- 7 weeks ago
Mike Johnson, Ali Mac, and Beau Morgan recap and react to the Atlanta Hawks 122-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, and explain why they think the Hawks nearly beating the Cavs despite Atlanta’s third quarter meltdown is a promising sign for the Hawks as they head into the postseason.
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00:00But last night was another close, frustrating game for the Hawks.
00:05Final score, 122-116, Cavs won.
00:07Nikhil Alexander-Walker scored 25 points.
00:10Jonathan Kaminga had 24.
00:11They are one game ahead of Toronto for the fifth seed,
00:14but only one and a half games in front of Orlando at this point.
00:18Yeah, they can go anywhere from five to nine.
00:22Yikes.
00:23Yeah, so they've got to find a way to...
00:26They need to win Friday.
00:27That's all there is to it.
00:30And I felt like they could have won last night.
00:32I didn't appreciate some of the officiating last night.
00:34I don't know what you guys thought,
00:37but I thought there were some calls that they weren't getting.
00:40You know, they got beat up inside last night with Mobley and Allen.
00:45Those guys, I just didn't feel like they...
00:46They got out-physicaled and they couldn't get a call, it felt like.
00:51I felt like there were multiple times where there was contact
00:55and it's like, okay, well, in the 2026 first,
00:59in the NBA, that's a foul.
01:01I mean, 1995, we're going to let that go.
01:04But, so I didn't appreciate some of that from the referees.
01:08But, look, they got to play better.
01:10I didn't think Jalen was as good as he could be.
01:13Kamingo was really good last night.
01:15Yeah.
01:18That's the best I think he's looked to me, really, in Atlanta.
01:21I know they had that first game where he came out,
01:24and he had an out-of-body experience,
01:27what now seems like an out-of-body experience.
01:29But I thought he, last night, was as good as we've seen him.
01:34Jonathan Kamingo, what he did last night, that is his game.
01:37Being able to use his physicality, but also his versatility.
01:41You saw him getting to the basket, getting that mid-range shot.
01:44He had a couple threes.
01:45The three-point shot kind of got away from him in the second half.
01:48But what he really did in that first half, again, getting to his spots,
01:52getting to that mid-range, getting to the basket,
01:54that is the peak Jonathan Kamingo,
01:57that if we get that version of Kamingo consistently in the playoffs,
02:01Hawks are going to definitely be a problem.
02:03As far as the physicality that you touched on, Bo,
02:07I thought the Hawks, after the game kind of settled in,
02:10because the Hawks got off to a rough start as far as shot making
02:12and stuff like that goes.
02:13But once they settled into the game,
02:15I felt like they took the fight to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
02:18In that first half.
02:19I felt like as far as the physicality and stuff like that goes,
02:22I didn't think they got out physicaled in the first half.
02:25But the worst thing to me that happened in that game for the Hawks
02:28is halftime happened.
02:30Because it felt like they got into a rhythm,
02:32gotten into a groove, and then halftime happened.
02:35And then they lost all their momentum in the third quarter.
02:38And then Donovan Mitchell and James Harden just came out
02:41absolutely scorched earth.
02:42And it felt like the Hawks just lost all their momentum.
02:46And then the Cavaliers came out.
02:48And they took the fight to the Hawks all the way up until about midway
02:51or seven minutes left in that fourth quarter.
02:53The first and third quarters were really bad for the Hawks.
02:55And not like mind-shattering bad, but they were bad for the Hawks
03:00because the Hawks lost both of those quarters.
03:02And they were – I felt it was – the Hawks played better.
03:06You're right.
03:07You're absolutely – because they were rolling at the end of the first half.
03:10Yes.
03:10And it was – the second quarter was good for the Hawks,
03:12but the first and third quarters were not very kind of them.
03:14They made a run in the fourth quarter, as you said.
03:19It was to me that you got out-physicaled in the first quarter,
03:23and then you could – you just never got the calls that I felt you should have got
03:27when you went in there and you tried to match that.
03:30And it feels like – and it's not a crying thing.
03:33It's just like – I love – the Knicks game and the Cavs game
03:37have been physical games with defense.
03:39They felt like playoff games.
03:41They've been really fun to watch.
03:42I love that aspect.
03:43I just wonder where the consistency sometimes with how calls are made are.
03:48It's just incredibly frustrating because in the fourth quarter,
03:51I believe it was three times they were within two points.
03:54Yes.
03:54So you're like, come on.
03:56Just get it over.
03:57Come on.
03:58So do you think if they're in that situation,
04:00like they're going to be tomorrow night at home,
04:03it would have been a different outcome?
04:05Maybe.
04:06Maybe.
04:06You maybe get a little bit more home cooking.
04:09The Dyson call late with the replay.
04:11Oh, thank you for bringing that up because that was absolutely atrocious.
04:17The refs got it right the first time, and then the Cavaliers –
04:19credit the Cavaliers for challenging it,
04:21and I will give Donovan Mitchell a little bit of credit for being crafty,
04:25but the refs got it right the first time.
04:27When Dyson Daniels reaches in, he doesn't touch Donovan Mitchell.
04:32He doesn't touch the ball.
04:34He doesn't get anything, and then he tries to pull his hand back.
04:37That's when Donovan Mitchell hooks him to make it seem like –
04:41and then he tries to go up to make it seem like Dyson Daniels fouled him,
04:44and that was the original call.
04:45But then they switched it because the Cavaliers challenged and, you know –
04:48Did you notice the wording of the ref?
04:49Yeah, he impeded his path or something like that.
04:52Yeah, like he initiated the contact by impeding him.
04:56That was bogus.
04:57Yeah.
04:58I thought it was a really good call on the floor,
05:02because when I first saw it, I said, yeah, that's going to be overturned.
05:09And then – because when I'm talking about life,
05:11and then they tell you challenged it, and then when you sell the replay –
05:14so, yeah, you're spot on with that.
05:16There's no doubt.
05:18But, look, it's disappointing, but you'll get through it.
05:22I do want to point this out about Friday.
05:25It's interesting.
05:26I'll be very interested – and they talked a little bit about this on the broadcast
05:30and during the halftime show.
05:31I'll be very interested to see what version of the Cavaliers team we get
05:35because the Cavs don't want to see Boston in the second round.
05:41And if they stay – and if they move up to the three seed,
05:44that's what's going to happen because Boston is the two seed,
05:47and Detroit is going to be the number one seed.
05:49That's already locked in.
05:50And so, if they surpass the Knicks and become that three seed,
05:54then they're going to have to play Boston in the second round.
05:57They would rather, you know, avoid Boston and play the Pistons in the second round.
06:00They don't want to have to see Boston until the Eastern Conference Finals potentially.
06:03So, there could be a situation where – and they said it during the pregame show last night
06:09that they – last night the Cavaliers treated last night's game
06:12as a dress rehearsal for the playoffs.
06:14So, that makes me think, okay, they got their dress rehearsal out of the way.
06:17The Cavs might rest some players on Friday.
06:20So, that would be good news for the Hawks because I feel like I saw what I needed to see
06:24from the Hawks
06:25and I feel like they could be competitive in a series against the Cavaliers
06:28if that's what the matchup ends up being.
06:30So, if they rest players on Friday, that could be good news for the Hawks
06:34as far as getting that one win you need to clinch a top six seed.
06:37Well, the Hawks are at home tomorrow night.
06:39They will take on the Cavs at seven.
06:40So, we'll see what happens.
06:42Now, yesterday at Flowery Branch, we got to hear from our new head coach, Kevin Stefanski.
06:47Bajon Robinson also spoke.
06:49Jesse Bates also spoke.
06:50So, let's start with Kevin Stefanski talking about bringing in more accountability to the team.
06:55I think accountability is something that can come from player to player,
06:59can go coach to player, can go player to coach, coach to coach.
07:02I think all of us should do our jobs in holding each other accountable.
07:05This program that we're in right now is a voluntary program.
07:08So, as we're in the off-season program until we get to that mandatory minicamp or training camp,
07:12these are the portion of the calendar where you want your guys to come in and work hard
07:16and be around their teammates and also foster an environment where they're enjoying coming to work.
07:21They should enjoy being around each other and push each other and pull each other
07:24and share a meal together in the meal room.
07:26That's the fun part of this portion of the off-season program.
07:28Accountability obviously comes in everything that we do.
07:31It's a core tenet of who we are, but also it's not just a top-down type of thing.
07:35I think accountability is an interesting answer,
07:39and I'm glad that this question was talked about yesterday in this press conference
07:42because there's multiple ways of doing it.
07:44I would argue that some of the greatest coaches of all time, none of them in the NFL,
07:49had the same tactic when it came to accountability.
07:52Bill Belichick had, for a lot of things, now Tom Brady's there,
07:56and you're going to say that that's player accountability,
07:58but Bill Belichick had coaching accountability.
08:01That came from the coaching staff, right?
08:04You don't play up to standard, you'll get cut.
08:06We'll move on from you.
08:07We're not paying you this, that, and the other.
08:09But then you've got guys like Sean McVay
08:11and some of the other coaches around the league now
08:14that very much it feels like player accountability.
08:16It's like, hey, we're going to go out there.
08:18We're going to do the best possible.
08:20We're going to play at a high level.
08:20We're going to make sure we're always in the right places at the right time.
08:23I'm glad Coach Stefanski was asked that,
08:26and I was curious to kind of hear his answer.
08:28You can see some insight there that he kind of sounds like
08:31he's going a little bit of both ways.
08:33Talked about leadership council and some of the other ways
08:35that you can really get that pointed in the right direction.
08:38And the team posted like a three- or four-minute video
08:42of his kind of opening spill to the entire team,
08:48and he kind of talked about, you know, like the rules are just do your job.
08:52Like and do your job, you know, and basically do it today
08:57and you'll do it tomorrow.
08:59Like and kind of like all we, you know, we don't have a bunch of rules
09:02other than just, and he kind of said it's basically accountability
09:06for yourself and your teammates and doing your job.
09:10Which, like, I heard there was, you know,
09:14there was kind of where with Cleveland, like some, you know,
09:16there was some players who aren't there anymore who didn't finish,
09:21you know, his tenure there, and they had some issues with him
09:25and they kind of made it out like he wasn't a player's coach.
09:28And then some people, then others kind of talked about the fact that,
09:31well, he wasn't not a player's coach.
09:33Like he was kind of in between, and it kind of, you kind of hear it,
09:36and that's what Mike's saying when he talks about how he's holding people up.
09:39Like he just, there is a way to kind of flim-flam.
09:45Like, you know, Raheem Morris was a player's coach.
09:47Yes, he was.
09:48To a fault almost.
09:50And Arthur Smith kind of wasn't.
09:51He was kind of.
09:53To a fault.
09:53Yeah.
09:54And so if there's a way to do, you know, Andy Reid holds people accountable,
09:58but he's also a guy that people enjoy playing for.
10:00So you can be both.
10:02Yep.
10:03One interesting thing that came up yesterday is earlier this week,
10:07we talked about James Pierce Jr. not being at the voluntary program
10:11with his ongoing legal issues.
10:13And Kevin Stefanski was asked if his attendance was James Pierce's choice
10:17or the Falcons' choice.
10:19What was the James Pierce Jr. decision?
10:20I don't want to get into the specifics of that,
10:22but it's every player's decision that I respect.
10:24One more housekeeping question on that.
10:26Is it indefinite at this point?
10:27Do you have any expectation of when he will arrive?
10:30Yeah, I'm focused on today.
10:31Yeah.
10:32He's focused on today.
10:34Yeah, they're not.
10:35Yeah.
10:35And they don't need to.
10:37And they're not going to say anything that does anything to jeopardize,
10:45basically, their standing with the PA.
10:48Like, they're handling this a certain way because they have a CBA
10:51and things have to be handled.
10:53And I also believe that depending on what the outcome is,
10:56you could see him in a uniform again for this team.
11:01I also think there's a really good chance you don't.
11:04Like, it's weird to say that,
11:07but you just don't know how this whole thing is going to play out.
11:09And it would be really ridiculous of them to say one thing either way.
11:14And a reminder that we will have Kevin Stefanski on the morning shift today at 830,
11:19so a little less than two hours away from that.
11:21Coming up, after Tuesday night's brawl,
11:24Reynaldo Lopez has been suspended,
11:26but it looks like it's not going to affect the Braves,
11:28and we've got a life of squid.
11:29Our city lost a legend,
11:32and Kirk Cousins
11:35always talking
11:36and always saying way too much.
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