Monday, March 31, 2008

Hawks 114 Knicks 109

Boxscore

Gameflow

That was a weird final 1:37. First, Mike Woodson treats a ten point lead like it's secure rather than comfortable and pulls Joe Johnson for Mario West. Then the Knicks show little interest in trying to win the game for a full minute of game time. (Did they former Indiana teammates have a deal in place? That would necessitate clever planning by Mike Woodson and Isiah Thomas so probably not.) Down seven with 36 seconds left New York begins to try to extend the game, Mario West provides more evidence (one layup conceded, two fouls giving New York and-ones, and one-of-two from the free throw line) that he shouldn't be on the floor when the margin of a game is anywhere between 0 and 20, New York pulls within four, Joe Johnson comes back in for nine seconds, and the Hawks hold on to win.

Other than that, it was a fairly dull game (at least when watched following the stressful Kansas-Davidson game). We learned that Marvin Williams, even in the midst of a two month long slump, is an excellent basketball player against the New York Knicks (52 points and 19 rebounds while shooting 65.7% from the floor in the two games against the Knicks this month while, impolitely, doing fuck all against everyone else.) We also learned that Jamal Crawford can make essentially an infinite number of three-pointers before the Hawks would attempt to go over the ball screen. He made seven of ten and (usually Mike Bibby) went under the screen every time.

The concept of infinity might be relevant again tonight as in, "Mike Conley is infinitely quicker than Mike Bibby." I presume the Hawks will have to outscore another poor team to inch closer to clinching their opportunity to lose in the first round of the playoffs. Current odds: 75.8%. Estimated wins needed: 36. Level of excitement: roughly nil.

Ballhype: hype it up!

4 comments:

Drew Ditzel said...

non-hawks related comment, as i have not seen the game yet, but congrats on the kansas win last night.
i was very sad to see Davidson's run come to an end, but i will take a two point loss to ya'll in the elite eight most years.
plus, i think bill self would have had a heart attack if that last shot went in so i feel good about that not happening too.

Bret LaGree said...

Thanks, Drew. In any other circumstances I would have (like the rest of the non-Jayhawk world) been rooting for Davidson.

Matt said...

It's amazing how little I care about this "playoff race". This team clearly doesn't give a crap (or maybe just Josh Smith), so why should I? They are too talented to be in this situation, they should be fighting for the 4 or 5 seed right now.

Bret LaGree said...

Matt reminds me of something I left out of the recap. Josh Smith looked really active in the first quarter: a dunk, six rebounds, and a block.

Of course, he sat almost the entire second quarter and was back to his recently apathetic self for most of the second half.