Official Game Thread: Hawks at Magic

[lethalweapon3]

Stupid Head Coach Tricks!

 

How much have the Atlanta Hawks learned? Beginning with tonight’s affair in Orlando against the Magic (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Florida in ORL), the forthcoming 4-game road trip should be quite revelatory.

The Hawks pulled off the trifecta in its homestand this past week, culminated by a stunning overtime victory over the daunting San Antonio Spurs. Prior to that run, though, confidence seemed to be at a new low, the Hawks sandwiching a narrow escape in Denver with two offensively poor defeats at the hands of the Timberwolves.

Atlanta is giving out hints that it’s ready to pull ahead of the middling pack in the LeBronference. To do that, they need to begin stringing together convincing road victories, not just last-minute scrambles and mad dashes in the fourth quarters. They must especially perform consistently well against sub-.500 teams. The road trip ahead is full of exactly those kinds of teams.

After Orlando (16-20), the scene shifts tomorrow to New Orleans (14-22), and both opponents have already flummoxed the Hawks in Atlanta. After that, bottom dwelling teams in Dallas (11-24) and Brooklyn (8-25) await the Hawks’ arrival in the coming days. The Hawks will get a chance to boost two elements that will factor into the East playoff race: their records on the road (currently 8-9, worse than Orlando’s 9-9), and versus the West (currently 5-9, same as Brooklyn’s).

The Magic know all about the up-and-down basketball Atlanta patterned in December. A seemingly corner-turning victory in San Antonio on November 29 was followed by a loss in shorthanded Memphis two days later. That was followed by an encouraging three-game road winning streak, and then, a three-game losing streak. Then, a big 131-120 win in Atlanta was followed by a home loss to the Clippers the next day. Then a win, a loss, a win, a loss, a two-game win streak, a two-game losing streak.

That means Orlando’s road win on Monday against the Porzingless Knicks could serve as a harbinger, either as a loss tonight versus the Hawks, or the extension of another win streak that artificially inflates hopes around the Magic Kingdom.

The Magic pulled out the victory in New York without the continued services of Evan Fournier (17.8 PPG). Orlando’s leading scorer has been out for the past five games with a bruised heel. Whether Fournier (likely to play) starts or not, the Magic hope for a repeat performance from replacement starter Jodie Meeks, who eclipsed the season-high 20 points (4-for-6 3FGs) he contributed back home in the ATL last month with 23 points on a Hardaway-esque 6-for-7 3FGs on Monday.

Meeks’ sharpshooting allowed backcourt mate Elfrid Payton (career-high 14 assists @ NYK, tying his output @ ATL) to penetrate and pepper the court. Against the Knicks, half of those 14 assisted baskets were within five feet of the rim, and many more involved dishes to open shooters from 16 feet out.

Were it not for Magic coach Frank Vogel’s concerns about team defense, the effort against the Knicks was good enough to maybe earn Payton and Nikola Vucevic (13 rebounds, 5 O-Rebs @ NYK) their starting gigs back. It’s not clear that the move is working, anyway, as Magic starters’ D-Rating dropped from 102.0 (10^th in NBA) to 109.3 (24^th in NBA) since Elf and Vooch were relegated to bench status. While they are reserves, the duo is still averaging more minutes than replacements Bismack Biyombo and D.J. Augustin, and Vogel seems hesitant to change that.

Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings were of little use defensively against Payton and Augustin, but Atlanta’s Dennis Schröder ought to be more up to the task. Schröder (19 points, season-high 13 assists @ ORL on Dec. 13) has certainly begun to blossom as an offensive player, but his defensive imprint still leaves much to be desired.

Dennis (1.2 loose-ball recoveries per game, 7^th in NBA) has registered just 3 steals just once this season, back on November 25 in Utah, and registered no swipes in four of his past eight contests. After helping secure multiple defensive rebounds in nine of his first 11 appearances, Schröder has mostly deferred to the forwards and centers in three of the past ten games. Schröder (last ten games: 20.2 PPG, 49.4 FG%, 7.1 APG, 3.0 TO/G) will continue to excel for the Hawks (14-5 when his D-Rating, bball-ref formula, is 113 or less, incl. 5 wins in a row) when he makes his presence felt at both ends of the floor.

Without the ability to get stops, Atlanta and Orlando (9 player TOs, season-high 58.6 team FG% @ ATL in December) may again engage in the freewheeling, AND1-mixtape style of ball that is to neither Vogel’s nor Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer’s liking. The Hawks could not force the Spurs into a lot of mistakes, but along the way to victory on Sunday, Atlanta did not commit many of their own (11 player TOs vs. SAS).

In addition to Schröder, expect a more active and assertive on-ball defensive effort out of Paul Millsap (32 points, 13 rebounds vs. SAS), whose streak of games with at least one steal ended on Sunday at 13. Millsap and Howard tightening things up around the rim, plus active hands from Thabo Sefolosha and the Hawks’ guards and wings beyond the paint, should be enough to cool the Magic down.

Much of Atlanta’s defensive lapse versus Orlando in the prior game was attributable to the bench brigade. The Magic made 13 of 15 shots within 5 feet of the rim in the first half, many of those beginning with Mike Muscala trying to hold the fort in place of Dwight Howard, and ending with Elfrid Payton, Jeff Green, and Meeks feasting.

Moose’s minutes are down, but his on-floor impact has improved of late (+27 combined plus/minus in last two contests), Coach Bud adding a dash of Kris Humphries to help lessen the load. Buoyed further on offense by Tim Hardaway, Jr., if the bench can stop hemorrhaging opponent points, we’re likely to see a fine start to Atlanta’s road trip.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

 

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[lethalweapon3]

Payton's Place!

~lw3

[Guest]

Great thread as always lw3!!! Love the Porzingless lol...I thought you would have said Porzingisless, dang that's harder to say...I just tried 5 times fast and thank God for Peter and his pickles right? Lol. Loved the elf too...NO LETTING JODIE BEAT US!!!!

 

LETS GO HAWKS!!!!!

 

ps I don't know why Timmy jr. gets the 2k player of the game when clearly Do it all Millsap should have received it. Timmy was still unconscious and hoping to be tonight in Orlando as well!!!

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Payton's Place!

~lw3

LMAO...Why Fourmizz...did he google Fournier and get scarred for life? :-D

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

LMAO...Why Fourmizz...did he google Fournier and get scarred for life? :-D

Oh I just got that! 4 missed games...ull have to forgive me...

[Thomas]

Remember thinking that I wish Vogel had moved West. Pacers are realizing that now without a doubt but for us, well he is in our division. 

[Gray Mule]

Good game, so far.  5 point lead at the half.

Too bad that the Magic can't pay Payton enough so that he can

afford to get a haircut!

[benhillboy]

Dennis gets 9% of his shots blocked (by my rough math) yet his shooting percentage is creeping above .465, very high for his style, size, and age.  That gives me confidence he's still on a steep trajectory and the game is slowing for him.  Gotta clean up the lost ball turnovers though, already more  than all of last season.

Edited January 5, 2017 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

"Yo-Yo the rapper couldn't make it, so..."

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

I also managed to get through a whole preview without noting Dwight's homecoming in an ATL uni. Nice!

His encouraging the fans to boo was funny.

~lw3

[Guest]

Baze with the headband, I guess it helped his shooting in the 1st half.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Dennis gets 9% of his shots blocked (by my rough math) yet his shooting percentage is creeping above .465, very high for his style, size, and age.  That gives me confidence he's still on a steep trajectory and the game is slowing for him.  Gotta clean up the lost ball turnovers though, already more  than all of last season.

Dennis needs to add a Tony Parker like floater. He is finishing better through contact at the rim.

[Thomas]

Nique' lifelong comments on Biyombo's lack of polish on display with Dwight on the floor.

[Thomas]

More and more comfortable with Dennis at the helm. Good look as a team tonight. Twentieth win up next. 

[Sothron]

Great win tonight. Statement win, actually, since our guys were upset about the beating Orlando gave us last time. You definitely saw guys switching out and rotating to their man far better in this game.

Kent deserves some dap for this game. He looked good out there. Not only was his shot falling but his defense was better and he had some good passes. That alley oop to Dwight was impressive.

Dwight and Dennis look great, Millsap was strong and our bench showed up in crucial moments. We are now 9-4 in our last 13 games. All the gloom and doom might be paying off with the team finally deciding to play.

[Trout7]

I am much more impressed with the Hawks handling a sub .500 team than beating the Spurs.  

[Thomas]

6 minutes ago, Trout7 said:

I am much more impressed with the Hawks handling a sub .500 team than beating the Spurs.  

Kinda weird sounding but after this early season do understand. 

[Garchelino]

Solid payback win with a balanced effort. This game showed pure Hawks basketball in both sides. 

Even the most criticized Baze and Delaney played pretty good. I still hope that Baze eventually will find his groove. We are moving the ball and shooting with more confidence, it shows on the 3PT%. 

Lets keep it rolling. 

GO HAWKS!

 

[Thomas]

3 minutes ago, Garchelino said:

We are moving the ball and shooting with more confidence, it shows on the 3PT%. 

Yeah, we broke fifty percent from three and without shooting them with any desperation.

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

I'm not sure if Hawks got lucky with the calls from refs, but i'll take it. I can see why Ibaka got frustrated, seems like Hawks were getting a lot of calls.

Hopefully hawks can stay consistent especially with their upcoming schedule, not a lot of high caliber opponents.