After last nights 104-79 victory over the Golden State Warriors the Atlanta Hawks can finally let out a sigh of relief not because they made it to the mountain top but sometimes when you are in the midst of 10 game losing streak you just need the ball to bounce your way just once so you can move on.
The bouncing ball on Monday night happened to be the Golden State Warriors.
Make no mistake about it, this is not your father’s Warriors team. Golden State trotted out a starting line up of Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, Willie Cauley-Stein, Kevin Looney and Eric Paschall.
This game was a match-up of two teams that had a collective 8 wins between them and it looked every bit the case. It was a very sloppy game that was hard to watch even if you were pulling for the Hawks. Nevertheless, wins are hard to come by in the NBA and Coach Pierce is not going to apologize for any mark in the win column.
When asked about the mood after the breaking the streak Coach Pierce had this to say ..
“It’s a different spirit, our last time out in Houston wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Guy were in there cracking jokes on Cam for missing a dunk, laughing for DeAndre for jamming his finger. It’s good to see our guys feel and act normal after a game.” – Coach Pierce
Leading the charge for the Hawks was Trae Young who led all scorers with 24 points and adding 7 assist to his line for the night. Hawks had 4 guys in double figures but most surprising was the play of Damian Jones who finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Jones who was traded from Golden State in the off-season had been struggling this season but was all smiles after a good showing against his former team (see video below).
The Hawks (5-16) have at times have looked sleep at that wheel, and sport two losses this season of more than 45 points on their resume. The loss of Collins, Huerter and the brash of injuries that has made Coach Pierce treat this team like a triage unite mixing and matching available bodies.
And despite it all, that final playoff spot is still in reach.
With a healthy roster, 5-16 definitely was not in the plan and even still the Hawks still find themselves only 4 games out of that 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Perspective is everything and with there being over 60 games left in the season there is still reason for optimism for the team in the Peachtree Jerseys.
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