Atlanta has to know exactly what Brooklyn is feeling right now.
And that knowledge might be scary.
A year ago, the Hawks were the playoff upstarts, the nothing-to-lose No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs that gave No. 1 Indiana all it wanted in the first round. Atlanta surprised plenty of onlookers by taking that series to seven games before getting ousted.
Now it’s the Nets who are flourishing in the no-pressure role. Brooklyn has Atlanta in trouble, and could put the Hawks – a team that won 19 straight games at one point this season and entered the playoffs with a 60-22 record – on the cusp of elimination if they find a way to win Game 5 on the road tonight.
“To win in the playoffs is a challenge,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “And it’s not something that’s for the faint-hearted and it’s not something for people that don’t compete and don’t play hard.”