The Hawks Down Nets to Go Up 2-0

On a night when Coach Mike Budenholzer received his Coach of the Year award in front of the home crowd, the Atlanta Hawks took care of business.  Atlanta was able to move past Brooklyn 96-91 to take a 2-0 lead in their 1^st round series.

The Hawks started off the game fast with a 9-2 run and looked like they were about to open the game up.  Atlanta led the game by as many as 12 points during the opening session but the Nets were able to stay the course and closed the gap down to 5 points by the end of the period, leaving the Hawks up 29-24.  Al Horford led the home team in scoring during the first quarter with 8 points.

The 2^nd quarter did not start off great for Atlanta as Brooklyn kept fighting back in the game. The Hawks were plagued by missed lay-ups in the period.  The Nets went on a 12-0 run to take the lead away from the Hawks.  Brooklyn got a shot in the arm off the bench from Georgia Tech product Jarrett Jack who provided 16 points in the 1^st half for the visitors.

The Hawks saw themselves down by as many as 6 points but were able to pull themselves back ahead to go into halftime up 50-47.  Our Hawks were able to take advantage of Brooklyn’s 9 turnovers in the 1^st half that they were able to turn into 12 points.  They applied a lot of pressure on the Nets guards stealing the ball 7 times before the intermission.

Coach Bud’s team got a balanced offensive effort with 3 players scoring in double figures in the opening half.  Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver each had 11 points for Atlanta to open up the game.

After the intermission the Hawks were able to regain control of the game outscoring Brooklyn 25-20 in the 3^rd period.  The team opened up quarter with 3 straight 3 pointers to assert themselves and maintain control of the game.  Atlanta got some good baskets from forward Paul Millsap who didn’t have that great of a game 1 but seemed to have shaken that off.

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The Hawks started off the 4^th quarter in firm control of the game and even was able to get out to 10 point lead.  The Nets would just not go away as they kept fighting back was even able to close the game within 1 point.  Led by Jarrett Jack and former Hawk Joe Johnson the Nets got some big shots to keep the game close.  The Hawks were able to close out the game late when Joe Johnson passed up a shot and dished the ball to Deron Williams who missed a wide open jumper with 8.1 seconds left in the game. With the home team up 4 Brooklyn had one more chance to try to make it a game but when Jack tried a 3 from the corner he was blocked by DeMarre Carroll to ice the game for Atlanta.

The Hawks had 5 players to score in double figures and were led by Paul Milsap’s 19 points.  Al Horford had a well-balanced game finishing with a new triple double as he had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.  The Hawks shot the ball well and drained 12 three pointers.

The Nets got big games from Jarrett Jack, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez but not much from anybody else.  The Hawks stifled Brooklyn’s starting point guard Deron Williams who only had 2 points on 1 for 7 shooting.   Atlanta kept the pressure up all game forcing 16 Nets turnovers.

Next up for the Hawks will be game 3 on Saturday April 25^th, in Brooklyn as they look to take a game on the Nets home floor.  Stay tuned for more playoff coverage.