I still really actually believe the Hawks can almost at any time #ShocktheWorld and beat a #ChampionshipCalibur team EVEN as currently constructed (which of course them WINNING the championship as currently constructed is a err...long goal) the BIGGEST DEAL about this 34-29 Hawks vs 33-30 Lakers Wednesday, March 13 game is (besides the Models Basketball League pre-game game ^_^) is our #truechampionship potential MISSING PIECE #franchiseplayer is coming off the BIGGEST GAME OF HIS CAREER (39 points 16 rbs 3 blks as a Los Angeles Lakers #rental) and is now back in his HOMETOWN where all eyes will be on Dwight Howard vs. Best Friend soon-to-to-co-free-agent Josh Smith.
Well, the Hawks did indeed SHOCK THE WORLD against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday! With a 96-92 victory and a severely sprained Kobe Bryant ankle, the resilient Atlanta Hawks topped with Lakers without the services of Jeff Teague, Josh Smith, Lou Williams, Deshawn Stevenson, and Zaza Pachulia. What has been lost in a sea of media coverage about the Kobe Bryant ankle injury, the play that created this situation, and whether or not it was intentional is the fact that a starting line-up of Devin Harris, Dahntay Jones, Anthony Tolliver, Al Horford, and Johan Petro totally OUTEXECUTED the Lakers league of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Earl Clark, and Dwight Howard. AND the Hawks bench outscored the Lakers 39-16 thanks to the likes of Kyle Korver (15), Ivan "The Terrible" Johnson (12), rookie John Jenkins(12), and 10-day contract Shelvin Mack(7).
Its hard to even pick a PLAYER OF THE GAME for the Hawks because it was such a balanced team effort, something the Lakers are still learning, but if we had to pick one it would have to be Al Horford, playing a team-high 41 minutes for 14 pts (7/12 FGs) 14 rbs 4 asts. He should have gotten AT LEAST 20 FGA but the Hawks played to their strengths and got the win (FAIR AND SQUARE, KOBE BRYANT!)
Don't be mad at me, just ask Steve Nash how they lost this game:
"We just didn't make any shots, I feel like I killed us tonight. I had good looks at the basket. I didn't convert."Steve Nash was 4/14 from the field, one of the things that led to a 55-43 Hawks lead at halftime. Kobe Bryant was having a tough game by halftime, 3 points on 1/8 shooting, and EVERYBODY expected Kobe to erupt in the 3rd, which he did, kind of... 20 points in the 3rd and the Lakers won the 3rd quarter 31-21 but the healthly lead build by the Hawks in the 1st half proved to be a solid foundation, the Hawks won the 4th quarter 20-18 on several great plays by Devin Harris, Kyle Korver, even Johan Petro and Ivan Johnson(!!). Ivan made a HUGE play down the stretch, with the Hawks leading 90-87 Al Horford drove along the baseline and missed the shot. But he hustled for the rebound and knocked it right to Johnson under the basket. He flipped in a reverse layup with 33.3 seconds remaining, pushing the Hawks ahead 92-87.
"I can't believe we are losing to the Hawks, gotdamn u Dwight!"
It was a gutsy win, but the aftermath of this victory caused a firestorm of debate. Kobe Bryant took to TWITTER (@KobeBryant) and complained that the last-play defense by Dahntay Jones was an INTENTIONAL FOUL!
#dangerousplay that should have been called. Period.
Dahntay Jones REPLIED on Twitter:
"Tape doesn't lie. Ankle was turned on the floor after the leg kick out that knocked him off balance. I would never try to hurt the man"
"Leg kick that makes contact with a defensive player is an offense foul. Period. The nba changed that rule 2 yrs ago. Stop it!"
"I have the utmost respect forAs a Hawks say I say "HA! Thats what you get!" but as a basketball fan I hate to see one of the G.O.A.T.s get injured on a freak accident during the LAST SECOND of the game with his team down by 2, but it looks like the NBA is making Dahntey Jones a SCAPEGOAT for this Lakers loss, as if the entire game came down to that one play, Kobe was going to MISS regardless! Nothing Jones did altered the shot whatsoever. So the Hawks go on to a 35-29 record, good for 5th in the east thus far, if the Eastern Conference stays in the same standings (it wont) we will be facing the Iso-Joe Brooklyn Nets in the 1st round of the playoffs! Now THAT would be a good series, the world gave the Hawks NO CHANCE against any playoff opponent during the Joe Johnson era, this first year without him, Hawks perception is not going to change, but a PLAYOFF UPSET could upset alot of people. Let's see the Hawks TURN UP for the Playoff-push season!@kobebryant I would never try to intentionally hurt him. Just wanted to contest the fadeaway#thatsall"
-WORLDinFAMOUS
