By: Dan

In one of the weirdest series I can remember watching, the Atlanta Hawks took a 91-78, game 7 win over the Miami Heat Sunday afternoon.

What I mean when I say that the series was strange is that even though the series went to a game 7, none of the games were really close. You would expect that if a series went seven games, the games would be competitive. On the contrary, all the wins came by double-digits, and three of the seven games were won by more than 25 points.

The Hawks were able to beat the Heat and clinch the series despite a pedestrian performance from former Florida big man Al Horford, who missed game 6 with an ankle injury. In game 7, Horford went 3-for-9 from the field for seven points and only pulled down three rebounds.
Atlanta didn’t need much from the second-year player from the Dominican Republic because the team kept Miami in check defensively. Dwayne Wade went off expectedly went off for 31 points. But only two other Heat players were in double figures: rookie Michael Beasley and UF alumnus Udonis Haslem, who had a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards.

While Horford has had the most NBA success of the “04’s,” his numbers paled in comparison to Joakim Noah’s. He did a pretty good job in the first three games of the series (12.7 ppg, 9 rpg), but he only averaged 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a game for the series.

Obviously, the young Hawks will have a hard time knocking off LeBron and co., but if they have any chance, Horford will have to step up. He almost averaged a double-double in the regular season, and Atlanta must have similar production from Horford to hang with the Cavs.

Horford will be vitally important on the defensive end because of James’ able to penetrate and get to the basket. If Horford can block some shots, impose his will physically and help stop LeBron’s penetration, Atlanta will have a much better chance at success. But Horford must step his game up.