Game notes - Apr 28, 2008
Celtics @ Hawks
- The Hawks finaly used their best weapon to their advantage: their athleticism constantly frustrated the Celtics, as the Hawks were the agressor in this one
- Josh Smith rarely touched the ground, hovering above the rim on defense and finishing with 7 blocks, most of them coming in spectacular fashion.
- After their little shouting match in game 3, Pierce and Horford both underperformed. Since I already talked about Pierce, I’ll discuss Horford a little bit. He finished with just 4 points on 1-6 FG and 4 TO. But his demeanor on the court was great, as were his 13 rebounds.
- After a dunk (his only basket of the game) that capped a 10 points Hawks run, Horford flexed Zo style. I already like the kid, so if he turns out to be the next Zo, I’ll like him a whole lot more.
- Zaza Pachulia got in Garnett’s grill after getting an elbow. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. I mean … is Zaza Pachulia even allowed to talk to Garnett ? But his actions personified the Hawks in this game: they were not afraid of anything. They acted like they belonged instead of rolling down in front of the mighty Celtics.
- After the altercation, Horford tried to calm Zaza down and took him towards the bench while waving his hands to encourage the public to rally behind his team. He might be just a rookie, but he’s showing some leadership skills and he’s not afraid of anyone.
- Garnett didn’t help the Celtics’ cause much, missing 12 of his 21 shots. This was the biggest knock on Garnett during his career - taking too many jump shots. And it hurt his team this time, as he only made 7 of the 17 jumpers he took. He also missed a couple of layups.
- The Celtics defense was MIA. It looked like the Celtics took a page from the Pistons’ manual and expected lesser opponents to just hang their heads and wait for their merciful finishing blow. But the Hawks, just like the 76ers, gave them a big FUCK YOU. Who’d have thought ?! Best teams in the league (record wise) are the only ones to be tied after 4 games, while playing the worst (record wise) teams in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference playoffs suddenly got a lot more interesting.
