Atlanta Hawks Erase Deficit To Sink Houston Rockets
125. 96. 169. Final. 104
The Atlanta Hawks erased a fourteen point deficit to come from behind and sink the Houston Rockets!
The Atlanta Hawks took on a Houston Rockets team without James Harden on Tuesday night. Normally, that would give the Hawks a pretty big advantage, but in this case it gave the Rockets more reason to prove they can to it without James.
In case you didn’t know, Harden was suspended one game for kicking Lebron James in the marbles. Was it a fair suspension? That’s not really for me to decide, but I have to chuckle at a guy being dumb enough to do such a thing. He ought to have known it would lead to a suspension.
Be that as it may, the Hawks should have taken advantage of Harden’s absence early, but came out flat in the first half.
Both teams made the first half of the game a series of strong runs. Houston started the party with an 8-2 run, and then the Hawks responded with an 8-0 run of their own. After trading paint for a while, Houston went on a 16-0 run, and then again the Hawks responded with another 8-0 run. That see-saw ride was just in the first quarter.
The major problem for Atlanta was that despite the runs, they simply weren’t playing the kind of defense we’ve come to expect. Houston poured it on from inside-and-out as they led 59-45 at the half.
Probably the most amusing part of the third quarter was watching Josh Smith troll the crowd on his first night back in Atlanta this season. Josh managed to take one of those terrible long-range three’s he was well known for in Atlanta, but this time it bounced high off the front of the rim, hit the backboard, and went in.
A media timeout let Josh walk off the court while pointing to the crowd and putting a shhhhhh finger to his lips. Apparently he decided it was high time to go full WWE Heel on the Atlanta crowd. Josh was mercilessly booed for his trouble, and Ric Flair would have been proud.
The Hawks still trailed by 9 points going into the final quarter, and I honestly didn’t think there was a way they could get back in the game. I was wrong. The Hawks mounted a huge fourth quarter charge, feeding off the great play by Mike Scott and Jeff Teague.
Scott had 7 points in three minutes, followed by Jeff Teague scoring 6 points in two minutes, including a three pointer that gave the Hawks the lead. Phillips arena was absolutely jumping with four minutes to go.
As the clock wound down Houston tied it at 93 with a 3-pointer, then DeMarre Carroll buried a triple to take the lead back, and Houston made another to tie it again. Al Horford bottomed a mid-range jumper to take the lead back by 2, and then chaos broke loose.
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Turnovers, missed free throws, and missed shots – it all happened in the last two minutes of this game. Nobody scored at all until Houston kept fouling Atlanta, and the Hawks made every free throw to ice the game.
Who gets the MVP in this win? Without question, it has to be Jeff Teague. Teague put up an astounding 25 points, 6 assists, and was +23 on the floor.
He was the straw that stirred the drink erasing a 14 point halftime deficit. What else can I say about Teague Time? It’s the best time you’ll have it Phillips Arena.
Oh and here’s a pro tip for Josh Smith: Don’t antagonize this crowd or this team. You’ll end up looking like the fool.