The last time the Atlanta Hawks had won a playoff game on the road, Dwyane Wade was 15 years old. He hadn't thought about Marquette, the Final Four, the NBA Finals, MVPs, or STDs. But last night, Miami was about as intimidating as Jeff Goldblum was in the 1997 smash Jurassic Park 2 -- which is to say, not at all intimidating.
Wade was hurting all night (he went 9-for-26 from the field), and Jamario Moon didn't play at all. The Heat had a great 19-2 run before halftime but never led in the 81-71 loss. James Jones hit back-to-back four-point plays. (He's only the second player to have done so in ten years.)
Wade was less-than-inspired in his thoughts after the game:
"I hope that everyone understands that this is the playoffs," Wade said. "This is how it's going to be. We've got to go up to Atlanta, in a hostile environment, and play the same way we've been playing."
Really, the biggest number to me is 12. Twelve years since the Hawks won a playoff game on the road.
To put things in perspective, 12 years ago:
Bill Clinton was just about done not having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.
Mike Tyson hadn't yet put his teeth into another man's ear (in public).
Google didn't exist. (The Juice's Facebook correspondent was still using AOL dial-up.)
The newspaper industry was flourishing.
Horses rode people.
Bill O'Reilly wasn't on television. (He was off Inside Edition and not yet on The O'Reilly Report.)
Texas Gov. Rick Perry had neither mentioned secession nor asked for federal money to combat swine flu.
