2007-08 Summary
November 2007:
East Player of the Month: LeBron James; East Rookie: Al Horford
West Player of the Month: Dirk Nowitzki; West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record: 7-8
Home: 5-3
Road: 2-5
Southeast:
Washington: 11-5
Orlando 9-9
Atlanta 7-8
Charlotte 6-8
Miami 6-9
The Hawks finished the month of November with an average record of 7-8. After starting the season 1-4, and suffering a 39 point loss at the hands of the Celtics, Atlanta turned it around with a 3 game winning streak. Highlights of the month were defeating the defending champion Spurs, and narrowly edging the Bulls in Chicago. Finishing the month with a win against the Hornets, the Hawks sat at ninth place, a half game behind the 9-9 Magic for the final playoff spot and 16th on the NBA.com power rankings. Additionally, Al Horford won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month with averages of 11.1 Points and 7.4 Rebounds on 52% shooting.
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December 2007:
East Player of the Month: LeBron James; East Rookie: Al Horford
West Player of the Month: Kobe Bryant: West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record: 6-8 (13-16 overall)
Home: 4-5 (9-8)
Road: 2-3 (4-8)
Southeast:
Washington: 17-11
Orlando: 17-16
Miami: 15-16
Atlanta: 13-16
Charlotte 11-18
After starting the month with a loss, the Hawks went on a three game winning streak to get over the.500 mark for the first time with a record of 10-9. During that brief streak, Joe Johnson reached a career high in points with 59 in a win against the Timberwolves. A blowout in Orlando; followed by a heartbreaker against the Raptors kept the Hawks under .500 for the rest of the month; the ugliest moment being a 33 point home loss versus Utah. The Hawks finished 13-16, being 12th in the East and 1.5 games behind the Sixers for the 8th seed. They sat at 17th in the Power Rankings. Al Horford won East Rookie of the Month again.
Transactions:
GSW trades Patrick O’Bryant and Troy Hudson to MIL for Dan Gadzuric.
MIA trades Udonis Haslem to CHA for Gerald Wallace.
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January 2008:
East Player of the Month: Ray Allen; East Rookie: Thaddeus Young
West Player of the Month: Kobe Bryant; West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record: 6-8 (19-24 overall)
Home: 2-3 (11-11)
Road: 4-5 (8-13)
Southeast:
Washington: 30-14
Orlando: 27-22
Miami: 25-20
Atlanta: 19-24
Charlotte: 17-28
The Hawks started the month with a pair of blowout wins on the road, before suffering 3 consecutive losses. They won 4 of their last 9 to hold a 19-24 record. They sat in 11th place, two games behind the 8th place Pacers, and 18th on the Power Rankings. The rookie race heated up in the month, after Al Horford’s Hawks defeated ROY frontrunner Kevin Durant’s Sonics. However, Horford did not win East Rookie of the Month for the first time this season, losing to Thaddeus Young. The playoffs are not out of question for the Hawks; who hold the longest playoff drought in the NBA. (9 seasons)
Transactions:
NYK trades Jerome James (lol) to PHX for Sean Marks and Brian Skinner.
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February 2008:
East Player of the Month: LeBron James; East Rookie: Thaddeus Young
West Player of the Month: Kobe Bryant; West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record: 5-9 (24-33 overall)
Home: 4-3 (15-14)
Road: 1-6 (9-19)
Southeast:
Washington: 34-24
Miami: 33-24
Orlando: 34-28
Atlanta: 24-33
Charlotte 23-34
The Hawks started the month off 3-1, before suffering a 5 game skid; their longest of the season, which was ended with a narrow win in Golden State. The Hawks continued to slide a bit, and finished the month with a 24-33 record, good for 10th in the East. They stood 3 games behind the 8th place Pacers, and were ranked 17th in the Power Rankings. Playoffs still a possibility, but are continually out of reach.
Transactions
IND trades Marquis Daniels to MIA for Daequan Cook and Mark Blount
PHX trades Jerome James for Travis Diener and Jeff Foster
DET trades Rodney Stuckey to NJN for Bostjan Nachbar
TOR trades Chris Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic to NJN for Richard Jefferson (wtf)
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All-Star Weekend:
Al Horford in Rookie Challenge:
Al Horford: 29 Minutes, 11 Points, 13 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 5-8 FG
Rookies win 121-110
MVP: Kevin Durant (32 Points, 7 Rebounds)
Josh Smith in Dunk Contest:
Round 1: Josh Smith vs. LeBron James vs. Trevor Ariza vs. Thaddeus Young
(28, 50: 78); (41, 39: 80); (50, 40: 90); (50, 35: 85)
Round 2: Ariza vs. Young
(32, 42: 74) (31, 37: 68)
Champion: Thaddeus Young
Joe Johnson in 3pt Shootout:
Round 1: 1. Arenas (22); 2. Bryant (20); 3. Turkoglu (18); 4. Johnson (15); 5. Kapono (14); 6. Jamison (13)
Round 2: 1. Arenas (21); 2. Bryant (19)
Champion: Gilbert Arenas
Joe Johnson All-Star Reserve:
Joe Johnson: 20 Minutes; 11 Points, 5 Assists, 4 Rebounds, 4-9 FG, 3-4 FT
East Wins 154-148
MVP: Gilbert Arenas (36 Points, 9 Assists, 4 Steals, 4 Rebounds)
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March 2008:
East Player of the Month: Dwyane Wade; East Rookie: Thaddeus Young
West Player of the Month: Amare Stoudemire; West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record: 5-12 (29-45 overall)
Home: 3-5 (18-19)
Road: 2-7 (11-26)
Southeast:
X-Miami: 45-29
X-Orlando: 42-34
X-Washington: 41-33
Charlotte: 32-42
Atlanta: 29-45
The Hawks season fell apart in the month of March. Posting a pathetic record of 5-12, the only high point of the month was a thrilling 106-104 OT win against the Clippers. Sitting 6 games behind the 8th place Pacers, Playoffs are all but out of question for the 29-45 Hawks. Atlanta stands at 22nd in the Power Rankings. With the Suns owning the Hawks draft pick, they will likely continue to finish the season playing hard
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April 2008:
East Player of the Month: Ray Allen; East Rookie: Thaddeus Young
West Player of the Month: Chris Paul; West Rookie: Kevin Durant
Record 4-4 (33-49 overall)
Home: 2-2 (20-21)
Road: 2-2 (13-28)
Southeast:
XD-Miami: 50-32
X-Washington: 46-36
X-Orlando: 45-37
O-Charlotte: 35-47
O-Atlanta: 33-49
The Hawks finished the season on a relatively high note. Despite missing the playoffs with a record of 33-49, they won the final two games of their season, upsetting the Cavaliers and Heat. Atlanta finished 12th in the East and 20th in the NBA.com Power Rankings. Will there be some changes in Atlanta soon?
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Regular Season Awards:
Most Valuable Player: Kobe Bryant (LAL)
Most Improved Player: Andrea Bargnani (TOR)
Defensive Player: Marcus Camby (DEN)
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant (SEA)
Sixth Man: Andrei Kirilenko (UTA)
Coach of the Year: Avery Johnson (DAL)
All NBA Team 1: Yao, Nowitzki, James, Bryant, Nash
All NBA Team 2: Duncan, Garnett, Anthony, Allen, Iverson
All Defensive Team 1: Camby, Marion, G. Wallace, Wade, A. Miller
All Defensive Team 2: B. Wallace, D. Howard, Iguodala, Bryant, T. Parker
All Rookie Team 1: Durant, Conley, Thornton, Horford, Young
All Rookie Team 2: Scola, Oden, Green, Noah, Navarro
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NBA Playoffs:
Conference Quarterfinals:
#1 Dallas (63-19) [4-1] #8 Denver (39-43)
#4 San Antonio (54-28) [4-3] #5 Houston (53-29)
#3 Phoenix (57-25) [2-4] #6 LA Lakers (50-32)
#2 Utah (61-21) [4-1] #7 New Orleans (42-40)
#1 Cleveland (54-28) [4-3] #8 Indiana (40-42)
#4 Detroit (51-31) [3-4] #5 Miami (50-32)
#3 Chicago (53-29) [4-2] #6 Washington (46-36)
#2 Boston (53-29) [4-1] #7 Orlando (45-37)
Conference Semis:
#1 Dallas [2-4] #4 San Antonio
#2 Utah [4-2] #6 LA Lakers
#1 Cleveland [4-2] #5 Miami
#2 Boston [4-3] #3 Chicago
Conference Finals:
#2 Utah [4-3] #4 San Antonio
#1 Cleveland [1-4] #2 Boston
NBA Finals:
Utah Jazz [4-2] Boston
2008 NBA Champs: 
2008 Finals MVP: 
(23.3 PPG, 9.8 RPG)After losing Game 1, Finals
Carlos Boozer and the Utah Jazz won 3 straight. The Celtics narrowly edged out Utah in Game 5, but behind Boozer's 34 Points, and
Deron Williams's 18 point, 15 assist performance, the Jazz took Game 6 and the series. Boozer and the Jazz managed to pull off something that could never be done in the Stockton/Malone era: win a championship.
. Nice pickups.