For 12 minutes of Game 5, the Nets played like the under-.500 team that frustrated fans and coaches alike for the entire 2014-15 season. After that dreadful first quarter, which saw the Hawks hold a 33-16 lead on Brooklyn, the Nets rebounded and gave an incredible fight for three quarters. However, in the end, that original deficit was too much for Brooklyn to come back from as the home team Hawks won on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 back at Barclays.
Atlanta couldn’t miss early on and appeared to be well on its way to an easy victory in a game that, if won by the Nets, would give them homecourt advantage with a chance to advance to the second round on Friday. However, Brooklyn–which has shown uncharacteristic resolve in this series–rolled off a 11-0 run to start the second quarter and get within six points (33-27), thanks to a pair of threes from Alan Anderson and one from Joe Johnson.
The Hawks, after being outscored 28-20 in the frame, went into the half up 53-44 and actually increased their lead in the third quarter, in which they were ahead by as much as 14 at one point. With each shot, Atlanta threatened to pull away but the Nets were able to stay within 10 or so points into the fourth, which is when they made their serious, final push.
Once again, they started off the quarter with a big run, this time of nine unanswered points. Once Jarrett Jack knocked down his pull-up with 9:18 left to narrow Brooklyn’s deficit to 82-79, Phillips Arena went silent and you started to feel as if the Nets had a real chance to steal this game. But, even as Jack unleashed a barrage of 12 straight points, the Hawks–through open jumpers that were simply uncontested by Brooklyn–always had a response.
The game hit a critical mass at the 1:45 mark, with the Nets down 97-95 following a Paul Millsap travel that came after back-to-back Joe Johnson threes. With a chance to tie the score for the first time since the first quarter, Johnson missed a tough but makeable reverse layup that led to an Al Horford jumper on the other end. Then, miscommunication between Jack and Brook resulted in a traveling violation that preceded the essential game-winner: a Jeff Teague layup to put the Hawks ahead 101-95, creating a deficit the Nets would not have an answer for.
If Joe made that lay-in, the entire scope of the game is different. However, he didn’t, the Hawks took advantage and the Nets lost, falling down 3-2 with an elimination game in two days.
Assorted thoughts: It’s very hard to win playoff games with essentially nothing more than a seven-man rotation. Eight players got action for the Nets tonight but one of them (Mason Plumlee) was only out there for seven minutes. That meant heavy workloads for Brooklyn’s top guys–mainly Joe (44 minutes) and Brook (39 minutes)–who looked exhausted down the stretch. Lionel Hollins couldn’t rest Lopez more because Plumlee just couldn’t stick with Al Horford or get out to the perimeter to guard Paul Millsap or Pero Antic. The ability of the Hawks’ bigs to shoot well makes any time with Plumlee at center a glorified shootaround, during which Brooklyn falls behind by lots of points….Brooklyn’s two best players tonight: Alan Anderson and Jarrett Jack, who both played 32 minutes. Anderson caught fire early from three and didn’t stop scoring all night, posting 23 points on 9-11 shooting (4-4 from three) with seven rebounds. He has been scorching hot this postseason in addition to playing lockdown defense, so his presence has been vital for the Nets. He made contested threes, one while getting fouled, open ones and even threw down a running dunk at the end of the first half. For Jack, he got hot in the fourth, even making a few threes to get his team within a possession multiple times. He ended up with 18 points and six dimes as he had to step up with the ever-mercurial Deron Williams playing poorly after his 35-point Game 4 performance. Deron scored only five points on 2-8 shooting. If he had made a few more of the open looks he had, this is a different game….Joe Johnson (18 points and nine rebounds) made some big shots late but couldn’t capitalize on an important triple halfway through the fourth quarter off an offensive rebound. Unfortunately, his 7-15 shooting isn’t going to cut it when the Hawks shoot 48 percent from the field and winning the rebounding battle by eight….Brook and Thaddeus played decently, but left a lot to desired on the defensive front, especially late in the game. However, they combined for a startling -32 rating, which owes much more to their collective effort in the non-offensive aspects of the game. Also, the Nets need more than seven total rebounds from those two. There were way too many Hawks points off second chances.
Onto the next one: Friday night at Barclays. If the Nets lose, their season is over. If the Nets win, they’ll play their third consecutive first-round Game 7 on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
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