ATLANTA — This is the game where reality rolled up to the curb, told the driver, “Leave the car running, I’ll only be a minute,” then walked inside the arena, looked around, saw 16,000 fans wearing, “Believe” T-shirts, smirked, then whacked a team, a fan base and a city over the head with a mallet. Because while nothing actually ended Friday night, for the first time in more than three months, it looked and felt like the Hawks were lesser beings. It looked and felt like they were being shown the exit.
It’s only one loss. That’s what they will tell themselves over these next couple of days. That’s what they’re programmed to think.
But they never led after 11-10. In the first quarter, they had almost as many turnovers (six) and fouls (seven) as made field goals (8 of 21). They trailed by double digits from early in the third quarter on. Then by 20 points as the third quarter ended.
