Official Game Thread: Hawks at Knicks (1 PM Tip!)

[lethalweapon3]

“Excuse me, sir? Hi! By chance, have you seen Derrick Rose anywhere around here?”

 

The arc of the regular season is long, but it bends toward playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks. Aiming for their ninth victory in their past ten games, they swoop into Madison Square Garden on the observed MLK Day holiday to take on the New York Knicks (1:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, MSG Network in Gotham, NBATV everywhere else). At least, the ones that bother to show up.

Whatever you do, don’t look down! The tier below the Hawks (23-17) in the Eastern Conference has morphed from a Crab Barrel to a Musical Chairs show. From 2.5-3.0 games below Atlanta, you’ll find five teams, including division rivals Washington and Charlotte, within a half-game of one another.

If the East’s Top 4 hold firm, one of those playoff hopefuls will find themselves watching the postseason from home. Atlanta can stay above the fray if they continue pulling off wins on the road. A win today in Manhattan would move the Hawks into a tie with those annoying Celtics for the Eastern Conference lead, with 13 away-game victories.

Below the “Musical Chairs” tier has formed the “Look Out, Here Come the Sixers” tier, and the Knicks (18-23) have taken up residence there. New York has lost ten of its last 12, including a 102-98 overtime defeat at Philips Arena back on December 28. They flew back home after getting waylaid in Toronto, the Raptors building up a 38-point third-quarter lead before letting off the gas pedal and winning 116-101.

Derrick Rose going AWOL last week has taken over almost all the headlines (Mama Rose has relocated to NYC, so all’s well on that front). Following a hit-piece blog post from Phil Jackson ally Charley Rosen, Carmelo Anthony is offering hints that he’s willing to revisit his no-trade clause if the Zen Master (who has himself taken an odd vow of silence) wants him gone. And coach Jeff Hornacek is threatening to rearrange some more deck chairs on the Knicks’ ship. But an even more press-stopping issue for the Knicks is the problematic Achilles of the team’s future headliner.

Kristaps Porzingis began feeling soreness during the Christmas Day loss to Boston. After struggling with his interior play in Atlanta (3-for-9 2FGs, 5 TOs on Dec. 28) and New Orleans, the lanky Latvian was held inactive for three games. Four games after that, his hampered mobility suffered a recurrence, and he was DNP’d in the Knicks’ past two contests.

“They (the medical staff) want to make sure I’m good, 100 percent healed before I step on the court,” Porzingis said, as reported by the New York Post, “We don’t want this to happen again.” Allowing his heel more time to heal would be ideal. Unfortunately, the Unicorn’s replacement in the lineup, Lance Thomas, caught the business end of Jonas Valanciunas’ elbow yesterday, suffering an orbital bone fracture and concussion symptoms.

Still, Porzingis will sit out today, making things even tougher for the Knicks up against Atlanta’s formidable frontline of Dwight Howard (17.0 PPG, 20.0 RPG, incl. 7.5 O-Rebs/game, vs. NYK this season) and Paul Millsap (Hawks-high 11 combined assists, zero TOs vs. NYK in 78 minutes).

Joakim Noah (14 points and 16 boards @ ATL) is similarly soldiering on, despite a sore right shoulder (left-shoulder surgery ended his last season with the Bulls, around this same time). If Noah also cannot go, Hornacek will rely more heavily upon space-eater Kyle O’Quinn and up to four rookies: Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Maurice Ndour, Marshall Plumlee, and the turnover-prone Willy Hernangomez (NBA-high 54.3 FG% among rookies).

No matter the combination, the Hawks’ bigs (without Mike Muscala, who is back home healing an injured hoof from Sunday’s game) are capable of exploiting a Knicks team that focuses on the offensive boards (4^th in O-Reb%, largely due to ranking 27^th in 2FG%) much more than the defensive ones (29^th in D-Reb%).

In Moose’s absence, coach Mike Budenholzer needs to look more toward not only Kris Humphries, but the underutilized Mike Scott. Both players will need to be present around the defensive glass to help limit the wayward-shooting Knicks to one-shot possessions.

Anthony (42.6 FG%, lowest since his 2003-04 rookie season) will try to show he’s playing inspired ball on MLK Day in MSG. But the Knicks could use more than the one-dimensional offering provided by Melo yesterday afternoon: 18 points, one rebound, one assist, one block, one free throw.

If only to showcase him to potential trade-deadline suitors (pending the clause waiver), Melo remains a lock in the starting lineup, no matter how bad things get. The more likely shakeup among the starters would involve supplanting Courtney Lee (2-for-9 FGs @ TOR on Sunday) with former Hawk Justin Holiday (17 points, 3-for-5 3FGs in 26 bench minutes @ TOR).

Rose (45.2 FG%, best since his first All-Star season in 2009-10) is not only back in the locker room, but is trying to feign leadership by puppeteering his head coach. “I told (Hornacek) he has to be on us hard about defense,” Rose told the Post this weekend after practicing for the Toronto game. “Like, beat it in our heads where we get tired of hearing him talk about it.”

While it’s nice for Rose to encourage his coach to find his inner Thibodeau, the point guard struggles to lead by example on the floor, and his primary backup Brandon Jennings isn’t doing any better. New York is surrendering the most points per game (108.3, 6^th-worst in NBA) since 1988-89; the only Eastern Conference team allowing more resides one borough to the south. Ron Baker helped resuscitate the Knicks in the final quarter yesterday, and the rookie guard may be eating into both Rose’s and Jennings’ floor time in the near future.

Nonetheless, Rose has returned, so now all that’s left is for Atlanta to figure out where Dennis Schröder’s game has gone. Dennis struggled in his last appearance at MSG (0-for-8 FGs, 3 assists in 21 minutes of the Hawks’ 104-94 loss on Nov. 20), but lit up the Knicks with 27 points on 11-for-21 FGs back home in December.

Struggling mightily in the past two games (5-for-19 combined FGs, 9 assists, 6 TOs) after a solid road trip, Schröder could use a dominant performance today to shake off the cobwebs. With the Knicks’ injury-saddled frontcourt overly focused on the offensive side of the ball, Schröder should be able to break out in transition to break out of his slump.

Hawks fans enjoyed a cameo appearance yesterday from Kent Bazemore, whose 24 points (4-for-7 3FGs) fell one short of his season-high. Baze’s confidence can remain high today if he’s focused defensively on the Knicks’ guards, and not switched onto lengthier forwards like Anthony and Kuzminskas.

Expecting consistently-good performances out of Bazemore and the Force MDs – backup guard Malcolm Delaney (9 assists, 2 TOs in 26 minutes vs. MIL on Sunday), and newcomer sharpshooter Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (20 points, 4-for-5 3FGs vs. MIL) – may be a bit too much to ask at this stage. Thus, it’s crucial for Atlanta to get Schröder and former Knick Tim Hardaway, Jr. (0-for-3 3FGs vs. MIL; 0-for-7 FGs vs. NYK on Dec. 28) going strong from the outset.

A solid first half from the Hawks’ starters and a spirited second half from the bench crew would go a long way toward keeping the Knicks (3-19 when losing after three quarters) submerged, and have their fans looking to find ways to enjoy the remainder of the holiday. For everyone on and off the floor, it’s a day on, not a day off.

Have a Wonderful MLK Day! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

 

View full record

 

[Guest]

Cut it a lil' close today, huh lw?  Still coming down from yesterday's win in Raleigh?

As I said the day the sched was released, the fact that ATL doesn't host an MLK-day game is a traveshamockery.

[lethalweapon3]

7 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Cut it a lil' close today, huh lw?  Still coming down from yesterday's win in Raleigh?

As I said the day the sched was released, the fact that ATL doesn't host an MLK-day game is a traveshamockery.

I'm still waiting to see if Pastnerball is a mirage, but I'll happily take a mirage at this point!

~thwg

[Guest]

Nice game thread lw3! What did Barkley say again? Knicks would be better than us. Ohhhhh Charles....

 

LETS GO HAWKS!!!!

 

ps no 2k simulation today but the spudsimulator...not to be confused with the dieselputer (sp) lol will predict...

 

 

Hawks 111

Knicks 99 (luftballons...)

 

[lethalweapon3]

The Mind of Mindaugas takes over for the injured Porzstar in the starting lineup. I guessed right about CLee's spot being in jeopardy, but Justin's eventual takeover will have to take another Holiday.

~lw3

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The Mind of Mindaugas takes over for the injured Porzstar in the starting lineup. I guessed right about CLee's spot being in jeopardy, but Justin's eventual takeover will have to take another Holiday.

~lw3

Lw3, I can't take this anymore, im submitting your resume to Imus! :-)

 

Holiiiidaaaaaayyyyyy....celeeeeeebrrratttteeee...if we took a holiday..(singing)....from Nena to this...I'm a singing fool today lol

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Just in the Knick of Time!

~lw3

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Just in the Knick of Time!

~lw3

YES YES YES!!! They finally did what I've been doing the last month on 2k! Start Thabo and Timmy! 

[lethalweapon3]

Meh... sure, why not?

Does this mean Kris is finally over the Hump in Bud's rotation? We'll see!

~lw3

[Lurker]

Bud's in eff it mode lol but with Porzingis not playing some time at center for Millsap isn't a big deal. Noah is done.

[Sothron]

Not a smart decision to sit Dwight when you already know Moose can't play.

[Guest]

Clyde Frazier...oh god...at least my vocab will get better...:-|

 

optniviforous....

[hazer]

7 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Not a smart decision to sit Dwight when you already know Moose can't play.

He's dressed and available.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, hazer said:

He's dressed and available.

Doubt he plays though.

Doubt Dunleavy plays much this one after logging unexpected minutes and Bos then Mkw. Also a back to back. Y guess is Prince and Bembry see extended minutes.

[hazer]

11 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Doubt he plays though.

Doubt Dunleavy plays much this one after logging unexpected minutes and Bos then Mkw. Also a back to back. Y guess is Prince and Bembry see extended minutes.

I don't think he'll see minutes either. I was just responding to Soth saying it wasn't smart to sit him with Moose already out. It's plenty smart, rest him but still available in case of emergency.

[hazer]

Ole Heatcheck and Rath of Bob are having a good time calling this one.

[benhillboy]

Had no idea this game was on.  Just in time for the Hump Shooting Exhibition.  Let's close out this fourth quarter.

Edited January 16, 2017 by benhillboy

[Thomas]

What do we always beg Bud to do? Play Kris, play the Humph. No way we can't find minutes for him when Dwight is healthy and playing too. This is a very good showing for him so maybe, just maybe Bud will remember when he wakes up tomorrow.

[GameTime]

Just now, Thomas said:

What do we always beg Bud to do? Play Kris, play the Humph. No way we can't find minutes for him when Dwight is healthy and playing too. This is a very good showing for him so maybe, just maybe Bud will remember when he wakes up tomorrow.

He'll get plenty of minutes with Moose out.