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*Photo via Getty Images
Game Three: Atlanta Hawks vs. Brooklyn Nets
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
The Brooklyn Nets grab their first win of the series against the Atlanta Hawks. Brooklyn made their home-crowd proud with 91-83 win.
Overall, this was not an offensive game, both teams shot under 40 percent and each had 15 turnovers. The Hawks took advantage of the turnovers with 25 fast-break points, but it still wasn't enough.
The Hawks usually stellar from three, only hit six threes and shot 20 percent from behind the arc. Sharp-shooter, Kyle Korver, missed all five of his three-point attempts in this one.
The first quarter of this game was all Nets, literally the opposite from the other two games in the series. The Hawks had five turnovers in the first , and shot 28 percent from the field. The Nets on the other hand, saw Bojan Bogdanovic come out on fire. He scored 11 points and shot four of five from the field. Combine that with some nice ball movement (9 assist), the Nets finished the quarter up 31-16.
Another side note, Kyle Korver had no three-point attempts in the first quarter, one reason he couldn’t find a rhythm all game.
The second quarter didn’t get a lot better for the Hawks, but they did get the deficit under single-digits.Other than DeMarre Carroll, the starters for the Hawks really struggled. They just could not find a good groove, their bench player did give them a little boost.
The Nets in the second saw some strong play from Thaddeus Young, who was active all over the floor.He stepped up, just like he promised his teammates. Even though the Nets weren’t great in the quarter.(Hawks outscored them by eight in the quarter). The Nets were still up seven at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, the Hawks played with some major energy. The Nets had some early turnovers, helping lead to a 9-0 Hawks run. This allowed the Hawks to take back the lead for the first time since the start of the game.
The Nets were ice cold and looked to be in trouble. Lucky for them,Thad Young decided he didn’t want to lose, scoring six straight points towards the end of the fourth quarter. This surge allowed the Nets to go on a 9-0 run, retaking the lead and going up five.
To start the fourth, the Nets carried over their momentum. The Hawks were ice cold and the Nets were rolling on offense. They went on an extend 18-0 run carrying over from the third quarter. This run was the deciding factor in the game . The Hawks tried to battle back, but the Nets responded.
Even in the final minutes the Hawks had chance to hit a few big shots, but failed to capitalize. The Nets hit their free throws and went on to take game three.
Player of the Game: Thaddeus Young bounced back from his poor performance in game two. Young scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, he also was very active on both sides of the ball.
Dud of the Game: Two guys for the Hawks deserve this, Al Horford and Jeff Teague. The two only scored a combined 19 points and shot a combined seven of the 25 from the field. Not good games for these two.
Stat of the Game: The Nets went on an 18-0 run, bridging the third and fourth quarter. This was the difference in the game .
This just might be a series, obviously a lot depends on if the Nets win game four. Still though, this hasn’t been the series many expected. It was believed the Hawks would blow the Nets out and have an easy series. That hasn’t been the case, the Nets have had their chances in every game, and today they took the win.
It seems the Hawks are struggling a little bit in the playoffs, this could be nerves, but who knows. It will be important for them to find ways to score when their jump shots aren’t falling. This is something they need to fix if they want to make a deep playoff run, or even just end this series in a timely manner.
The Nets need to repeat their performance today, if they want to make this series interesting. Brooklyn seemed a lot more energized playing in front of their home-crowd. The Nets will also need Joe Johnson and Deron WIlliams to start making shots, the two combined to make over 50 million dollars this season. Time for them to step up.
The next game will be big for both teams, look for some chippy play.
Game four will be Monday, time and network tbd.