BROOKLYN -- The Atlanta Hawks coughed up a golden opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, blowing a sizable fourth-quarter lead to lose 120-115 in overtime on Monday night at Barclays Center. Now, with the series tied at 2-2, the Hawks return home looking for answers. Here are three observations from the back-and-forth affair:
1. Hawks fumble opportunity to take 3-1 lead, head home with serious concerns
The Brooklyn Nets refuse to go away. The veteran team that posted a 38-44 regular-season record is very, very much alive.
Following an ugly Game 3 loss for the top-seeded Hawks, their play improved at Barclays Center in Game 4 ... and it still didn't matter. The Nets evened a series that was not supposed to be close at 2-2 with their excellent play in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Hawks still hold their much-deserved home-court advantage, but they now find themselves in the Eastern Conference's only dogfight. The favorite has not played like it through the first four games, and it caught up to them in Brooklyn.
Of course, there were bright spots, particularly early as the Hawks held leads heading into halftime and the fourth quarter, but thanks to the efforts of former All-Stars Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, a tandem that combined for 61 point, the 8-seed is heading back down to Atlanta brimming with confidence and playing quality basketball.
What does this mean for the Hawks, a team that cruised through the Eastern Conference and swept the Nets during the regular season? Well, it's not good news. They had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 lead in Monday's game, and now they are backpedaling.
2. Deron Williams goes off for playoff career high
Deron Williams has been the media whipping boy in this series. He was shut down, kicked around, had tendonitis issues leaked by teammates and been out-played by his backup in the first three games. Things reached a tipping point when head coach Lionel Hollins publicly defended his point guard ... and then Williams goes out and looks like Deron Williams circa 2013.
Williams rejuvenated a team that looked ready to roll over in the second of Game 4, exploding for a surprise 35-point effort -- his best-ever scoring performance in the playoffs.
He added seven assists, five rebounds and three steals to completely take over a game that was just short of "must-win" territory.
"Without that performance, I don't know if we get out of here with a win," Hollins said.
If there was any doubt that Williams was playing on another level, he squashed it with his out-of-control prayer from long range with less than a two minutes remaining. It never hit the rim. (Just like Hollins drew it up, right?) Some nights, everything works. Video evidence of Williams's Game 4 absurdity:
For a veteran that's gone through plenty of criticism from both former teammates and in the press this season, it was one heck of a revenge game. He was dominant in the pick-and-roll with Brook Lopez, he committed just two turnovers and completely willed his team to overtime.
For the first time this postseason, he looked like the best player on the floor.
3. DeMarre Carroll providing a much-needed dose of consistency
That two-point game Carroll posted in the Hawks' Game 2 win seems like a distant memory. In hindsight, perhaps his pivotal late-game backdoor layup in that victory was enough of a spark to fuel him through the rest of this series, because since these two teams landed in Brooklyn he's been, for extended stretches, the best player on the floor.
Carroll was the only viable option in Atlanta's low-scoring Game 3 loss, attacking the basket while continuing his excellent defensive work, and that effort carried him into Monday's game. Carroll finished with 20 points, five assists and seven offensive rebounds. He was all over the floor.
He was quieter in the second half, but he carried Atlanta to its halftime lead.
Of course, at every possible moment, Carroll shifts the attention back to his defensive work. His offense is a secondary concern on a nightly basis. He seems to feel that any added attention to his improvement on the offensive somehow takes away from his Junkyard Dawg persona. But make no mistake, he's become a complete basketball player.
Carroll's offense has more-than-adequately complemented his defensive work on Nets star and former Hawks scorer Joe Johnson. The bruising and skilled forward is hitting just a third of his attempts and Game 4 didn't improve matters, finishing with 17 points on 16 shots. Lopez and Williams were problematic, but Carroll's work to keep Johnson from carrying Brooklyn has been useful.
If Atlanta can continue to make strides offensively and begin to get better play out of standouts like Al Horford (dealing with injury) and Dennis Schroder (dealing with inefficiency), its 1-2 starting wing punch of Carroll and Kyle Korver will get better opportunities to make some noise.
Still, this series is not going the way the Hawks wanted it to.
