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The much anticipated matchup between Demarre Carroll and LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals was looking very promising, but with Carroll suffering a devastating knee injury at about the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Atlanta Hawks don’t even stand a chance in this series any more. The Hawks had at least a shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers with Carroll in the game, but with him out and nursing that knee, there is no hope for containing the best player in the world, LeBron.
Even though the Hawks got beat up pretty bad in Game 1, one of the very few silver linings was the early aggressiveness of point guard Jeff Teague. It was pretty easy to see that Kyrie Irving was still hampered by that injury he suffered in the second round against the Chicago Bulls, and Teague exploited that injury rather nicely with his speed during portions of the game. But, if he does that for an entire game, as well as creates shots for his fellow Hawks because of his penetration, Atlanta might be able to squeak out one or two wins at the very most.
But for the Hawks to get that game, they have to relearn everything there is to know about getting a rebound in the NBA. They were absolutely destroyed on the boards tonight, and if they don’t step up in a big way in Game 2, look for an early exit for this young team.
Kyle Korver definitely had a historic shooting regular season, but JR Smith always thinks he is the best shooter on the court. And, that was on full display tonight as Smith hit a record-setting eight 3-point field goals in Game 1. If Smith outshines Korver in every game, look for this series to end even before it begins. Is it too early to take out the brooms? I honestly don’t think so.
Samuel Martell is Oklahoma City’s beat writer at www.RantSports.com. To stay connected, ‘follow’ him on Twitter, ‘like’ him on Facebook, or ‘add’ him to your network on Google.
