Official Game Thread: Hawks - Warriors

[lethalweapon3]

“Does FIRST PLACE make my butt look big? Be honest...”

A capacity crowd will be on hand tonight at the Highlight Factory for the NBA’s two conference leaders, the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 PM, SportSouth Thank Goodness, CSN Bay Area). These two teams will be not only schooling each other, but a lot of people, in the stands and watching from home, that are only now coming around to figure out what all the fuss is about.

Tonight’s game is a clinic for generations of people who grew up thinking height, speed, and hops are the quintessentially integral measures needed to create championship-quality basketball. Their religions built upon NBA 2K, Come Fly With Me videos, and fantasy hoops, or faded memories of Jurassic-era battles among behemoths beneath the hoop, they can’t quite wrap their heads around what the Hawks (41-9), the Warriors (39-8), or even the Bucks have been up to lately.

To the critics, what classic-tweener Draymond Green is doing defensively Does Not Compute. Names like Jeff Teague in discussions of All-Star Games and DeMarre Carroll for Players of the Month Does Not Compute. Al Horford (21 points and 13 rebounds vs. Washington on Wednesday) routinely dominating frontcourt matchups without having to average much more than seven rebounds per game Does Not Compute. Andrew Bogut’s presence gives skeptics some solace, but whenever he goes down or leaves a game with foul trouble, the Warriors continuing to thrive without him Does Not Compute.

“They’re jump-shooting teams,” they’ll suggest dismissively of Golden State (NBA-high 111.4 PPG) and Atlanta (103.4 PPG, second in the East), “and that stuff looks cute in February, but won’t fly once the playoffs get here.” The deniers are blinded by the considerable exploits of The Splash Brothers (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, natch) and Kyle Korver.

Korver is the NBA’s reigning catch-and-shoot king (9.2 catch-and-shoot PPG and 52.7 FG%) with Thompson (7.7 catch-and-shoot PPG, 43.8 FG%) not far behind. With three of the league’s top four three-point shot-makers sharing the floor tonight, it’s easy to neglect Harrison Barnes (43.8 3FG%, 6^th in NBA), or Carroll’s career-high 40.0% shooting beyond the arc. Long-range accuracy is great (GSW’s 38.9 3FG% and ATL’s 38.8 3FG% top the league), but neither team is dependent purely on that element of their game to excel.

What naysayers have yet to discover is the new “in” measurement isn’t height, or end-to-end speed, or vertical leap, or girth. It’s all about wingspan, all about length. It’s the ability to disrupt opponents’ flow and produce defensive stops without constantly having to leave one’s feet, to win 50/50 balls, to get barely-open shots off with relative ease, to advance the ball by swinging and tossing it over and around one’s opponents, to create offense without the ball excessively touching the floor.

With apologies to ZZ Top, these two teams have length, and they know how to use it. They’re stretching not merely the floor, but people’s imaginations of what’s possible when one seeks to build an NBA championship contender.

The Hawks and Warriors rank one-and-two in assist percentage (at least 19.7% of possessions end in an assist) and are both top-five for assist-turnover ratio (1.83). Golden State and Atlanta each lead the league with 59.6% of TWO-pointers being assisted.

The first pair of teammates to drop 50 points in games during the same season since 1994-95 (Philly’s Dana Barros and Willie Burton, of course), Curry (23.6 PPG, 8^th in NBA; 51 points vs. Dallas on Wednesday; NBA-high 4.2 pull-up 3FG attempts per game) and Thompson (22.4 PPG, 10^th in NBA; 52 vs. Sacramento two weeks ago) can certainly get hot. But while both are just fine spotting up when needed, the MVP-contending Curry’s 40.4 3FG% is a career-low.

While both teams get 28 percent of their points from three-point shots, the Warriors are 3^rd in the league in points-in-the-paint, while the Hawks get 2.1 more PPG in the paint than their opponents. G-State’s 19.5 PPG off of turnovers lead the league; Atlanta’s 18.0 PPG has them only behind the Bucks in the East. Each rely on exactly 17.5% (7^th in NBA) of their offense to come in transition from turnovers. Anyone watching just to witness a sneak-preview of next week’s Three-Point Shootout is going to be somewhat disappointed. These are good jump-shooting teams, but by the time opponents figure out that’s not all they are, it’s usually too late.

Whenever you need to turn the crowd in your favor, it may not be the best idea to trot out Rick Barry. It’s March 2012, and the Warriors are five years removed from the magical “WE BELIEVE” playoff run, the franchise’s only postseason appearance in 18 years. They have just traded their franchise face, Monta Ellis, to Milwaukee for what seemed to be a bag of brittle bones. That was one day after losing Curry for the season, the point guard’s tender ankles raising concerns about his longevity.

Warrior fans were an understandably ornery bunch. Fed up, they were letting new owner Joe Lacob have it, right in the middle of Chris Mullin’s retirement ceremony. Mullin couldn’t calm the crowd, so Barry, who could just as well be at WWE RAW, grabbed the mic: “Come on, people!... Show a little bit of class!” Barry then demanded the audience give Lacob the “respect he deserves.” So much for that.

Nary could an oracle be found at Oracle Arena on that pivotal winter day. What no one could fathom at the time was that the aforementioned bag of bones, Bogut, would become the skeleton key that transformed Golden State to a defensive-focused team, one not seen since Wilt ruled the roost in San Francisco a half-century ago. It began to turn around under the auspices of the street-preaching Mark Jackson, and it continued under new coach Steve Kerr -- more specifically, with the guidance of Ron Adams, the sage assistant who accompanied Kerr.

Bogut’s addition allowed several things to transpire. It allowed Jackson to proselytize defense as the key to playing above-.500 ball, rather than hoping the Warriors could simply out-snipe teams on a nightly basis. It encouraged Andre Iguodala (2013-14 All-Defensive first-teamer) to pass up a longer-term free-agent deal and hop over from Denver in 2013, the Warriors using cap space created by finally dumping the static Andris Biedrins. The new focus on physicality turned third-year forward Green (1.8 SPG, 1.4 BPG, #1 in defensive win shares), a nice utility player, into an indispensible starter.

Having missed the end of last season with a fractured rib, Bogut still misses time on occasion (14 games so far) due to a bothersome knee. But when he’s available the Aussie is holding opponents down under 41.9 FG% around the rim (4^th among NBA bigs), his 93.5 defensive rating comfortably the best mark in the NBA. His interior presence is allowing Iguodala and Green to clamp down on forwards outside the paint. It’s also allowing Curry (2.1 SPG, 2^nd in NBA), Thompson (0.9 BPG, 2^nd among NBA guards), Shaun Livingston and Justin Holiday to gamble around the perimeter.

Adams’ switching schemes would make Mike Woodson proud, but the Warriors have the length and talent where opponents cannot create advantages merely from pick-and-rolls.

When Bogut has to sit, the relatively shorter Marreese Speights and David Lee do just fine at the pivot. With lengthy options at the power forward position, Bogut can step out to defend mid-range shooters, like Atlanta’s Al Horford, knowing he doesn’t have to scramble back into the paint to recover. Green can similarly come out to frustrate three-point shooters. For players not previously well-regarded for their defensive prowess (Curry, Lee, Thompson in particular), the defensive will has become infectious. Much like Teague (1.7 SPG, just behind Millsap for 4^th in the East), Curry has become savvy at picking opposing guards’ pockets and forcing turnovers. It should also be noted that Steph hasn’t missed an NBA game since his injury in 2012.

Golden State has not produced a defensive rating (97.3 opponent points per 100 possessions) this good since the introduction of the three-point line. Opponents shoot a league-low 42.1 FG%, including just 32.3% from three-point range (3^rd-lowest in NBA).

There is one more person from 2012 that was instrumental to putting Warrior fans in a far more golden state. Kent Bazemore arrived in Oakland during that summer out of Old Dominion as an undrafted free agent. In-between D-League assignments and the 2013 Summer League championship, his energizer attitude on and off the court caught on fast with Curry and his Warrior teammates, and especially with long-miserable Warrior fans: “Bazemoring” became the Tebowing move of the day. Bazemore is the guy who helped Curry DunkCam his coach (I’m sorry, Coach Jackson), the rookie whose car was gleefully filled to the sunroof with popcorn. He helped lighten up a once-moody sideline, and his departure for the Lakers last February was a downer all-around.

One year later, Bazemore (47.9 FG% and 40.0 3FG% in the past month) suits up with the Hawks, his well-concocted sideline antics making the highlight reels once again. He’ll be needed on the floor, however, to help secure rebounds and loose balls, hitting timely threes, and helping the Hawks win the turnover battle against the team that put him on the map. In the absence of Thabo Sefolosha, Bazemore’s wing defense (in collaboration with Korver and Carroll) and transition offense could make him an X-Factor tonight. He and the Hawks guards will need help against Curry (8.1 APG, 5^th in NBA) so that they’re not exploited in isolation.

Needless to say, Horford and Paul Millsap will have their work cut out for them, not only by working to get around the Warriors’ assertive post players. As they draw their opponents outside the paint, they’ll need to make timely and accurate passes and handoffs to cutting guards and wings. As the Warriors’ defense collapses, Al and Paul’s teammates must look to score quickly and be smart about drawing contact, while their teammates, in turn, must get open when lanes close and kickouts are needed.

Those lanes will close much more quickly than Teague (7.5 APG, 6^th in NBA) and Dennis Schröder, both excellent drivers, are used to. Schröder has produced double-digit scoring in six of his last seven games, shooting 45.6 FG% and 85.7 FT%. He has also done a better job handling the ball recently (4.5 APG, 1.2 TOs per game in his last 11). If ball control or tempo becomes an issue, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer may turn to Shelvin Mack (team-high 3.0 assist-turnover ratio), who is probable to return after missing nine games with a strained calf.

Precise, and not rushed, offensive execution will help Atlanta keep up with Golden State’s dizzying pace (101.3 possessions per-48, 1^st in NBA by a mile). Against the top-12 NBA teams for pace, the Hawks are 12-1, the sole loss coming at the hands of Kobe’s Lakers back in November.

If there is one person who will do anything to stop Korver’s quest for 50/50/90, it’s Steve Kerr. The 5-time NBA champion has the sole 50+ FG%/50+ 3FG%/90+ FT% season in NBA history, but his 1995-96 season (50.6 FG%, 51.5 3FG%, 92.9 FT%) comes with an asterisk, because the reserve on that 72-10 Bulls team did not shoot enough free throws to qualify. You can best believe he’s tired of hearing that.

Kerr will throw every defender capable of chasing Korver (1-for-6 3FGs vs. Washington) through multiple screens. He’ll also want to do his part to try and stick an asterisk on Korver’s 92.0 FT% (2^nd in NBA, ahead of Curry’s 90.9%) by keeping him from drawing trips to the line. But the Warriors’ withholding of physical play on Kyle might work to his, and the Hawks’, advantage. Atlanta is 30-6 when Korver (51.7 FG%, 53.2 3FG%) gets two or fewer free throw attempts in a game, 10-3 when he takes more than two shots.

High cross-court and down-court passes, generally effective against the Wizards on Wednesday, could turn into up-for-grab balls that work against Atlanta tonight versus the far more active and athletic Warrior D. Perimeter shooters will have to remain dynamic throughout possessions, understanding that both the catch-part and shoot-part of the Hawks’ signature offense will be heavily contested.

As much as the Hawks get panned for their lack of defensive rebounding (74.5 D-Reb%, 17^th in NBA), Bogut and the Warriors come out even worse (73.3 D-Reb%, 24^th in NBA). A platoon of Elton Brand and Pero Antić will be useful in creating second-chance opportunities for Atlanta to score. Hawk forwards Millsap, Carroll, and Mike Scott will need to get back on transition defense to temper the league’s top fastbreak offense in Golden State (21.4 fastbreak PPG).

Like the Hawks (NBA-low 18.0 personal fouls per game), the Warriors don’t foul much (19.8 per game). But when they do, they’re usually of the shooting variety, allowing opponents to take 24.8 free throw attempts per game (5^th in NBA). Atlanta (77.0 team FT%, 9^th in NBA) cannot afford to be unfocused at the charity stripe. They’ve shot below their current season percentage in eight of the last ten games, leaving nine points on the table against Washington on Wednesday.

Tonight will be the first time two NBA teams enter into a game this late into the season with single-digit losses in six years. Seeking their 12^th consecutive home win and 1^st place overall in the NBA standings, the Hawks intend to have both teams exiting the game that same way.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

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[Guest]

Great game thread lw3!!! I have to watch it on CSN Bay Area :-( I think if both teams shut down each other's perimeter scoring, or at least limit them, then the advantage is ours. LETS GO HAWKS!!!!!

[Carmine]

You know I gotta get up for this one!

[Admin]

This is the most I've been excited about a game this year and I can't freaking wait! Another amazing game thread as usual and I'm ready to get this thing going! 

[devilwentdown2GA]

Couldn't convince the wife to make the drive tonight so looking forward to watching on SS. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere. Let's go Hawks!

[TheTruth]

Gametime can't freakin get here fast enough!

[AUhawksfan]

So pumped and I have a feeling our fans will be too!  Let's get a playoff atmosphere going!

 

Hawks baby!

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

This is going to be a fun game to watch! Best of the West vs Best of the East! Can't wait!!!!

[Dnice]

From what I've been seeing, tonite feels like a football game, something looked on a few weeks ahead of time..

[DJlaysitup]

_{Great Stuff as usual lw3!}

 

 

_{Almost time for this Friday's Game of the Century !!}

 

 

_{GO HAWKS  GO HAWKS  GO HAWKS  GO HAWKS}

[Wretch]

This is the most excited I have ever been for a regular season game.  Honestly, only the '88 game 7 in Boston compares in terms of anticipation.  My God........the Hawks are for real.  I didn't think I'd ever see it....

[Guest]

My heart is racing.

[TheTruth]

My heart is racing.

So I'm not the only one? Good.

 

Be still, my heart...

[pimp]

I have never felt so nervous before a regular season game. Feels like game 1 of the playoffs or overtime game in the nfl.

[diamond_dave]

And away we go!!! Let's go Hawks!

[LadyLawBird]

Refs need to be consistent; either let them play or call it close......   GO HAWKS!!!!

[LadyLawBird]

Kyle was here in Paulding County when he shot that one!!!!   GO HAWKS!!!!!

[devilwentdown2GA]

We need to finish better around the rim. We are getting there, but can't finish.

[chico1]

I haven't seen the warrior's play that much this season. I didn't realize how deep they are. any player in their top 10 rotation can be a starter on any other nba team. Impressive!!!!

[Admin]

What an incredible game so far. Major props to Bazemore for stepping up with the daggers to keep us in this game. This could be an all-time great regular season game for the Hawks before it's all said and done.