“How Ya Like Me Now?”
Gird your loins! One night after getting molly-whopped by a random NBA foe for the third time in the past four games, the Atlanta Hawks pick their beaks up off the floor to find the Golden State Warriors (10:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, CSN Bay Area in SFO) awaiting their arrival. Tonight, Atlanta is confronting the most talented, most exciting, most formidable basketball player known to mankind.
We’re talking, of course, about Zaza Pachulia.
Sure, we could spend time waxing poetic about the possibility that Draymond Green (team-highs of 9.0 RPG, 6.9 APG, 2.2 SPG, 1.6 BPG) may not be available to play, having twisted the ankle on his non-kicking leg while trying to avoid teammate Ian Clark’s Adam’s apple under the rim last Friday night at the Staples Center.
After all, but for Green’s late-game heroics, the Hawks might have pulled off an upset over the Curry-less Warriors last season at Oracle Arena. Both Clark and Green sat out on Saturday, but the Dubs still held Minnesota at bay, 115-102, for their 11th straight victory. The only L in their past 15 games came against the same foes that vanquished Atlanta last night -- the Lakers, back on November 4 -- and they’ve beaten L.A. twice since.
Green feels “pretty confident” he’ll suit up and play today. But there is no need to dwell on who is suiting up at forward for the Hawks’ opponent-du-jour, especially given the past two games have seen Atlanta (10-7) fall flat against a Utah team that was missing Derrick Favors, and a Lakers team that was absent Julius Randle.
All-Star and leading scorer Paul Millsap’s inability to exploit mismatches versus inferior competition, whether by his own lethargic shortcomings (4-for-11 FGs and 5 rebounds in each of his past two games) or his teammates’ inability to keep the ball moving in his direction, has fueled the Hawks’ offensive swoon.
You can toss in the early departure of Anthony Davis in last week’s flop versus the Pelicans for good measure, Millsap just 4-for-9 on field goals in 23 ineffective and short-leashed minutes. Atlanta is 9-0 when Paul posts a positive plus-minus. You can either feed the Anchorman, and reap the benefits of his production early and often, or just sit back and accept that the Hawks’ ship be sinking.
We could focus on the Warriors’ impressive on-court efficiencies, ranked 1st in the NBA for offensive rating, field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, assist/turnover ratio, and assist percentage (franchise-record streak of 30+ assists ended vs. MIN on Saturday; franchise-record 47 assists vs. LAL last Wednesday), plus 2nd over the past week in defensive rating after experiencing some struggles out of the gate.
A low-cost free agent acquisition, Pachulia swapping starting lineups with Andrew Bogut has contributed to Golden State ranking near the league’s basement (tied-27th) in D-Reb%, a factor the increasingly trolled Dwight Howard could use to his advantage if he’s got the energy to run the full floor.
Alas, after making the Lakers (28th in D-Rating) look like defensive juggernauts in both the second and fourth quarters of play yesterday, and after allowing the low-scoring Jazz to look like the ’82 Nuggets in those same quarters, any further detail would be a waste of time.
Over-reliant on Howard’s ability to protect the rim, the Hawks have relaxed on opposing ball handlers. Atlanta collected at least ten steals in each of their first six games, and in eight of their first ten contests. They’ve had just one double-digit tally in the last seven games, the exception being 11 steals in the win at Indiana. After failing to force double-digit turnovers in just six games in 2015-16, this season’s Hawks are already halfway there before the close of November, this following blowout losses to New Orleans and the Lakers (9 opposing-player TOs apiece).
Worries about Stephen Curry swishing highlight-reel jumpers from Sausalito are pointless if Atlanta remains passive, failing to contest shots, drives, catches and passes from the perimeter. Kyle Korver looks like he could use a road map once he’s screened out of an opponent’s offensive play, while Kent Bazemore finds himself getting mouse-in-the-housed too often in isolation.
That spells trouble when the Warriors space the floor out for Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, the latter the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week. The lack of quarterbacking from Dwight Howard and Dennis Schröder must be rectified for the Hawks’ starting unit to fix their defensive flaws.
The Warriors (15-2) already look like the world-beaters they were designed to be. But Atlanta’s greatest challenge on the floor won’t be named Steph, or Kevin, or Kevon (Looney) or Klay, or Zaza. As of this moment, the Hawks’ greatest impediments to success are in their own heads.
Some trepidation in the face of adversity can be expected from a roster with under-experienced components playing key roles, as is the case for Atlanta at the point. But it’s unacceptable as a lasting hallmark for an NBA team featuring three over-30 starters with significant playoff experience, under the direction of a lauded coach that should know by now how to make adjustments that stop opponent runs and keep games under control. Beating the Warriors tonight is secondary to a larger objective: the Hawks have to quit beating themselves.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
