“BROOK!” “LIN!”
“Trust Fall!” To the Atlanta Hawks, BBIQ is what happens when a cook roasts himself on a Weber grill. Until that changes, head coach Mike Budenholzer simply must hope the dregs of the league will break his team’s backward tumbles. The question is, how willing are Kenny Atkinson’s Brooklyn Nets (7:30 PM, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL; YES Network in NYC) to catch them?
Hawks notwithstanding, only the Lakers have played as poorly as Brooklyn (NBA-worst 11-51) in recent weeks. Back on January 10, Atlanta feasted on Brooklyn’s limited lineup for a 117-97 wire-to-wire win that, perhaps artificially, extended their winning streak to seven games while inflating their record to 22-16. Not two months later, the Hawks (34-29) sorely need the Nets’ help, again, just to bring their record since that game back up to the .500-level.
The top rebounding big man for the Nets from the last time Brooklyn faced Atlanta, Luis Scola, was cut loose just over a week ago. The player that effectively replaced Scola, K.J. McDaniels, has been on the floor for just 26 minutes over four games. The top three-point Net threat in that game, Bojan Bogdanovic, now suits up for Washington, while the sole remaining player acquired for him, Andrew Nicholson, has played just four more minutes than Andrew Bogut did in Cleveland. All that said, these Hawks can take no comfort.
After getting trounced early by Cleveland and late by Golden State, and after flubbing the close of a game versus Indiana just days after nearly blowing a late lead to Dallas, the Hawks’ homestand isn’t going swimmingly well. The upcoming slate after tonight’s game is no picnic, either. Toronto comes to town to close out the home stretch on Friday. Then, Atlanta faces an angry Grizzlies team twice in the space of six days, with a visit to Kawhi Leonard’s San Antonio in between.
Why are those Grizzlies angry? Because they allowed these Nets to walk into the Grindhouse and hang 122 regulation points on them, just two nights ago. Randy Foye (4-for-4 3FGs) couldn’t miss, especially while Tony Allen watched from the bench, while the combination of Jeremy Lin and Sean Kilpatrick (combined 21-for-23 FTs and 4-for-8 3FGs) couldn’t be stopped at the ends of either half.
Bear in mind that no amount of “tanking” helps the Nets. Rather, losing improves their division-rival Celtics’ chances to secure the top pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. If opponents want to hand them some Ws, they’ll gladly take them. Brooklyn has won just three games since the day after Christmas, but all of those victories were on the road, two of them in their last four games.
Playing his first steady basketball since getting re-injured in December, Lin (last two games: 18.0 PPG, 7-for-14 3FGs) is out to demonstrate why he deserved a three-year guaranteed contract. The Nets elected not to bite on any offers, and kept center Brook Lopez (career-high 1.7 3FGs per game) in-house through the trade deadline. Now the franchise’s second-ever 10,000-point scorer intends to show why it was worth their while to keep him around a bit longer.
Their supporting cast includes an unending amount of young talent seeking to make their mark on the league, including sixth-man Kilpatrick (last two games: 21.5 PPG, 7-for-8 3FGs, 4.0 APG, no turnovers), starting forwards Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (last two games: 11-for-17 2FGs) and Caris LeVert (5-for-6 FGs @ MEM on Monday; six assists @ POR on Saturday), and backup point guard Isaiah Whitehead (5-for-8 FGs @ MEM on Monday).
Lin and Foye included, none of these Brooklyn guys are on the level of, say, STEPHEN MOTHER FREAKING CURRY, but it does help to keep an eye on them and contest them when they’re setting up for shots along the perimeter.
Atkinson returns to Atlanta sorely missed for the even-keeled demeanor that offset his former boss’ scowling taskmaster style. Coach Kenny’s current players are willing to run (NBA-high 103.7 possessions per-48) for him, taking their lumps along the way while flattening their learning curves.
As a team that allows opponents, on the season, to shoot 37.5 3FG% (5th-highest in NBA), while shooting 34.2% themselves (5th-worst in NBA) and turning the ball over 16.9 times per game (2nd-most in NBA), the Nets have been what the Hawks see in the mirror, when they are at their lackadaisical, dysfunctional worst.
Much attention will be placed on the comedy duo of Dennis Schröder (19 points and 10 assists, 1 TO @ BRK on Jan. 10) and Dwight Howard (14 points and 16 boards @ BRK), to see if the pair can get through a full game on the court without getting sidetracked while debating the merits of, say, Ciara’s family portrait choices.
But there is no point in having an Anchorman late if the Hawks’ offense gets unmoored early. At least until the Nets sub in Trevor Booker (last six games: 8.8 RPG off-the-bench), All-Star power forward Paul Millsap (32.1 1st quarter FG% and 39.6 1st half FG%, post-All-Star Break) needs to demand the ball and establish himself in the post from the outset.
Atlanta only made 30.4 percent of their perimeter shots in Brooklyn, but benefited from second-chances (19-6 on those points) brought about by Millsap and Howard’s domination of the glass. With solid rebounding and few live-ball gaffes aside from Malcolm Delaney’s three stolen balls, the Hawks kept the Nets trailing by double-digits from the mid-point of the second quarter in the January game.
In every game going forward, Brooklyn will push the tempo on their challengers, producing lots of opportunities for their youngsters to keep games close and their vets to close games late. As was the case in Memphis, they will dare their unsuspecting opponents to bring anything less than their A-game to the table. Will Coach Bud and the Hawks stand up for themselves tonight? Or will they rely on their old friend Coach Kenny to keep them from crashing to the floor?
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
