Hawks win... again!

A struggling franchise just keeps on winning

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  • Joeff Davis
  • At the start of last night’s Hawks game at Phillips Arena there were many empty seats.



Last night’s 10-point Atlanta Hawks victory was enough to make you believe in this Cinderella team, the ugly stepchild of Atlanta’s sports world. While metro Atlanta’s other two major teams are getting stadiums built, all the Hawks are doing is winning. Amidst all the turmoil — an owner forced to sell the team amidst him revealing he had sent racist e-mails, and a general manager who is on indefinite leave for making racist remarks on a conference call a second-year coach who had never led an NBA team, and a bunch of no name players — the Hawks are proving to be the unknown darlings of the Atlanta sports scene and the most interesting story to come out of this year’s NBA season so far.

Last night’s victory could help make a skeptic actually believe in this fairytale. The Hawks plainly out-hustled, out-manned, and outplayed the Memphis Grizzlies who came into the game with the NBA’s fourth best record. Hawk players threw themselves into front-row seats to make several key saves, sank crucial baskets, and pulled away with the victory when the game got close. This is what champions look like (did I just say that?). It’s still early in the season but we can dream right?

At the beginning of the Hawks’ season, the odds of the team winning the championship were 100 to 1. They have now won six games in a row and nine of their last 10 games and are tied for the second best record in the NBA.

When the game started there were many empty seats throughout the arena. It seemed like another depressing night for Atlanta sports. But by the end of the game, after the team turned a two-point squeaker into a 10-point romp, the crowd was going mad and with, less than a minute left, a chant of “A-T-L, A-T-L, A-T-L” erupted. The beauty, the oneness, and the hope inside of that chant set against the backdrop of turmoil, dismay, and tragedy that is this broken franchise was enough to almost bring tears to your eyes.

The Hawks play next Friday night in Detroit.

More photos after the break

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  • Joeff Davis
  • Jeff Teague led all scorers in the game with 25 points.



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  • Joeff Davis
  • Pero Antic’s willingness to fearlessly throw his body around had a big impact on the game.



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  • Joeff Davis
  • The Hawks bench and the crowd erupts as Kyle Korver hits a three-pointer with less than a minute left to seal the victory.