Atlanta Hawks to Face the Brooklyn Nets in First Round of NBA Playoffs

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Apr 8, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Mason Plumlee (1) defend against Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) during second half at Barclays Center. The Atlanta Hawks won 114-111. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks (60-22) will play the Brooklyn Nets (38-44) in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. The Nets were able to get past the Magic and watched the Pacers lose at Memphis so they could secure the 8th and final spot in the Eastern Conference.

The results on the NBA’s final night avoided a first round re-match from last season with the Indiana Pacers. It would have been an extraordinary circumstance to see two teams completely flip-flop their #1 and #8 seeding from one year to the next and have a re-match. Alas, that will not happen – and it’s probably a good thing as the Pacers had won six consecutive games prior to that loss vs. the Grizzlies.

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The Hawks are 4-0 against the Nets this year, and finished 22 games ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. No doubt they’ll be heavy favorites to win the series. Of course, the Nets are (somewhat) led by former Hawk Joe Johnson.

Here’s the schedule of games:

Game 1, Sunday, 5:30 TNT/Fox Sports South
Game 2, Wednesday, 7:00 NBA TV/Fox Sports South
Game 3, Saturday, 3:00 TNT/Fox Sports South
Game 4, Mon, April 27 TBD/Fox Sports South
Game 5, Wed, April 29, TBD/Fox Sports South
Game 6, Fri, May 1, TBD/Fox Sports South
Game 7, Sun May 3, TBD/Fox Sports South

So there will be a few days off to get things started. Three right off the bat until Sunday, then two full days in between Game 2 and Game 3 before playing every other day. Hopefully the series won’t last two long and the Hawks will be able to rest even more before Round 2.

The season finale loss to Chicago also did one more thing in regards to the Hawks’ playoff picture: it secured the Bulls in the 3 seed. This is good for two reasons:

  1. Eliminates a potential match-up vs. the Bulls in Round 2
  2. Let’s the Cavaliers and Bulls slug it out in Round 2, so the Hawks only have to beat one of them to make it to the Finals.

Granted, the Hawks have struggled against the Raptors (4 seed) this year going 1-3, but I’d still rather have the possibility of  playing them than the Bulls. The Raptors will face the Wizards (5 seed) in the first round.