Hawks Fall in Game 5 - Trail Series 3-2
The Hawks were unable to repeat their Game 3 and 4 heroics, as they were once again blown out in Boston. This time the margin of victory was the largest it has been, at 25 points. Although that is a little bit misleading, as the Hawks for most of the game stayed within striking distance of the Celtics, and even cut the lead to 6 at 60-54 in the 3rd quarter. The rest was pretty much all Celtics though as they went out to rout the Hawks 110-85. The numbers are pretty ugly. 6 Celtics scored in double figures tonight, only 4 for the Hawks. The Celtics shot 53.6% from the field, and 45% from the 3 point line, compared to the Hawks's 40.6% and 30.8%. The Hawks had 14 turnovers, compared to the Celtics 11. The Hawks did outrebound the Celtics 11 to 10, and once again they dominated at the free throw line, shooting 25/29 while the Celtics were 11/19. The biggest discrepency in my opinion is the number of shots attempted. Including 3 pointers, the Hawks took 82 shots, while the Celtics took 104 shots. Couple that with their much higher percentage, and you can see why it was a 25 point blowout. Now the Hawks have to rely on their home court and their home fans to pull them to one more victory on Friday night at 8:00. If they do that, it will come down to an anything-can-happen, winner-take-all Game 7 in Boston on Sunday. If that happens, the Hawks will have to dig down deep and pull out everything they've got to try to finish off what would be the greatest upset in NBA history. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here, we need to take care of business on Friday night first. If the last 2 home games are any indication, it should be very, very exciting. I can't wait to watch it.