Hawks 89 Thunder 85
With their third road win of the year, the Hawks moved to 5-0 overall on the season. I guess this means that I won’t be able to buy the cheap seats at home games and move down to the lower level anymore. Oh well, it’s a change I’ll gladly accept.
I probably overuse adages and famous movie lines. But I can’t help myself on this one. The Hawks win over the Thunder can be summed up by that old reference to car racing, “It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile- winning is winning”.
The Hawks won ugly in a defensive battle with a perennial bottom dweller. The new city has not done much for the Thunder’s ability. They still lack many pieces to making a competitive team.
On offense, the Hawks looked like they were trying their best to lose this one. During the second through half way in the fourth quarter, the Hawks shooting was poor, their passing was non existent, and they were horribly out of rhythm.
Yet, strong defense kept them in the game. Al Horford did his best Josh Smith impersonation by blocking five shots and making his presence felt in the lane. Joe Johnson (4 steals) played suffocating defense on Kevin Durant and limited him to mostly outside shots.
Still, with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter, the Hawks were down by seven and looked to be in jeopardy of losing their first game of the season.
However, Flip Murray came to the Hawks rescue off the bench. Playing point, he slashed to the bucket drawing a foul and sinking both free throws. His drive in the paint seemed to energize the Hawks, who, until this point, had gotten accustom to taking long-range jump shots and were slowly losing its grip on the game. Scoring seven straight points, Flip put the team on his back and played an instrumental role in securing the victory.
Key Note:
With Josh Smith out two to four weeks, it is going to be really important that players like Al Horford, Solomon Jones, and Zaza Pachulia establish themselves in the paint on the defensive end of the floor. In the second and third quarter, Oklahoma City started to test the Hawks inside by driving to the basket. They had some success, but overall the Hawks did a pretty good job of shutting the team down.
Flip Murray is the X-Factor for the Hawks. He is a boost of energy off the bench. Furthermore, he has proved to be an effective scorer.
Hawks could improve on free throws. Tonight, they made 24 on 33 attempts (72.7%). The “silver lining” is they made them late in the game when they counted the most.
With their third road win of the year, the Hawks moved to 5-0 overall on the season. I guess this means that I won’t be able to buy the cheap seats at home games and move down to the lower level anymore. Oh well, it’s a change I’ll gladly accept.
I probably overuse adages and famous movie lines. But I can’t help myself on this one. The Hawks win over the Thunder can be summed up by that old reference to car racing, “It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile- winning is winning”.
The Hawks won ugly in a defensive battle with a perennial bottom dweller. The new city has not done much for the Thunder’s ability. They still lack many pieces to making a competitive team.
On offense, the Hawks looked like they were trying their best to lose this one. During the second through half way in the fourth quarter, the Hawks shooting was poor, their passing was non existent, and they were horribly out of rhythm.
Yet, strong defense kept them in the game. Al Horford did his best Josh Smith impersonation by blocking five shots and making his presence felt in the lane. Joe Johnson (4 steals) played suffocating defense on Kevin Durant and limited him to mostly outside shots.
Still, with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter, the Hawks were down by seven and looked to be in jeopardy of losing their first game of the season.
However, Flip Murray came to the Hawks rescue off the bench. Playing point, he slashed to the bucket drawing a foul and sinking both free throws. His drive in the paint seemed to energize the Hawks, who, until this point, had gotten accustom to taking long-range jump shots and were slowly losing its grip on the game. Scoring seven straight points, Flip put the team on his back and played an instrumental role in securing the victory.
Key Note:
With Josh Smith out two to four weeks, it is going to be really important that players like Al Horford, Solomon Jones, and Zaza Pachulia establish themselves in the paint on the defensive end of the floor. In the second and third quarter, Oklahoma City started to test the Hawks inside by driving to the basket. They had some success, but overall the Hawks did a pretty good job of shutting the team down.
Flip Murray is the X-Factor for the Hawks. He is a boost of energy off the bench. Furthermore, he has proved to be an effective scorer.
Hawks could improve on free throws. Tonight, they made 24 on 33 attempts (72.7%). The “silver lining” is they made them late in the game when they counted the most.
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