Athlon reminisces about the 2008 Hawks almost pulling off a historic upset
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00:00In 2008, the Atlanta Hawks almost pulled off the greatest upset in NBA history.
00:04The 07-08 Atlanta Hawks were, in large part, underwhelming.
00:08Despite the roster being full of memorable players, the team managed to finish just 37-45,
00:14sneaking into the 8th seed and lining up to play the Big 3 Boston Celtics.
00:18And in the first two games of the series at TD Garden, things appeared to be heading towards
00:22a sweep, as the Celtics would win both games by 20+.
00:25But as soon as the series went to Atlanta, things changed.
00:28In Game 3, Josh Smith went off, scoring 27-9-6, and rookie Al Horford was a menace in the
00:34paint, with 14 rebounds, as the Hawks managed to take one back from Boston.
00:39In Game 4, it looked like the Celtics had the game wrapped up, leading by 10 heading into
00:43the 4th quarter.
00:44But it was time for Iso Joe and Josh Smith to take over, as they would score all of the
00:48Hawks' 32 points in the 4th, including 20 from Johnson, and they would steal Game 4 in
00:5397-92.
00:54Game 5 was another wire-to-wire win for the Celtics, and the Hawks headed back to Atlanta
00:58on the brink of elimination.
01:00But in Game 6, the entire Hawks roster stepped up, as six different players were in double
01:04digits, and the Hawks would eke out another win, 103-100.
01:08And as an excited Zaza Pachulia would scream to the fans after the game,
01:12We're going to Game 7, baby!
01:15Game 7!
01:16Game 7!
01:20Well, they got absolutely smacked in Game 7, as they were held to just 26 points in the
01:25first half.
01:26Marvin Williams got ejected for hard fouling Rajon Rondo, KG trucked Zaza Pachulia, and the
01:31Celtics would win 99-65.
01:33The Celtics would go on to win the NBA championship that year, which means that the 2008 Atlanta
01:38Hawks are, to this day, the worst team to ever push an eventual NBA champion to an elimination
01:44game.