NBA Playoffs Recap 7 — Magic in Memphis and Atlanta
Two teams pulled off huge wins last night
As a Hawks fan, I’ve always seen some similarities between the Grizzlies and Hawks. Both teams play in smaller markets, have trouble attracting superstar free agents, and have racked up impressive playoff streaks. Memphis plays in the tougher conference, but these two teams have more in common than just their geographic proximity.
Memphis and Atlanta pulled off huge wins last night. The Hawks blew the doors off of the Wizards, while the Grizz eked out a hard-fought victory over the Spurs. Neither game changes the course of these teams’ futures, or even means a first-round victory. Every big moment in the playoffs should be celebrated though, and I’m going to do that here.
Throughout the first two games of the Hawks’ series, I was immensely frustrated with what I saw. Atlanta was never a consistently good team during the regular season, but I knew they were capable of more than disappointing road losses against Washington. The Wizards were always the better team, and they’ll probably still win this series. That said, last night was absolutely beautiful, and the team can still pull out a successful home stand if they play anywhere close to that level. Washington isn’t going to play this poorly again, but Atlanta could have beat a much better team with that level of effort, anyways.
Memphis’ game was much more exciting, but no less meaningful. Kawhi Leonard played one of his fantastic defensive games that everyone takes for granted now, while also matching Mike Conley shot-for-shot down the stretch. There were three separate occasions that I thought the game was over before overtime began, but the Grizzlies and Spurs kept dueling until the final buzzer. The crowd was electric, the score was close, and this was everything anyone could ever want from a playoff game.
The sad part about both of these games is that they may not mean much in the long run. Atlanta probably still won’t beat Washington, and Memphis has to go back on the road to face San Antonio again. The point of this post isn’t to bash these teams’ successes, though: it’s to recognize them. The Hawks needed this win, if only to validate the highest points of the season. Atlanta isn’t an elite team, but at their best they can challenge nearly anyone. The Grizzlies needed this one, too. Beating the Spurs is a huge accomplishment, even at home, and getting two in a row provides validation for keeping this aging (but priceless) roster intact.
Let’s also not forget about Marc Gasol:
Success is hard in the NBA, even though over 50% of the teams make the playoffs. The necessity of having a superstar means that most of the league (75–80% of its teams) have little chance of winning a title. And the league needs these teams. It can’t survive without them. So while Atlanta and Memphis may not have much more success other than last night’s wins, they were still huge. And we should celebrate them.
