Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET the Atlanta Hawks, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, will look to hit the reset button on their first round series after dropping a pair of games in Brooklyn, and allowing the eighth-seeded Nets to even the tally. Watch the game on TNT or live stream it free by clicking this link. Nets fans can hear the game on 101.9 WFAN FM, while Hawks fans may do likewise on Sports 92.9 Atlanta.
Brooklyn took Game 4 at home behind the play of suddenly rejuvenated point guard Deron Williams, who entered play under verbal assault from media criticizing his performances in the prior three games, and from former teammate Paul Pierce in an ESPN article that ran before the postseason.
Williams, who received a max deal but hasn't lived up to it, showed flashes of his Utah form, scoring 35 points and handing out seven assists while repeatedly crossing up helpless Hawks defenders.
"I think we've been rallying around each other the last month or so," Williams said. "Definitely the guys rallied around me and it means a lot. It just shows we're definitely coming together as a unit. It's taken longer than we thought, but it's happening."
While much of the basketball universe was stunned by Williams' huge night, the Hawks insisted they knew he was capable of going off.
"We understand and we know that Deron's capable of doing that," Horford said. "You can only contain that type of player for so long. He had three not-so-great games (in the series). He came out (Monday) and he was the difference."
Now the question might be whether or not a player like that exists on Atlanta's roster. They reached the No. 1 seed relying on team basketball, movement, and excellent shooting. So far in this series they've been far less dominant. Five Hawks are averaging between 12 and 16 points, but no player has taken the bull by the horns.
They've also been dogged by injuries to Thabo Sefolosha and Paul Millsap. The latter has played through a shoulder injury, and been productive, but hasn't been as efficient.
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