NBA Playoff Preview - Atlanta vs. Brooklyn

Apr 17, 2015 - 5:13 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - "Wait'll they get a load of me."

Those words spoken by Jack Nicholson's character in the movie "Batman" sums up what the Atlanta Hawks are feeling about the rest of the NBA's playoff field.

The Hawks aren't about to be played like jokers and look to prove their regular-season success was no fluke, as they take on the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The best-of-seven series gets underway Sunday at Philips Arena.

Atlanta cruised to the top seed in the East with a franchise-best 60 wins in the 82-game schedule, breaking the previous record of 57 victories set in the 1993-94 campaign, and captured a division title for the time since 1993-94.

"We feel like we can really do something," Hawks All-Star forward Paul Millsap said. "It's up to us going out there and proving it."

The Southeast champions clinched a spot in the postseason for an eighth straight season, but haven't made it out of the first round in each of the past three tries. The Hawks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in seven games last season.

Atlanta ripped off 19 straight wins at one point this season and went 17-0 in January. It was 25-16 on the road, setting a franchise mark in wins as the guest, and went 35-6 at Philips Arena.

The Hawks were 38-14 in conference action and didn't need the final day to determine their playoff status like the Nets. The Nets punched their ticket to the postseason when they defeated Orlando on Wednesday, coupled with an Indiana Pacers loss at Memphis.

Now Brooklyn faces the East's top team.

"They're the second-best team in the NBA, record-wise. They've shot the ball extremely well all year. When they lose they don't shoot the ball well," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said of the Hawks. "We've got to figure out how to make them shoot the ball a little bit less than what they normally do and control the glass and score."

It will be hard to control the glass against Millsap and Horford, but the Nets have Brook Lopez, former Hawk Joe Johnson and newcomer Thaddeus Young in the frontcourt.

"We hadn't played well the last couple of games but we found ourselves tonight and if we can get back to playing the kind of ball we've been playing since the All-Star Break, the skies the limit for this team," Young said Wednesday.

The Nets have made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons and reached the semis in 2013-14, defeating Toronto in seven games in the quarterfinals before losing to Miami in five games the next round.

Brooklyn went 0-4 against Atlanta in the regular season, while the Hawks averaged 114 points in those games and won by an average of 17.3 ppg. The Hawks and Nets have never met in the playoffs.

MATCHUPS:

BACKCOURT: Nets point guard Deron Williams is a streaky player and perhaps the playoff environment will keep him on a more consistent wavelength. Williams averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 assists this season, and even spent time coming off the bench under Hollins. D-Will is still one of the best distributors in the league when he's on his game. In 63 career playoff games, Williams is posting an average of 19.8 points, 8.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds. Nets rookie Markel Brown will get his taste of the playoffs and doesn't give his team much of an advantage in this series.

Jeff Teague was second on the Hawks with 15.9 ppg this season and led them with 7.0 assists per game. Atlanta was second in the NBA and first in the Eastern Conference with 25.7 assists per game, a necessity for a team that has several playmakers and shooters. The Hawks were second in the NBA and first in the East with a 38.0 percentage from downtown. Teague is averaging 11.4 ppg in 36 postseason games (25 starts). Kyle Korver is the other guard for the Hawks and the main reason why they're so dangerous at shooting threes. He averaged 12.2 ppg and will keep Brooklyn on its toes defending the perimeter.

EDGE: HAWKS

FRONTCOURT: The Hawks' frontcourt carried them to the playoffs with Millsap, Horford and DeMarre Carroll. Millsap had team highs of 16.7 points and 7.8 rebounds, while Horford posted 15.2 points and 7.2 rebounds. Millsap and Horford face a stern challenge inside with Lopez and Young, who can create mismatches with his quickness. Johnson's not much of a defender, so Millsap and Horford will have to be creative in taking advantage of Brooklyn's weak spots. Carroll averaged a career-high 12.6 points and gives Atlanta another scoring option when, and if, things go cold. Carroll has limited playoff experience, but Millsap and Horford have been around the block.

Lopez is one of the best centers in the Eastern Conference and recorded 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds. Lopez wasn't around for the Nets' playoff run last season and saw action in seven games the year before, averaging a team-high 22.3 points with 7.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. Johnson isn't the dynamic scorer he once was, but one can never measure how bad a man wants to win. Johnson had 14.4 ppg and has appeared in 81 playoff games, recording 17.3 ppg. Young hopes to bring his limited playoff experience to another level.

"Anything can happen in the playoffs," Young said. "Anything."

EDGE: HAWKS

BENCH: The Hawks will miss defensive stalwart Thabo Sefolosha off the bench and he is done for the playoffs after suffering a broken leg and ligament damage during a struggle with police in New York last week.

"I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to join my teammates on the court during the playoffs and apologize to them for any distraction this incident has caused," Sefolosha said in a statement. "I will be cheering for them every step of the way and will be diligent in my rehabilitation."

Atlanta has a bunch of role players coming off the bench in Dennis Schroder, Mike Scott, Pero Antic, Kent Bazemore, Shelvin Mack and veteran Elton Brand. Schroder led the reserves with 10.0 ppg this season. Atlanta averaged 32.2 ppg from its bench and Brooklyn was slightly ahead at 35.4 ppg. The Nets have the advantage here with Bojan Bogdanovic, Jarrett Jack and Mason Plumlee. Jack saw action in the starting lineup, too, and is a nice weapon for Hollins.

"We've all seen strange things happen in the playoffs because it's different than the regular season," Jack said. "It comes down to matchups and who's playing well and who has momentum. When you get into the playoffs like we did, that's a lot of momentum right there."

EDGE: NETS

COACHING: Hollins took over the Nets in July last summer after Milwaukee hired Jason Kidd. Hollins is no stranger to success in the NBA and recently served as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012-13, when he guided the team to a franchise record 56 wins and reached the Western Conference Finals. He's hoping to have the same effect on this Brooklyn bunch.

"I am just thankful that our guys stepped up and did what they had to do," Hollins said Wednesday. "That is the only thing that they had control of."

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer learned his trade from one of the best in the business, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. So it's fair to say Budenholzer, a candidate for Coach of the Year, knows what he's doing. His Hawks were one of the best in field goal percentage, 3-point shooting, assists and free throws. Atlanta was also stingy on defense and allowed 97.1 ppg. The Hawks went 35-6 at home and 25-16 on the road, the best mark as the guest in the conference.

EDGE: EVEN

PREDICTION: The Hawks didn't dominate the Eastern Conference during the regular season to fizzle out in the playoffs like they have the last three years. They're on a mission that many believe is an impossible one when it comes to hoisting the Larry O'Brien championship trophy. With a talented roster and even more dominant frontcourt, the Hawks will probably have one hiccup in this series before putting the Nets away. The Nets making the postseason in a weak conference isn't something to brag about and they needed the 82nd game of the season to get here. Brooklyn better not get used to the atmosphere because it's going to vanish quickly.

SPORTS NETWORK PREDICTION: HAWKS IN FIVE