“Y’all still got a roster spot open? Just asking for my brother Zoran.”
And down the stretch they crawl!
The Southeast Division banner remains up for grabs, and the red-hot Washington Wizards and the Atlanta Hawks are making moves in the chase for that top spot and, perchance, a first-round homecourt seed. But now, there’s a third team coming around the outside, looking to do more than just show. It’s the hard-charging Miami heat, who are in the house tonight at Philips Arena (8:00 PM Eastern, 1:00 AM if you’re Dennis Schröder; Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Sun in MIA).
Are you constantly worried about Losing Something For Nothing? Imagine being hardly three seasons removed from having LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in your stead, and having a handful of exceptions and cap space to show for that. Coach Spo has made the most of a rough situation even while his team riddled with constant injuries to role players.
Just the idea of postseason play was laughable back in mid-January, when the heat were palling around with Brooklyn in the basement of the East. Then came a fiery 14-2 stretch that has Erik Spoelstra’s club within 2.5 games of the 8-seed. Yes, those two defeats came at the hands of the 76ers and Magic. But any notion that their recent 13-game winning streak was an oddly long blip was quashed when they walked into Houston and grounded the Rockets before going into the All-Star Break.
The Hawks know how good the heat can become, even without guard Josh Richardson (foot sprain), the starting 2-guard who rejoins the lineup tonight after a 19-game absence. Richardson’s departure allowed Dion Waiters to step in and do Dion Waiters things (21.0 PPG, 5.1 APG, 46.6 3FG% since the win streak began on Jan. 17).
Waiters is just one of four heat players nailing threes at a minimum 40-percent clip since mid-January, including lead guard Goran Dragic (48.4 3FG%), hired-gun Wayne Ellington (40.0%), and the stretchy Luke Babbitt (44.4%). Richardson’s replacement in the lineup, Rodney McGruder (38.8 3FG%) isn’t all that far behind.
The Hawks have to figure out how to close out opponents like Miami properly around the perimeter, and the return of (a hopefully healthy) Thabo Sefolosha to the lineup should help in that regard. Atlanta foes shoot 42.1 3FG% from the right corner, 37.8 3FG% from the left side.
The only playoff team that allows teams higher corner shot percentages, Denver, is a half-game away from falling to 9th out West. Since Sefolosha aggravated his groin injury back on January, the left-corner defense has been great (NBA-best 21.3 opponent 3FG%), but the right-corner D has sagged (47.3 opponent 3FG%, 3rd-worst in NBA).
Being able to mix Sefolosha’s minutes in with rookie wings Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry will make things easier on coach Mike Budenholzer to provide fuller halfcourt coverage. His Hawks are 7-19 when opponents nail more than 37 percent on triples, a gaudy 25-4 otherwise.
The heat barely cleared the bar by shooting 37.5% on threes during their 116-93 drubbing of the Hawks down in Miami on February 1. But Atlanta was much worse, shooting 26.9% from deep to stretch their two-game malaise versus Miami to 11-for-45 3FGs on the season. Compounding matters were virtual no-show efforts (irony alert) from Schröder (12 points, 2 assists, 4 TOs, one rebound in 26 minutes), Dwight Howard (2-for-6 FGs in 25 minutes), and Paul Millsap (9 points, 4-for-9 2FGs in 24 minutes), each of whom must elevate their production when their teammates are cold.
As was the case in Miami’s recent win over Atlanta, Hassan Whiteside (18 points, 18 rebounds) stepped up in the heat’s last game in Houston (23 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks). He’s continually sore about the laurels thrown at higher-regarded and not-more-accomplished bigs like Porzingis, Antetokounmpo, and Embiid. He’s also sore from his semi-flop, courtesy of Prince’s foul late in the February 1 contest, that left him singing like Snow Patrol: “If I just lay here…”
The ensuing reaction from Whiteside’s sell cost Number One Super Guy James Johnson a fine, one which Hassan vowed to repay. He’d love another go at “fake tough guy” Prince, but his bigger priority should be to again outshine Howard, who schooled the young big man the last time these teams faced off on this floor (23 points, 17 boards, 4 assists).
That game resulted in a 103-95 win for the Hawks on December 7, a margin that only grew close because of a fourth-quarter spurt from sixth-man guard Tyler Johnson (27 points, 5 assists vs. ATL on Dec. 7). Tonight, Dragic and Johnson will try to exploit a Hawks team that is suddenly short on experienced ballhandlers.
Traveling to Germany without his visa, Dennis had to deal with some overseas shenanigans trying to return, causing him to miss yesterday’s practice and compelling the Hawks to suspend him for tonight’s game. The suspension gives Malcolm Delaney his first start tonight. Starters Kent Bazemore and Tim Hardaway, Jr. will offer some support, and the returning Lama Patterson (signed for the balance of the season, along with Ryan Kelly) will be available. But the onus is on Delaney to provide significant, productive minutes at the point.
Delaney has thus far been unable to balance the need to provide an occasional offensive spark with the ability to set up teammates. Tonight, he’ll be charged with doing both. In ten games where he has scored in double digits, Malcolm has totaled 18 assists and 16 turnovers. In the other 46 games (4.6 PPG), he has averaged 2.9 assists and 1.3 TOs.
Backed by his team’s unwavering commitment, Schröder has coasted at times during the season, but Coach Bud has had few recourses to this point. The team is in search of a veteran to help back these two point guards up, but hopefully the reasons why won’t become painfully obvious tonight.
Delaney will get some help with a new perimeter shot-maker on the roster. How do you rid yourself of two players and improve your depth at forward at the same time? Mike Scott and Tiago Splitter are gone, and Ersan Ilyasova adequately takes their place. Previously Philly’s leading scorer not named Embiid (career-best 14.3 PPG), Ilyasova’s jumper has cooled (23.4 February 3FG%) in recent weeks, but not so much that he wouldn’t be a welcome addition to the Hawks roster behind Millsap.
Getting spot-up shots from Ilyasova and fellow bench-mate Mike Dunleavy, Jr. should stretch the floor and boost the Hawks’ woeful bench production, assuming each of the team’s bigs and ballhandlers make efforts to draw defenders inward and find them open.
Drawing early foul trouble out of Whiteside will be the body blow that pulls his fellow heat defenders off the three-point line and sets up Atlanta for better-quality looks later in the game.On this High Voltage Friday, up against an amped Miami squad, the Hawks can ill afford another power outage to start this stretch run toward the postseason. Which Hawks will step up and electrify this crowd tonight?
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
