Who would have thought a meaningless visit to Washington in the third-to-last game of the regular season would have foreshadowed how the Atlanta Hawks would switch on and then completely off in the NBA playoffs. Oh right, they’ve been doing that all season. The good Atlanta showed up through the first four games of their first-round matchup against Orlando — the team that makes shots and tries to take smart shots. But their 25-point loss to the Magic in Game 5 was a reminder of the lesson the Wizards learned as they toppled a similarly switched-off Atlanta by 32 points on April ?9. No team rolls over and dies better than the Hawks, even in a game they’ve entered with a 3-1 lead and a chance to close out a playoff series.
The Bulls, Thunder and Heat all dropped Game 4 on the road after taking a 3-0 series lead, but Game 5 with a 3-1 advantage is different than Game 6 with it 3-2. The Hawks also are prone to implosions at Philips Arena, where more than half of their 17 home losses this season came by double-digits, including five by 21 points or more.
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It’s no surprise they’re relegated to NBA TV and derided by the reporters covering their series, such as Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “No matter how much talent they have, the Hawks are still the Hawks. They are still Team Dummy. They will always do stupid things and take stupid shots. They will always lose their focus and their composure.”
That may be true, but the Hawks also have the historical advantage. Only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series.
