Throughout the NBA play-offs, The National's resident NBA dudes Jonathan Raymond and Kevin Jeffers will be breaking down the key talking points of the night before, plus looking around the scope of the league. Here are our NBA Play-off takeaways.
• Read more: 2016 NBA play-offs: Previews, predictions and what we learnt day-by-day
Thursday, April 28 scores:
Atlanta Hawks 104, Boston Celtics 92 (Hawks win series 4-2)
Hawks take flight
There is a clear statistical delineation between the Hawks of this year and the Hawks of a year ago.
Last season’s Atlanta team was among the NBA’s best offensively, ranking sixth in points per 100 possessions (106.2). Their defence was solid, conceding just 100.7 points per 100.
This season their offence was 18th (103.0) which they compensated for, somewhat, with improved defensive play (98.8 points/100 against, second in the NBA).
The reason they dropped off so steeply offensively, for one, was because of down years for both Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver, critical components of their ball-movement attack. The other was the loss of DeMarre Carroll, who struggled in Toronto after leaving as a free agent yet whose loss nonetheless was felt down south.
The last couple games in their first round series, though, Atlanta looked like after 86 attempts this season they’d finally reassembled their offensive puzzle.
The Hawks snuffed out the Celtics with dizzying passing, an array of cuts and off-ball movement, pace-pushing and three-point marksmanship. The final two games of the series they scored at a 104.4 points per 100 possessions rate, not quite at their peak of a year ago but trending in that direction.
Throughout the first five games of the series, someone was always off. Korver was 1-for-10 in Game 1; Paul Millsap 1-for-12 and Kent Bazemore 2-for-14 in Game 2; Millsap 3-for-9 in Game 3; Bazemore 2-for-10, Al Horford 2-for-8, Korver 3-for-11 and Teague 4-for-17 in Game 4; and even Horford went 2-for-11 in an otherwise team-wide great Game 5.
In Game 6 everyone was finally on the same page and contributing, and they looked most comfortable offensively, even if statistically it wasn’t their best offensive game of the series.
They will need that, every bit of that, to compete against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. The key is that when Korver is lighting up from three at his best, when Teague is confident and probing the area around the rim for looks, when Bazemore steps up and at his best replaces most of what was lost in Carroll – with all that working and with Horford and Millsap at the top of their games, the Hawks can pair their improved defensive play with an attack that can very nearly touch elite level.
On most nights throughout 2015/16 Atlanta have struggled to get the balance just right. For the last two games against Boston, at least, they have looked like they’ve got it figured out.
Now here are a couple questions for the Hawks, regarding the Cavaliers:
• How do they slow down a suddenly very fluid and scary Cleveland attack, with LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love working together maybe better than they have at any point in their time together?
• How do they maintain the offensive functionality they have shown at their most lucid moments in the Celtics series?
I don't know the answers to those. I'm fascinated to watch the Hawks try and find them. If they can, and it's a long shot but also maybe not so long a shot, there could be something special to be seen in this coming series.
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