What It Was Like Being at Hawks Game 5 Vs. Nets

On Tuesday afternoon, one of my best friends who just so happens to work at Philips Arena extended me an invitation to watch Game 5 of the Hawks-Nets series in person. I jumped at the opportunity to go to my very first NBA playoff game Wednesday night. My goal was to get a better sense of what the playoff atmosphere in Atlanta felt like and of course, see the Atlanta Hawks go up 3-2 on Brooklyn. I would say that I had a successful trip to the Highlight Factory.

I got to Philips fairly early and by 5 o’clock you could already feel the apprehension hanging heavily in the air. Everyone that I ran into knew that this was a must-win game for the Hawks but no one wanted to talk about it. Nobody was denying that Brooklyn had made this a competitive series. A few gentlemen on MARTA still couldn’t come to grips with the play of Deron Williams in Game 4. But I think more than anything, we knew that the Hawks could lean on the Sixth man if they needed to in Game 5.

Granted it had been a while since I saw the Hawks in person, but I cannot recall a crowd at Philips being as engaged. Joe Johnson heard boos every single time he touched the ball. It didn’t really affect his play as he seemingly hit every open jumper he took. But that didn’t stop the home crowd from trying to make an impact in Game 5.

When the Hawks needed a boost on the defensive front, the Highlight Factory amped up its intensity. If Brooklyn sank a difficult end-of-the-clock jumper, the Sixth Man recoiled. On each Kyle Korver drained rainmaker, the crowd exploded. Every time Alan Anderson shot the ball, Philips Arena was abruptly silenced.

While the Atlanta Hawks never trailed in the contest, there was a constant ebb and flow to the game. Atlanta would go up by 10, the Nets would cut the lead to 2. Emotionally, it was draining. I kept looking at the game clock and wondering if the Hawks would unravel and Brooklyn would take over. But that never happened. I wasn’t sure the Hawks would win the game until inside of two minutes when the Nets couldn’t convert on a string of offensive possessions.