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  • Grizzlies at Hawks

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    lethalweapon3

     

    “I Mean… they’re no Three 6 Mafia, but…”

     

    Range/Rain Drops!

    Drop Top!

    Did our Hawks finally make the Flops Stop?

    Despite some soul-crushing defeats to some quality opponents, our Atlanta Hawks haven’t managed to lose a game by double digits in a few weeks now. They’ll have a chance to firm up playoff positioning with a pair of home games against hungry Western Conference opponents, beginning tonight with the Memphis Grizzlies (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, 92.9 FM). Portland’s wannabe rhyme-spitter Damian Lillard ought to be a bit miffed that he’ll miss out on tonight’s entertainers by just a couple days.

    Maybe I’m old-fashioned (maybe… ha), but I couldn’t fathom ever being interested in hittin’ the club with my parents’ siblings, nevermind taking the stage together as a rap outfit. But Uncle Takeoff is just close enough in age to his nephew, Quavo, and Quavo’s cousin, Offset, that the trio can pull it off. Together, as Migos, tonight’s halftime act has taken the world by storm.

    If you’ve ever scratched your head at the Dab craze, or the inability for people to avoid screaming “Versace!” less than 18 times in succession (or “Hannah Montana!” less than 8), then you have the Y.R.N. (Young Rich… Neighbas!), from the hardscrabble six-lane median-separated streets of Lawrenceville, to thank for your itchy dome.

    It’ll be easy for the Hawks (37-30) to be preoccupied by the cult-scale attention directed tonight toward our Northside superstars, and even more unfocused on the Grizzlies after catching them in hibernation mode just days ago. This won’t be the same opponent that dropped its fifth consecutive game with a 107-90 loss at home to Atlanta on Saturday.

    Since that defeat, Coach David Fizdale rejuggled the starting lineup to include vets Tony Allen and Vince Carter, the latter a necessity once the disappointing Chandler Parsons (partial meniscus tear) was likely lost for the remainder of the season.

    Back in April 2003, Michael Jordan bid farewell to Miami with 25 points, and no player over the age of 40 had scored at least 24 points in an NBA game since. That was until Carter unveiled his impression of Half Man, Half Reggie Miller (8-for-8 FGs, 6-for-6 3FGs) and added three steals as Memphis surprised resurgent Milwaukee 113-93 on Monday. If you know Allen, you know offense ain’t his feng shui, but he wasn’t too bad (6-for-10 FGs), either.

    Memphis (38-30) flew in last night on a red-eye from the Windy City, and hopefully their arms are a bit tired. They grit-and-grinded the Bulls on the interior, holding trade-deadline target Jimmy Butler to just 4-for-16 from the field, and the whole Chicago team to 23-for-63 2FGs, 41 second-half points, and 15 free throw attempts. It’s a far cry from the 50% Memphis allowed from the field, the 61 bench points ceded to the Hawks, and the 26 freebies granted to Atlanta on Saturday without Dwight Howard even joining the fray.

    The Griz began this season surging on the strength of an 8-0 start (2-4 since) on the second nights of back-to-backs just like this one. Back to reppin’ their grit-and-grind Culture, they hope a third-straight victory will prove they’ve got their mojo back just in time for a final frenzied playoff push.

    Allen and Carter hope to make open looks harder to find for wings Kent Bazemore, Thabo Sefolosha, Junior Hardaway, and Taurean Prince, the latter contributing a team-high 17 points in a balanced effort on Saturday. That Atlanta quartet had the nets smokin’ like a cookie in the hot box, sinking 10 of their 18 three-point attempts and taking a lot of pressure off of Dennis Schröder (16 points, 8 assists, 3 steals @ MEM) and Paul Millsap (16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) to carry the scoring load.

    Memphis’ sole offensive bright spot on Saturday was forward JaMychal Green, who returned to the starting unit and contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds. Not having to go against the Hawks’ small-ball lineups from the outset today, he and Marc Gasol (27 points, 6 assists @ CHI on Wednesday) will try to ensure any points Millsap and Howard earn come from the charity stripe. Atlanta’s frontcourt duo was 7-for-16 at the free throw line in San Antonio, the Spurs effectively Offsetting their 8-for-18 field goal shooting.

    Despite sound on-ball interior defense, the Grizzlies only managed to force a season-low 5 turnovers from iso-heavy Chicago last night, including just two steals. Mike Conley (27 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists @ CHI on Wednesday) will be out to make amends for his subpar showing (5 steals, but 1-for-7 3FGs) against Schröder and the Hawks on Saturday. Despite 18 turnovers forced by Memphis, they converted those into only 13 points.

    Conversely, the Hawks turned the Grizzlies’ 13 turnovers into 25 points, 13 in the first quarter as they built up a 33-15 advantage, and need to push the pace in transition against the Grizzlies’ hopefully tired legs. Schröder was judicious with the rock in San Antonio (10 assists, 2 TOs, plus 10-for-18 2FGs), but after six turnovers in Memphis over the weekend, he cannot afford for his neck and his wrists to be so sloppy tonight.

    Atlanta benefits from being one of just three Eastern Conference clubs currently at least three games above-.500 at home and on the road this season. But after a spate of underwhelming performances on their home floor, they need to give us Philips Arena faithful something worth looking at during the games -- a little Dab won’t do ya. They’ll perform much better if they acknowledge it won’t be so simple to knock the Grizzlies out like Fight Night.

     

    Let’s Go Hawks!

    ~lw3


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