Hawks Take a Step Back

It has become clear that the Hawks have a ways to go before they can make good on their infamous playoff guarantee. No one event or incident can validate that claim more than Saturday night’s 109-99 beating at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

RealGM's Jason Walker was there and has the recap and reaction from the game.

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Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics

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Hawks fail to close out pesky Celts

The Hawks learned something about winning on the road Friday night. They learned that they better show more toughness.

"They turned it up," Glenn Robinson said of the Boston Celtics.

"They played much more physically," Shareef Abdur-Rahim noted, "and the refs were going to call it. They were going to make us decide it."

That is exactly what these two teams will do again tonight in Philips Arena. The Hawks, who played poorly on Wednesday and were routed, now must deal with the disappointment of being beaten 105-98 in double overtime after building a 13-point lead with 8:47 to play. They led by 11 with 5:26 left.

Via Jeff Denberg/Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics

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Celtics seek defensive toughness

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports that the Celtics are using their time off to work on their toughness. After two straight losses to the Mavericks and Bucks, and with the Nets in line for Wednesday, The Celtics feel they have to make a stand now to avoid being labeled "pretenders".

``Definitely we've got to have an attitude,'' said Tony Delk. ``You have to be tough. In order to be a great defensive team, you've got to have five tough guys on the court at all times. You've got to put yourself in good position to play defense, and when you miss a shot you've just got to get back. Sometimes in transition we give up easy buckets, and that means we just need a commitment from everybody to get back and try to stop the ball.''

The Bucks took advantage of the Celtics lack of energy in the fourth quarter of their match. ``We could see it in the fourth quarter,'' said Ray Allen, who put 31 points on the C's. ``They were coming out of a timeout and you could see Antoine Walker was tired."

``You've got to bring it every night,'' said Celtics guard Tony Delk. ``You've got to bring the same effort, and we didn't bring that effort (Saturday) night. You've got to play 48 minutes and guys have to concentrate and maintain their thought process. We just haven't played defense the last two games the way we normally play it."

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Boston Celtics

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