HERE IS A GOOD WRITE UP ON ATLANTA FWIW
"The man formerly known as D-Wade said that after the Heat's 81-71 loss to the Hawks. What he was referring to was the fact that outside of himself, O'Neal and James Jones, the other seven members of the team combined for a total of 10 points.
In my write-up before Game 3, I said that Atlanta was finished. I predicted a blowout in that game by Miami, I predicted that the Heat would protect homecourt throughout the rest of the series, I predicted that Wade would continue his postseason excellence and inspire his young inexperienced teammates to follow suit. What I didn't foresee was Flash being magically replaced by a 40-year-old version of himself between Games 3 and 4.
And that, my friends, is game-set-match for the Atlanta Hawks. Unless a couple members of ATL's starting lineup suddenly come down with the swine flu after a Latin-themed sex party, this is now their series. The player now known as D-Wheelchair has reportedly been in shambles ever since the morning shootaround before Game 4 and it doesn't seem to have improved at all since then. And here's some more news that couldn't come at a worse time: Key reserve Jamario Moon has been ruled out for the rest of postseason with a sports hernia.
That's going to further hurt their unproductive bench that, outside of Daequan Cook's explosive performance in Game 2, has been absolutely worthless in Round 1. The reserves combined for 17 points on 8-25 shooting in Game 1, 18 points on 8-22 shooting in Game 3 and a pathetic TWO points on 0-7 shooting in Game 4. This is a very young and inexperienced team for the Miami Heat right here. Seven players on this sqiad have been in the league for three years or fewer; for five of them, this is their first NBA playoff experience. They may have been ready to support a healthy Wade just enough to advance, but they're sure as hell not going to be able to handle having to piggy-back their hobbled superstar against this super-athletic and more experienced Hawks lineup.
According to Dwyane, he'll definitely be out there on the court tonight whether he's "100 perfect or 35 percent". What he can't guarantee, however, is a win for his team if he's anything other than that perfect 100 percent. Atlanta only lost ten times all season at home in the regular season. At home in last year's playoffs against the Boston Celtics, they were undefeated. In this postseason, they're got a .500 record there.
The chances that Hotlanta gives up another one in this situation?
NONE."
