Good morning all from Cleveland. Today, the Hawks are here to face the Cavs at 3pm, before returning to Atlanta to host Boston tomorrow night.
It’s a big sports day today, with the NCAA Tournament, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, golf, etc. So I wanted to get this on your radar early for tomorrow.
Key game tomorrow night for the Hawks against the C’s.
Both clubs are jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference standings. Both the Hawks and Celtics have as their goal home court advantage in the first round. To do that, the two teams must finish in the top four in the East.
As crazy as this season has been, it would surprise no one if the Hawks and Celtics wind up as playoff opponents, possibly as early as the first round.
And if the Hawks and C’s meet again, we will revisit the 2008 playoff thriller.
That season, the Celtics were the East’s top-seed. Despite a losing record, the Hawks qualified for the playoffs as the eighth seed.
But in reality (and to borrow an NCAA Tournament phrase) this was really a one-seed against a 16-seed. The Celtics played the role of Kentucky, a team on a mission (they would go on to win the NBA title in 2008). The Hawks were the upstarts, a team counted out before the series began. Atlanta entered the post-season with the worst record of any playoff team. And after two Boston blowouts, it looked like the pundits might be right.
But in a shocking turn of events, the Hawks evened the series by winning games three and four here at Philips Arena. Game Four was one of the most memorable in this building’s short history.
The Hawks trailed going into the final period. It was at that point that Joe Johnson played, arguably, his greatest game in a Hawks uniform. The Celtics found out that when Joe gets it going, no defense can stop him. Johnson lit the Celtics up for 20 in the final quarter, scored 35 for the game, and the Hawks sent the series back to Boston, 2-2. The final: Hawks 97 Boston 92.
And the home court magic continued in Game Six here. The Hawks won that one as well, before Boston clinched the series in Game Seven in Boston.
It was a memorable series, one that may play out again in a few short weeks.
The first of three Boston-Atlanta games comes up tomorrow night in Atlanta. Hope to see you there.
