Coming into the second round of the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks were the only team that pulled off an upset. In all of the other matchups, the higher seed came out victorious. While it wasn’t a huge upset for a 5 seed to beat a 4 seed, a lot of people had the Knicks winning that series and the Hawks slaughtered them. Part of the reason was that Julius Randle didn’t play at the level he had been all season, but the main reason was because the Knicks had no answer for Trae Young.
A lot of the momentum from this series came after Game 1 in the garden when Ice Cold Trae hit a floater to win the game that silenced all of NYC. Game 1 proves to be one of the most important games in a 7 game series, so that first win fueled Trae and the Hawks confidence to go on and close out the series in 5.
Trae Young carried the Hawks load averaging 29.2 PPG and 9.8 APG in this series, but the entirety of the Hawks team played very well. John Collins And Bogdan Bogdonvic played better than they have all season, but this high powered Atlanta Hawks’ offense had 7 players that averaged at least 9 PPG.
Are the Hawks for real?
While the Hawks making it out the East would come as a HUGE surprise to pretty much anyone (other than die hard hawks fans) there is a slight chance for this to come into fruition. Since the Hawks didn’t play on primetime very much this season, fans weren’t able to see how stacked this team actually is.
Roster/Depth:
PG: Trae Young
SG: Bogdan Bogdonvic
SF: Deandre Hunter
PF: John Collins
C: Clint Capela
Bench: Danillo Galinari, Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams, Onyenka Okongwu
This team is loaded with great shooters and rim running bigs who mesh perfectly with Trae Young’s playstyle. Clint Capela is an elite defender and rim protector, so having him in this series standing his ground against Joel Embiid will be crucial. He has to be able to stay out of foul trouble because the Hawks need him on the floor anytime Joel is out there – otherwise he will dominate anybody else on the Hawks roster. The 76ers will have to make some adjustments guarding Trae Young in Game 2, I can see them starting to double him at half court and forcing him to give up the ball while trying to rotate and get steals. Philly is one of the best defensive teams in the league, so they will figure out something. This series will come down to whether or not the Hawks can make smart decisions with the ball and continue to knock down open 3s.
The Hawks have a chance to make the Eastern Conference Finals
While Game 1 was 128-124, it was pretty much a 15-20 point game the whole way through… but in a wild final 3 minutes of the game the 76ers came up with some steals and almost found a way to come back and do the unthinkable, but the Hawks came through to finish them off, which in the end can be even more painful than a blowout loss.
After beating Philly in game 1 the pressure is on for the 76ers. Joel Embiid is not at 100% health with a partially torn meniscus, but he was still able to put up 39 and 9 in the loss. Joel isn’t going to be able to do it all against the Hawks though, Philly needs to get Tobias more involved and they have to figure out something to slow down Trae Young.
With Trae Young playing this well, it’s hard to say how this series will play out. Philly are the obvious favorites and while they lost Game 1, I can still see them adjusting and coming back to win this series. I have Philly winning this series in 6 if Joel stays healthy. If Joel goes down, the Hawks will beat the 76ers.
