Hawks Power Past Spurs, Vintage Manu

Filed under: Hawks, Spurs

If the Hawks needed reassurance they can beat the league's old guard of the elite, they got it. And if the Spurs needed confirmation they can hang with the league's young insurgency, they got it.

But only the Hawks got the overtime win Sunday night in a game that felt, from my living room, like a playoff battle. Phillips Arena rocked -- Hubie Brown gave the crowd dap, even if he paired that with a plea for famously fickle Atlantan fans to show up on Tuesdays against non-playoff squads.

The clearest indicator of the game's magnitude, however, came in the form of Manu Ginobili, a true vision of excellence, which is to say a vision of the past. Manu looked like his 2005 self, eventually scoring 38 points on a bevy of -- take a guess -- lefty scoops, running floaters and flat-footed set-shot jumpers. The Argentine, struggling since late in the 2007-08 season due to injuries and age, hit 5-11 on threes and earned 10 free throw attempts. He played 45 minutes, and kept the Spurs in the game.

But the Hawks, led by a beast of a center in Al Horford, denied San Antonio the win. Horford was simply monstrous, finishing with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Nine of those boards came on the offensive end, a leading indicator of how thoroughly Atlanta dominated S.A. on the glass. The Hawks held the Spurs to 11 offensive rebounds in 41 opportunities; meanwhile, Atlanta took a stunning 21 of 51 offensive rebound opportunities. Despite the aging roster, San Antonio is still elite on the defensive glass (4th in the league), just as it has been through the entirety of Tim Duncan's tenure. But Horford caused problems all night.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/03/21/hawks-power-past-spurs-vintage-manu/