Game 5: Wednesday - 8:00 pm EDT

[evildallas]

Dime Mag discusses the game

Dwyane Wade was out of control, and not in a good way for Miami. He picked up a technical and a flagrant foul within a few minutes of each other, almost started multiple brawls, and was berating the refs the entire time. (If you had put Wade in a “Jackson #1″ Warriors jersey, he 100% would’ve been ejected.) Oh, and he might have gotten a concussion in the process. After an inadvertent collision with Josh Smith in the first half caused Wade (29 pts) to hit the back of his head on the hardwood, he went to the locker room momentarily, then came back in a bad mood: A harmless wrap-up foul by Solomon Jones started one “incident” that earned Wade, Jones, Smith and Jamaal Magloire quadruple-techs. Then Wade chased down Mo Evans on a breakaway and sent him crashing to the floor, bringing the whole ATL bench almost into Amar’e/Diaw suspension territory. And while all this was going on, the Hawks were busy building a 20-point lead by halftime and taking a 3-2 series lead

[Skyhawk1]

I was very pleased with what I saw. That's how you approach a game like this, you got to come out to kill, and I think the Hawks showed some mental strenght there that I kinda doubted they had for a while. Flip Murray was fantastic. Am I the only one amazed by that guy's ability to hang in the air and keep his balance? JJ, it had been a while, so I'm glad you were back. It wasn't great, but you showed some flashes of your talent there. Bibby had a great game. I'm glad to see him come up with some consistency, playing great team basketball. Evans actually contributed a bit. He doesn't need to replace Marvin's stats, but he's got to make sure Wade has to guard/chase him. Smith had a good game as well. I didn't mind the fantasy dunk attempt at all. It's playoff time, game 5, in front of the home crownd in your hometown, and you're up by 20. Go for it dude. I'm just concerned about Horford. Zaza has done a great job, but I love Horford's game. I know he's been struggling and all, but he's still very important. His reaction kinda scared me a bit as he's as tough as they come. Hopefully he'll be alright soon.

[evildallas]

A comment on the flagrant foul call: Now that I've seen the replay (no replays of controversial calls in the arena) it doesn't really meet what I understand are the flagrant foul rules. Wade did make a play on the ball. For the TNT announcers who dispute that it was even a foul because of Wade's success at blocking shots, the foul was that Wade hit the back of Mo Evans head with his arm and could also be applied to cutting out Evans legs with the follow through of the block attempt. Just because you have a history of making blocks doesn't give you a free pass to hit people in the head when trying to make another. The reason it was given a flagrant had a lot to do with the intensity of the game at that moment, the refs trying to make control, and because the way he tried to block it prevented Mo Evans from being able to land safely. That last part was not intentional, but it was foreseeable because of the angle Wade took. I'm not sure the rules cover that, but I think they should. It is reckless to undercut players like that and if someone did it to Wade the Heat would be screaming bloody murder. At least that's how I see now that I could review the play.

[HoopsGuru25]

I think that flagrant foul was like a baseball umpire giving a warning after a hit batter. I don't think Miami deserved to lose points over it, but given the altercation a few minutes later...you can see why the refs would call a flagrant on a foul that results in some one crashing to the floor even if the intent wasn't malicious. I would expect the same exact call to be made if the situations were reversed and it was Wade going for the dunk.

[HMFFL]

Credit: jzmagik

Link

[conleyorbust]

Great game. As fun a time as I've ever had watching an uncompetitive game.

Props to Joe for getting his **** together and attacking the hoop like it robbed him in the school yard when he was a kid. Props to Josh for being all over the court and playing with that energy and standing up for his boys. Props to Flip for playing like Dwyane Wade wishes he played. Props to Zaza for being tough. Props to Al for taking those FTs even though he had a sprained ankle. Props to Michael Biby for being a stud. Props to Solo for being productive. Props to Mario Freakin West for locking down Wade on the last shot attempt!!!

Props to Tim_Hardaway, he is a classy poster right now. Classier than I'd be in his situation.

[evildallas]

On ESPN First Take, Skip Bayless actually said that he felt that the play that Al Horford got injured on was a cheap shot by Dwayne Wade because he was frustrated. That he took a wild swipe at the ball and then hooked Al's arm which affected his ability to get his balance on the play. Skip is normally a big Dwayne Wade supporter.

Seems like Josh Smith isn't the only one earning detractors with his actions.

[evildallas]

Charley Rosen has an article up where he grades each players performance from game 5.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9519156/Hawks-pass-with-flying-colors-in-Game-5

You can follow the links for all the individual grades, but I wanted share two role players.

Zaza Pachulia simply did his job — four offensive rebounds, two assists, 4-for-4 from the stripe and some combative defense. Nothing fancy. No headlines or highlights on the evening news. Just a role player playing his role to perfection.

Pachulia's grade: A-minus

Mario West's line featured 11 minutes, one assist, and a string of zeroes. But his spot-defense — particularly on D-Wade — was extraordinary.

The Hawks rode Flip Murray's shooting to an easy win. (/John Bazemore / Associated Press)

West's grade: B

[parson]

I saw Wade undercut our guys a handful of times.

[JoshB914]

Rosen hit the nail on the head with Rio's defense. PLAY THE MAN, WOODY!

15 ft's for JJ last night. That's what I'm talking about, Joe!