"The first reporters into the locker room after Game 1 were treated to a strange tableau: The Hawks were comforting themselves by reliving past blowouts. "We lost to Miami by 26 [in Game 6] last year," Mo Evans could be heard telling teammates, and if any team can cite blowout precedent, it's this. Evans' point was that the Hawks beat Miami in Game 7, and that if such a two-day turnaround was possible then, why not now? Why not answer a 43-point loss, the worst in Atlanta playoff history, with a who'd-have-believed-it victory in Game 2 here Thursday? "This is still going to be a long series," Mike Woodson said after practice Wednesday, and somehow it didn't sound like utter wishful thinking. The Hawks can get pounded; this we know. They're 2-11 on the road over the past three postseasons, and in only one of the losses (Game 4 in Milwaukee) have they come within 19 points. But they've also won two best-of-seven series - won two Game 7's, let's recall - and last week they survived an elimination game at the Bradley Center. No matter how it sometimes appears, they are not a terrible team. The question, then: Why do they so often play like a terrible team? Why haven't they once made a significant playoff comeback away from Philips Arena? "We get down and kind of bury our heads," Woodson said. "At home we don't do that. At home we come back and win. I still want to say we're a team learning how to win, but surely it can't be that lopsided."" http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-b...wks-on-the-road-will-the-blowouts-ever-cease/
