• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

April 28, 2015, Queens, NY  The Brooklyn Nets face the Atlanta Hawks in a pivotal fifth game that may very well determine the series.  The best-of-seven has now become a best-of-three.  The Nets have the momentum, and the pressure is mounting on the Hawks to not become another first-seed team that has the dubious distinction of being ousted in the first round by an eighth-seed team.  The first two of these upsets occurred when the first round was a best-of-five.  In 1994, Dikembe Mutombo led the Denver Nuggets to victory over the 63-win Seattle Supersonics.  Fast forward to 1999, when the New York Knicks upset their former coach, Pat Riley, and the Miami Heat.  Eight years had elapsed, and the format went from best-of-five to best-of-seven when the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks who won 67 games that season.  In 2011, the San Antonio Spurs were unceremoniously bounced in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies who were led by Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.  The following year, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls (even though this one might have an asterisk next to it because Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were injured).

Deron Williams was the “X” factor in the Nets beating the Hawks in overtime this past Monday, 120-115.  He scored 35 points on 52% shooting and made 7 of 11 triples.  While Jarrett Jack has filled in more than admirably for the mercurial Williams, when Williams plays like the max-money superstar that he could and should be, all is well in the Land of Brook.  When your best player plays his best, it becomes infectious and inflates the confidence of the team.  When your best player plays at his worst, well, you know the rest.

Williams seemed at peace with himself during the post-game presser.  When asked about his big three-point shot that put the Nets up 102-101 late in the fourth quarter, D-Will said, “I just know the clock was winding down, and I had to get a shot off.  It felt good as it left my hand though.” Big time shot by their star point guard.  The Nets are hoping this is the resurrection of D-Will whose confidence seemed to be at an all-time low just a few days ago.  “It was a big game for us.  It was an important game.  We really needed to get this win to stay in this series.  It was definitely one of my better games this year for sure.”

The Nets don’t need Williams to score 35 points every game.  If their respective roster plays to their full potential, they should beat the Hawks.  Brook Lopez has been their best and most consistent player.  Thaddeus Young returned to form and contributed to the Nets win in game three.  He must bring his “A” game for the remainder of the series.  Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Johnson need to score 15 to 20 points and shoot at least 45% from the field.  Mason Plumlee has been somewhat disappointing.  His stat line had zeros galore. Zero field goals, Zero rebounds, Zero assists, and Zero blocks in 3:52 seconds of action.  If Plumlee can score 5-7 points, grab 4-6 rebounds, and block 1-2 shots, he becomes a difference maker.  Jarrett Jack has to do better than a 1.0 assist/turnover ratio.  If Jarrett J can improve it to 2.5 or 3.0, he also becomes a difference maker.

Coach Lionel Hollins has saved his best coaching for the playoffs.  He is playing the role of “Svengali” convincing the Nets that they can become the sixth team in the Association’s history to knock off the number one seed in the first round.  For the Hawks, game 5 is a must-win game.  They do not want to go back to Brooklyn being down 3-2 knowing that it would be very unlikely to beat a “crazed” and abundantly confident Nets team at home.  For the Nets, it’s win game five and continue to strive.  Keep hope alive.

Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at cliffb@puresportsny.com.

 

 

 

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

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