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What’s good, family. It’s Sykes, back again, to usher you into tonight’s playoff action. But first, a word on the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks’ final game this season was a perfect microcosm of their entire 2021-22 campaign.
It featured a promising start after taking a quick lead against Miami, a swift 20-2 Heat run to follow bolstered by some lackadaisical defense with a swift death finally coming in the coffin corner with nowhere to go with the ball.
The Hawks were humbled. And they needed to be — badly.
They spent most of their season playing below .500 after last year’s Eastern Conference Finals run. All the while, they were talking as if they were a team that had earned something.
Early in the year, Trae Young said the regular season was “a lot more boring” than the playoffs. Before the year even started John Collins told people he felt like the Hawks could make the Finals.
It’s one thing to say those things as a team that made multiple playoff trips and has maybe made a few Conference Finals appearances or maybe even a Finals appearance.
But to get there just once? Nah. You can’t talk this way. Sure, you may have caught big bro slipping one time. But can you do it again? Do you even know what you did to do it the first time? Clearly, the answer was no.
This was the experience they probably should’ve had last year. Hopefully, the lessons learned are the ones that will help them move forward. Learn how to play defense. Learn how to lean on other players outside of Young. Learn how to run a timely offense.
Once they do all those things? Maybe they can come back and talk a little. Until then, it’s time to pick up your ball and go home.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Speaking of the Hawks, it wasn’t Jimmy Butler who put them away. It wasn’t Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro, either. None of the usual suspects.
Instead, it was Victor Oladipo, whose comeback still feels incredibly improbable yet even more impressive. This dude completely blew out his knee, y’all. Our Cole Huff has more.
