ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks can breathe a little easier. Following a winless road trip to Brooklyn, the Eastern Conference's top seed won a decisive Game 5 at home to take a 3-2 series lead, taking down the Nets 107-97. Here are three observations from the return to Philips Arena, where the Hawks have not lost this postseason:
1. Nets make another wild fourth-quarter push, Hawks hang on
Disaster lurked around the corner. There were the eighth-seeded Nets in the fourth quarter again, creating late-game havoc for the fifth straight game. There were the Hawks, failing to execute down the stretch and watching a double-digit fade for the second straight game. A few more miscues and a pivotal Game 5 could have gone to the underdog that refuses to go away in this 1-versus-8 matchup.
To their credit, the Hawks came up with the plays down the stretch with a 10-2 game-ending run. Al Horford and Jeff Teague, neither playing exceptionally well in this series, hit the necessary shots. The defense came up with the necessary stops. At the end of the day, it was a win -- the Hawks will take it. Staring up at a 3-2 hole after two fourth-quarter collapses would have been a nightmare scenario heading back to Brooklyn.
That run might very well have saved their season.
And while the Hawks re-board a plane with questions lingering on why they have had so much trouble closing this veteran Brooklyn team out late in games, they do so with breathing room. Game 6 remains an elimination game for their opponent. That's the bottom line. Topics concerning anything other than reaching the second round -- for instance, if this Atlanta team struggles against 8-seed Brooklyn, what are its chances of closing against teams that held winning records during the regular season? -- can wait.
After Atlanta's Game 3 performance, coach Mike Budenholzer said he likes when his team is angry following a loss. However, Game 5 was the first time this series the Hawks have played angry. They played with urgency. Brooklyn forced-fed them some of that urgency down the stretch, but Atlanta still holds home-court advantage in its back pocket and has the 8-seed on the ropes.
If this series has proven anything, though, it could be a while before the knockout punch comes.
2. Atlanta still looking for complete-game effort, but the offense made strides
Call it an extension of the chicken-or-the-egg debate: Whether Atlanta's offense started clicking because its shots started falling or the improved movement helped find shots more likely to fall, Atlanta's offense hit another gear in Game 5. They needed it. In a series where there has been very little resemblance to the sixth-ranked team in offensive efficiency during the regular season, it's no surprise that Atlanta's improvement on the offensive end would make everything seem more, well, normal.
The Hawks entered the game shooting just 41.5 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from long range -- effectively shooting worse than their Brooklyn counterparts. There were blown layups, altered shots and wide-open missed 3-pointers. Kyle Korver, in particular, was well under his typical shooting percentages through the first four games.
Not all of those issues magically disappeared, but that final score didn't lie. Atlanta hit the century mark for the second straight game on Wednesday. Budenholzer agreed that his team is starting to find its rhythm over that span. Aside from slow starts in the second and fourth quarters, both in which the Nets battled back from a deep early hole, things went rather well when the Hawks got into their sets and found the second, third and fourth options.
Atlanta improved in both shooting areas and was visibly more active and mobile than in its previous games. The final shooting numbers: 48.2 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point range -- relatively small improvements, but steps forward nonetheless. DeMarre Carroll continued his stellar play (24 points), Korver hit five big 3-pointers and Teague and Horford combined for 40 points.
As Budenholzer leans on his starters more and more in this series, it was an encouraging sign that those who have struggled showed signs of progress.
3. Alan Anderson latest Nets unlikely star
Brooklyn keeps getting unlikely contributions. After taking the first punch in Wednesday night's first quarter, the Nets fought their way back into the game in large part due to the near-perfect half from reserve Alan Anderson. The veteran wing out of Michigan State was already enjoying a good series before Game 5, but he almost singlehandedly kept it from blowout territory in the first half.
He finished with 23 points and seven rebounds.
This is nothing new for Hollins's club this postseason. In Games 1 and 2, it was reserve point guard Jarrett Jack coming off the bench and outperforming starter Deron Williams, creating problems with his efficiency and aggressive approach. In Brooklyn, the Nets received a big boost from shooter Bojan Bogdanovic, who scored 34 points in the two Brooklyn wins while hitting big shots in late-game situations.
Anderson was the Game 5 piece that fit the mold.
With Carroll, the Hawks' top defender, occupied by Joe Johnson, Anderson went into attack mode. It's not that Brooklyn's Big Three has failed to deliver -- Deron Williams owns the top single-game individual performance of the series (35 points in Game 4) while Brook Lopez has posted three straight 20-point games -- but the Nets' role players have provided some excellent performances throughout.
Anderson wasn't the only culprit, either. Jack made another successful return home -- he played college ball right down the street at Georgia Tech -- by playing opossum for three quarters before erupting on Jeff Teague & Co. in the fourth, pouring in 12 quick points to will his team back into the game. Teague answered with a few crucial buckets of his own, but Jack made yet another statement: Brooklyn will not go away. Don't expect that to change in Game 6.
5: The Hawks limited second-chance opportunities in Game 5, holding the Nets to just five offensive rebounds
8: After the Nets inched their back into the game, coming as close as 97-95 with two minutes remaining, the Hawks closed the game on a 10-2 run. It was the decisive close-out they've been looking for.
