brooklyn coming in a 32-point shellacking on April 4. Hawk small forward DeMarre Carroll will make nearly $21 million less to play basketball this season than Joe Johnson, and he limited the Nets swingman to four points on 1-5 shooting, while adding 20 points of his own. The Nets rebounded to make a game of it a few days later in losing 114-111 on its ineffective home floor on April 8, but that contest was performed just 24 hours after the Hawks had won at home against Phoenix, and a good 15 hours after Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic were arrested following an altercation with (or encouraged by, we’ll hopefully find out soon enough) police.
Joe had better luck in the team’s second-closest pairing, a 113-102 Hawk win on January 28. However, he was once again a 12-point afterthought on Dec. 5 as the Nets won by 23. In the April 8 loss, Brook Lopez had his worst game in weeks in turning in 11 points during the April 4 loss, but he made up for it quite nicely with a 26 and 10 outing on April 8. The Nets still lost, of course.
Likely Starting Lineups
Not since the 2005-06 Detroit Pistons have the Play the Right Way punters been as excited over a five-man lineup like Atlanta. It’s a devastating crew on paper and to watch, as the Horford-Millsap-Carroll-Korver-Teague share the ball effectively offensively and covers well on the other end. The team’s depth is to be admired even in the wake of Sefolosha’s season-ending injury, but by and large this is the crew for Bu(denholzer).
The Hawks finished the season sixth in defensive efficiency, and though the team does have some issues guarding the interior they remain a sneaky-good defensive team when it comes to closing out and especially limiting options after penetration. The Hawks will make you jump in the air to pass, and they won’t let you take three-pointers – teams finished last in the NBA in three-pointers attempted against ATL this season. As a result of all that coverage, the team can be taken advantage of on the offensive glass. This group is also the biggest reason Atlanta finished sixth in offensive efficiency as well, and second overall in three-point percentage.
As stated above, Thaddeus Young has played his typically-efficient, error-free (on the offensive end, at least) ball for Brooklyn since coming over in a trade, and he’ll be joined by Lopez, Deron Williams, Johnson, and Markel Brown in the starting lineup. Brown’s performance will be a brief one, as he gives way to Bojan Bogdanovic just a few minutes into each half. Bogdanovic scored a needed 28 points off the bench in Brooklyn’s playoff-clinching win over Orlando.
The Nets aren’t even mediocre. They rank 20th in offense and 23rd in defense. The team runs a slow pace and doesn’t do anything exceedingly well outside of taking and making two-pointers. Brooklyn is, however fantastic at free throw defense – teams shot just 73 percent against them on the season, the second-worst mark in the NBA.
Matchups to Watch
Brook Lopez vs. the Forward/Centers
Lopez isn’t quite a classic low post scorer, but he doesn’t rank amongst the NBA’s new breed of lengthy frontcourt shooters either. At 7-feet tall, he’ll be able to see over Mssrs. Horford, Millsap, and Elton Brand, but that doesn’t mean he can work his way past them. Lopez might have even more trouble against reserve big Pero Antic (especially defensively), who was out of the game that saw Lopez drop 26 points on April 8 due to his arrest.
Dennis Schroeder vs. the Nets’ Bench
This kid is fast, he’s got touch, and his confidence is growing by the game. Schroeder, the Hawks’ second-year reserve guard, could find a way to run circles around Jarrett Jack, or the oft-listless Deron Williams should the former All-Star stay on the court during the second quarter. The 21-year old managed to average double-figure scoring in just 19.7 minutes a game this year, and he’s often the best part of those 12-2 runs that have put Hawk opponents away all season.
Korver vs. Your Sanity
Watching NBA teams attempt to locate Korver either in a half-court or (especially) transition set was often times hilarious this season. Defenders would go batty attempting to locate Korver (who hit a ridiculous 49 percent of his three-pointers this season) as he ducked behind the line, even if the emphasis of the play wasn’t to find Kyle open for a three-pointer. Of course, these are the mindful teams that would be going nuts, and the Nets are hardly what you’d call a focused crew.
How Atlanta Can Win
By utilizing that typical mix of ball movement. Atlanta thinks on its feet and sways even the best defenses where they want them to shift while it whips the ball around or turns corners. If the participants stay ready, Atlanta should see scads of open shots.
How Brooklyn Can Win
All the percentages roll back to zero as the playoffs hit, and it is more than possible that Atlanta could endure a fortnight’s worth of bad shooting. If Brook Lopez stays on the court for major minutes, he could tilt the tide. With a 22-game disparity in wins, though, that seems like a long shot.
Totally Subjective Entertainment Value Ranking: 4 out of 10.
If you’re just tuning in now, don’t.
Actually, that’s not fair. Atlanta is a joy to watch on both ends for various reasons, and it’s to their credit that they will be able to create an entertaining series even while matched up against perhaps the NBA’s least-loved team.
Prediction: Atlanta in four.
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