That makes it 6 straight losses in the conference semi-finals the last 2 years. That is 6 games being outscored 611-482. That works out to 101.8 to 80.3.
Clearly, this team does not have the ingredients required to make a serious run to an NBA Championship. In the inferior conference, they can't even compete in the conference semi-finals, let alone win an NBA Finals series.
The sad part is that you could see this final result tonight coming the whole game, no matter how close the game was. Those that have watched this team during the 2009-2010 season day in and day out have seen it. This team lacks the ability to put together a strong 4th quarter performance and win a game. In fact, they often blow leads and turn tight games into blow outs in the 4th quarter.
That panic-filled, composure-less squad that shows up in the 4th quarter so much was very evident in Game 2. Forcing shots and resorting to one-on-one offensive sets instead of doing what had worked in quarters 1-3. They look tired and uninspired on defense in the 4th quarter and never seem to have any intensity.
Just to depress everyone a bit more, lets take a look at some examples from this season where the Hawks had some of their 4th quarter meltdowns.
Game - 4th quarter score/ Final result
At home November 26 vs Orlando - 26-11 / 16 point loss
At home December 4 vs New York - 31-23 / 7 point loss
At Denver December 23rd - 32-22 / 20 point loss
At home December 29th vs Cleveland - 20-10 / 11 point loss
At Cleveland on December 30th - 29-16 / 5 point loss
At home vs Miami on February 10th - 27-12 / 18 point loss
At Golden State on February 21st - 35-14 / 4 point loss
At home vs Dallas on February 26th - 46-27 (w/ OT) / 8 point loss
At Miami on March 6th - 24-17 / 6 point loss
At Toronto on March 17th - 31-19 / 1 point loss
At Milwaukee on March 22nd - 31-21 / 3 point loss
At Detroit on April 7th - 25-16 / 2 point loss
Game 5 in Round 1 vs Milwaukee - 30-18 / 4 point loss
Game 2 in Round 2 vs Orlando - 28-15 / 14 point loss
Barring a complete change in this team the next week, it appears the franchise is about to go into blow-it-all-up-and-try-something-else mode.
At least the Braves didn't get no-hit...
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