Hawks Game Anyone?

So I am in Atlanta for the weekend, and found out last night that I may have tickets to Game 3 of the Hawks Cavs series. I was ecstatic to say the least. NBA playoff game, four rows from the court, and I get to see LeBron! Then I found out that the Hawks got spanked for the second game in a row. Suddenly my response turned into, “I guess I’ll go if I’m not doing anything.” It’s not that the Cavs are just that good, but the Hawks didn’t show up for this series.

Sure the Hawks are playing with a depleted roster. Al Horfrod and Marvin Williams were forced to watch the game from the bench due to injury. That still leaves Atlanta with their top scorer in Joe Johnson, big man Josh Smith, and a talented veteran point guard n Mike Bibby. That leaves them with the three guys who were I instrumental in pushing last year’s series against the Celtics to a Game 7. I’m starting to believe that this group of guys is going to be one of those teams that continuously crack under pressure. No expectations and they can win you a bunch of ball games during the regular season like the ’98 Bulls; when playoff time hits they compete like the Clippers.

Every player needs to step his game up this time of year, particularly the star. For the Hawks that would have to be Joe Johnson. Just one problem…Joe can not be located for this series. There is a guy playing each game that looks like him, has his name on the back of the jersey, but surely isn’t performing like the All-Star. The team’s anchor who averages 21.4 points during the regular season, has contributed just 10.5 points per game this series. If he keeps this up I am officially going to name him Joe McNabb.(sorry Donovan but you deserve that jab)

Hopefully the Hawks are just homesick and can make this a series when they return to Atlanta on Saturday. The numbers are not on their side to win this thing however. Teams down 0-2 in the playoffs have only won 13/204 series. If the Hawks are going to add one to that number, they are going to have to start playing seriously.