I hope Brad is stressing to these guys how important this game is. This IS Game 7. That should be the mantra tonight and how we should approach this game. The start is crucial. If we start off really well or even just fall behind by a little (stay within 5 points), then we're good and can give ourselves a legitimate chance to win in the 2nd half. BUT if we fall behind big early and look pathetic out there, then it will be a long night. I hope the guys step on their throats early and also make life real difficult on their role players. I know role players (even mediocre ones) tend to do well at home, but we can't allow them to get hot early.
Let Lebron get his 40+, so long as we contain their other threats and keep them from getting hot. That's what cost us in Game 3, and in Game 4 we simply let Korver run wild on us. Can't let that happen again. Attack, attack, attack! Make Lebron work hard for everything. If so, we can make it so that he's a little fatigued and not the fearsome force that we've usually seen in the 4th quarter all these years. We also have to hope the refs don't screw us early on and start putting our guys in foul trouble real early.
The wild card in this game IMO is Terry Rozier. I expect Brown to have a better game, and expect Tatum, Horford and Morris to do their thing. But Rozier was mediocre in Game 5 and he's honestly been mediocre in ALL the road games we've played this postseason. I think tonight would be a nice time for Rozier to become Scary Terry in a road game. Even if their role players play well, that could be the difference tonight (if Scary Terry shows up). Also, I don't expect Smart to shoot as well as in Game 5 (though that would be ideal), but as long as he doesn't play dumb like in Game 4 (with those turnovers, extremely poor shooting and decisions) and makes the hustle plays, we should be good. I hope we see Smart make winning plays late in this game to seal the deal! Would be nice redemption after he made quite a few losing plays in Game 4 at the Q. Man, I really hope we can get the win tonight, because if not, it will be a LONG weekend and LONG wait for Sunday night's Game 7.
LETS GO C'S!!