#1 Atlanta Hawks (60-22) vs. #8 Brooklyn Nets (38-44):
The Atlanta Hawks won the regular season series 4-0 against the Brooklyn Nets, indicating that this series shouldn't be much of a battle. Despite not having a true "superstar" the Hawks have been tremendously successful due to their unselfish play and remarkable consistency. Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford, who are the leaders of this Hawks team, have been really consistent all season.
It's very common for all four of them to play well in the same game even though maybe only one of them has a huge night. What has made this possible is that the Hawks really share the basketball, averaging 25.7 assists per game, which is second in the league behind only the Golden State Warriors. The Hawks all trust each other and as a result find themselves playing some of the best basketball in the league.
The Nets on the other hand average only 20.9 assists per game, which ranks in the lower-third of the league. The Nets have some bigger names on their roster like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez, but collectively they are very inconsistent. On some nights those guys play really well and they look like a team that could do some damage in the playoffs. On other nights, they look very erratic and too inconsistent to do any damage.
The Nets also suffer from the problem of having some pieces that don't quite work well together. Joe Johnson is a guy who really needs the ball in his hands a lot and tends to take a lot of ill-advised shots. Deron Williams as a point guard needs to be touching the ball a lot as well. As for Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, these guys too need their touches. The fact that the Nets have a ton of guys who want to be the "go-to option" explains why they rank so poorly in assists. They don't move the ball very well and it gets stuck in somebody else's hand for too long.
The only guy on the Nets who the Hawks should really worry about is Brook Lopez, the Nets' starting center. Lopez has averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He is a very talented center offensively and a guy who can give a lot of teams trouble due to his size (7'0, 260 lbs.). The Nets have to make him a priority and hope he can have some big games inside. If they can really get him going, they might be able to scare the Hawks a bit.
However, I don't think any dosage of Brook Lopez will solve the Nets' problems of being too inconsistent. The Nets are still going to be up and down during this entire series and assuming the Hawks maintain their consistent play, that will ultimately make the difference. I expect the Hawks to win this series in four games.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA news
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