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The Atlanta Hawks haven’t lost two consecutive home games all season, and I know why. If that organ music is as irritating on television as it is in person then it’s no wonder opposing teams couldn’t find a rhythm. It can’t be a coincidence that Philips Arena, named for a cutting-edge consumer electronics company, uses such outdated tunes. Fortunately, it had no effect on the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. Instead, it was the home team that looked outdated, tired, and constantly behind the times as they fell 0-2 to Cleveland in a 94-82 loss that wasn’t even that close.
Prior to tipoff, Kenny Smith said if the game looked like a ping-pong match, Atlanta would be winning. A few minutes in the first quarter briefly reminded me of that scene in Forrest Gump when Tom Hanks challenges the Chinese champion. The ball was flying around so quickly that the Cavaliers looked like the bobble-headed versions of themselves that are so popular on fan nights. But as we’ve come to expect in playoffs past — if not necessarily these ones — LeBron James eventually took matters into his own hands, committing a double travel that went uncalled and righting his temporarily overturned ship. That was at about the two-minute mark in the first quarter. The Cavs never looked back.
I said in a previous article that Cleveland had to start playing basketball Atlanta’s way. They had to rely on fundamentals. They had to pass more, to play team basketball instead of isolation, and to trust one another. In essence, they had to adhere to the NBA’s most popular catchphrase this year of passing up good shots for greats. Someone must have given Atlanta the inverse version of my article because tonight it was the Hawks who were trying to play Cleveland’s way.
Atlanta can’t play isolation basketball without a superstar. Al Horford doesn’t count. What happened to the quick cuts, the multiple assists and the five-pronged attacks that everyone got used to in the regular season?
The Hawks will regret it if they fail to return to their own game.
