HAWKS WIN ON ROAD TO TIE SERIES WITH HEAT

Like many other young teams making their way along the long road to success in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks have become dominant at home but have continued to struggle on the road.  During the regular season, they were an impressive 31-10 at Phillips Arena but only 16-25 on enemy courts.  Down 2-1 in their series with the Miami Heat heading into Monday’s game four, Atlanta turned in a gutsy performance at the American Airlines Arena to post a 81-71 victory and tie the series.  It was Atlanta’s first playoff win since a 1997 victory against the Bulls at Chicago, a span of nearly twelve years.

Ironically, the Hawks were forced into a virtual ‘must win’ situation on the road due to Miami’s upset victory in Atlanta in game two of the series.  The Heat are one of three teams to have qualified for the NBA playoffs to have a worse road record than Atlanta (Chicago and Utah are the other two).   Perhaps most satisfying for Atlanta was the gritty way in which they won this game—it was by no means a ‘pretty’ victory, but the bruising style of play may have given the Hawks an infusion of confidence that they can compete in the postseason. 

It was a total team effort for the Hawks, who had six scorers reach double figures.  Mike Bibby led the way with 15 points, with Joe Johnson adding 14 and Josh Smith 13.  Atlanta got a huge lift from reserve center Zaza Pachulia who posted a ‘double/double’ with 12 points and 18 rebounds.  Ronald Murray contributed 11 points and Maurice Evans 10 to round out the double digit scoring assault.  Miami was led by Dwayne Wade with 22 points, though his effectiveness was limited due to a case of painful back spasms.  Jermaine O’Neal added 20 and James Jones 19 as the only other Heat players to score in double figures.  Most alarming was the total ineffectiveness of the Heat bench, outscored by their Atlanta counterparts by a whopping 25-2 margin.

Hawks’ coach Mike Woodson tried to temper the elation of the victory with a reminder that there was still work to be done:

"It's not over. We've got to go home now. We survived this trip and we've got to go home and handle our business at home in Game 5.”

Heat coach Eric Spolestra had a similar message for his charges:

"This is the playoffs. We just have to focus the next 48 hours on getting healthy, getting our minds right, getting prepared and going up there and getting a game."

Dwayne Wade felt a need to remind his teammates of what was at stake:

"I hope that everyone understands that this is the playoffs. This is how it's going to be. We've got to go up to Atlanta, in a hostile environment, and play the same way we've been playing."

Game five will take place at Atlanta’s Phillips Arena on Wednesday night, with game six back in Miami on Friday.  Should a game seven be necessary it’ll be played on the Hawks’ home court on Sunday.