On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Atlanta Hawks/Miami Heat Game 7, which the Hawks ended up dominating 91-78 after a tight first quarter that only saw the Hawks take the lead in the final seconds of the quarter when Dwyane Wade threw a lazy cross-court pass that Mike Bibby intercepted and was subsequently fouled on. Bibby knocked down both free throws to give them a 20-18 lead that they never relinquished.
What many expected to be a tight Game 7, quickly turned into a rout in the second quarter when the Hawks went on a 21-8 run to begin the quarter opening up a 15-point lead. They took a 13-point lead into halftime thanks to holding Wade without a field goal (0-5) in the quarter.
From then on, it was all Hawks. They opened up as much as a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter before coach Mike Woodson began subbing liberally. The win gave the Hawks their first series win in 10 years and their first Game 7 victory since the team moved to Atlanta.
Atlanta now moves on to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team with the best record in the league.
No one expects the Hawks to have much of a chance against the Cavs in this series, but anyone sleeping on the Hawks will surely be surprised. Just ask King James. LeBron knows the Hawks are a dangerous squad. He isn’t looking past the high-flying kids that play at the Highlight Factory.
Atlanta can play with the Cavs. (They were in three of the four games against Cleveland this year.) The question is whether they can beat the Cavs, particularly on the road where they’ll have to win at least one game and where Cleveland only lost twice this year. This season, at home, the Hawks won by 5 and lost by 1 while in Cleveland they lost by 6 and 14. The Hawks 97-92 win on December 13th was the only loss during an 18-game span for the Cavs.
Here are some musts for the Hawks to try and pull the upset:
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