Official Game Thread: Hawks at Trail Blazers

[lethalweapon3]

"Cash Me Outside, How Bout Dah?"

 

Here is just another reminder why it's important to keep valuables out of your unattended car at all times. Early Sunday morning, one day before tonight’s game between his Portland Trail Blazers and the visiting Atlanta Hawks (10:30 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL), center Mason Plumlee got to his car, parked in the garage of his condo, only to find it had been broken into, wallet and checkbook gone.

Plumlee’s day would only grow more complicated once he arrived at the Blazers’ practice facility. Turns out, he had just been traded, and needed to fly out to Denver by Monday, so the deal for Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (and a 2017 1^st-rounder, which would be Portland’s third) could be completed. Canceling bank accounts and flying to a new city without one’s ID and credit cards; that can’t be fun.

What has complicated things for Portland (23-31) is that they sit one full game out of the only likely available playoff seed (8^th) in the Western Conference, despite having the second-highest salary base in the whole NBA this season ($119.7 million, behind only the Cavs’ $129.5 million), plus the highest load of committed salaries next season ($134.4 million, more than Cleveland’s $123 million). The Blazers got no help from the Hawks (31-23) on Friday night, as Atlanta’s insistence on Falconing Up during the second half in Sacramento helped the Kings to remain just a half-game behind Portland entering tonight’s NBA action.

The Blazers were one of the more stable franchises in terms of player movement over the past summer, but the free agent additions to their core, led by guards Damian Lillard (career-highs of 26.1 PPG, 90.3 FT%, and 4.9 RPG) and C.J. McCollum (career-highs of 23.5 PPG, 52.5 2FG%, 89.8 FT%, and 3.7 RPG, have not panned out. Guard Evan Turner broke a bone in his shooting hand last week and will sit for at least a month, while center Festus Ezeli’s offseason knee procedure has failed to make him healthy enough to play all season long.

The team matched Brooklyn’s four-year, $75 million offer for restricted free agent Allen Crabbe (career-best 10.6 PPG, 43.1 3FG%), but the swingman’s defensive struggles threaten to make Atlanta’s 4/70 deal for Kent Bazemore look like a stroke of genius.

Crabbe was joined on the bench by Atlanta native Al-Farouq Aminu, who conversely had struggled to hit the outside of a barn until the past few games (47.6 3FG% in four games this month). For now, Blazers coach Terry Stotts has elected to replace them on the top line with Moe Harkless (career-high 10.5 PPG) and Noah Vonleh (3.3 PPG, 40.9 FG%, 56.1 FT%).

Blazers owner Paul Allen is quite accustomed, over the years, to paying for big-ticket gambles that don’t seem to pay off. But it’s not likely that Allen will continue to pay full freight for a lottery team. What is likely is that a sell-off of tradeable assets, which began with Plumlee (Portland’s leading rebounder and shot-blocker, second-leading assist maker, and third-leading scorer), will continue up until the trade deadline passes.

The bruising Nurkic is unlikely to be ready to play this evening, leaving duties in the pivot to Ed Davis and Meyers Leonard, on what was already a porous Blazers defense with Plumlee (109.0 D-Rating, 27^th in NBA). If they make decisive plays in the paint, Atlanta’s Dwight Howard and mainstay Paul Millsap should be able to feast against a team that fouls (31.6 opponent FTAs per 100 possessions, 3^rd-most in NBA) a lot more than they get stops (12.9 opponent TOs per 100 possessions, 5^th-fewest in NBA).

The task for the Hawks’ backcourt players is to allow Lillard, McCollum, and Crabbe, Portland’s top-scoring trio, to earn the lion’s share of their buckets by way of well-contested jumpshots without sending them to the free throw line. They must disallow the Blazers’ trio from helping their beleaguered frontcourt mates on the glass. Thabo Sefolosha (groin) remains questionable to play tonight, likely meaning more yeoman's work will be needed from rookie DeAndre' Bembry.

On offense, Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Kent Bazemore need to score on off-ball cuts to the basket, and also wear down Portland’s defenders with relentless peripheral movement along the perimeter, getting open for passes emanating from point guards and bigs in the paint.

After a dismal conclusion to Friday night’s affairs in Sacramento, we will see if the Hawks, like Plumlee, learned a lesson about leaving themselves exposed for late-night thefts.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

 

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[Guest]

Great game thread lw3!!! I knew Portland had a high team salary but didn't know they were 2nd behind Cavs..wow..I thought it was the Warriors. 

 

Like you said, Sap and Dwight need to FEAST tonight. They better combine for like 40-50 points and 20-30 rebounds. Without Plum, Leonard and Ed Davis aren't enough...

 

TAKE THE BLAZERS TO POUND TOWN BUD!!! 

 

 

HAWKKKKKSSSS!!!!

 

Hawks 112

Blazers 105

 

Blazers are favored by 1.5 right now.

[benhillboy]

Hopefully I can stay up for this one, but probably won't.  Lilliard is smartly deferring to C.J. more, who is must-see-TV in a shootout with Timmy.  

Vegas got Blazers by 2, largely taking into account Thabo being out I'm guessing.  It's looking as if they're going to hold him out until after the break.  Hopefully the perimeter D can step up in his absence these next two.  Got Jamal tomorrow night.  Hawks by 5 tho.

Edited February 13, 2017 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

Somebody's thinking Arby's...

My bologna has a second name, it's...

~lw3

[capstone21]

F'ing Bazmore ... he just absolutely sucks ... got his contract and forgot how to play... he was an idiot out there tonight... over and over again he screwed up.  Any takers out there for him???  Bueller?  Bueller? 

[lethalweapon3]

And there was nooooooooooo doubt about it.

Take it away, TNT crew! They are still awake, right?

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

HAWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWKS

~lw3

[capstone21]

Wow pulled that one out ... some pretty bad basketball bought fought and grind out the win no thanks to Baz.  He did his best to lose it for us

sap with the huge game!  That left handed shot to bring to ot with no time on the clock was awesome!

dennis brought us back in it in the 2nd 

hardeway was clutch on offense but I was actually really impressed with his defense and he even dove into the stands for a ball

game ball goes to Prince with his hustle, steal at the end to seal the game and his very smart rebounds

we gave up way too many offensive rebounds tonight.

[lethalweapon3]

Undefeated Overtime Teams:

HAWKS 4-0 (thanks Blazers... and Knicks.)

Rockets 3-0

Pistons 1-0

Lakers 0-0

 

~lw3

[benhillboy]

Lilliard was as integral as Dennis and Junior in the win.  -20 to McCollum's +2.  When Portland moves him in the offseason you heard it here first.

Edited February 14, 2017 by benhillboy

[benhillboy]

25 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

hardeway was clutch on offense but I was actually really impressed with his defense and he even dove into the stands for a ball

 7 boards too.  No substitute for a 20 point scorer who gives up his body and hustles.  He shows flashes of Eddie Jones.  I loved that dude so that would be sweet.

Edited February 14, 2017 by benhillboy

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Lilliard was as integral as Dennis and Junior in the win.  -20 to McCollum's +2.  When Portland moves him in the offseason you heard it here first.

Where's @kg01...yup..I told you Lillard is holding CJ back.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, capstone21 said:

He did his best to lose it for us

Stole the words right outta my mouth. He's honestly playing for the opposition. I'm just happy he didn't blow the layup off the Sap feed late in the game. 

 

Timmy huge. He's truly a streaker. Sap was do-it-all Paul once again. Represented and showed the world why he's our all star. Left hander to send it to OT was a thing of beauty. Well, the result was anyways. :-) 

 

Great win, lets finish strong at the Clippers on Wednesday. I love the Baze gaze and will miss it but I wouldn't lose sleep over a package of Baze+Splitter outta ATL!

 

 

[rd79]

27 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

I love the Baze gaze and will miss it but I wouldn't lose sleep over a package of Baze+Splitter outta ATL!

But we have to get something valuable back. I'd be okay with a pack of Haribo

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, rd79 said:

But we have to get something valuable back. I'd be okay with a pack of Haribo

Andrea Bargnani back in the league?

[Guest]

Shout out to Prince too. Love how he was seemingly guarding 2 players at one time on that one play. I saw it quickly but it looked like he was guarding a Blazer in the paint then ran out to contest a right wing 3 very nicely. He brings crazy energy, length and speed. Shows a nice corner 3 on offense as well, I think he went 1/2 from the corner pocket but both looked smooth. Can't wait for a few summers under Bud, kid has a high ceiling no doubt. 

 

Love how we got him and Bembry in the same draft. Makes me pretty excited about our upcoming drafts and surplus picks. Would love to add another 1st round pick if possible for the 17 draft. 

[Marvin24Williams]

Delaney is so trash. The sooner we get him out of the rotation the better

[Guest]

Also a side note on Prince...he was among the steals leaders in the NBA last night, but one of only two players (other being Monroe) coming off the bench. 

 

Players with 4 steals 

Kawhi 39 minutes

 

Players with 3 steals 

Draymond Green 24 minutes

Taurean Prince 25 minutes

Greg Monroe 31 minutes

Nik Vucevic 31 minutes

Michael Beasley 32 minutes

Andre Drummond 34 minutes

Eric Bledsoe 39 minutes

 

I think Bud could come up with a scary scheme for the playoffs using Thabo and Prince on the wings during some stretches while Dwight is holding down the paint. If Dwight can pick up the intensity as he's shown he does once the playoffs start and Thabo can be fully healthy and Prince can develop and get minutes, I could see us holding a team to a game or two scoring around 80-90 points. I mean they would be ugly games but we are capable. It happens in the playoffs, everything slows down and tightens up.

 

 

 

 

[BrazilianHawk]

WTF moment of the game was Baze under the hoop with 6 (SIX!!!) seconds to shoot and doing that... I don't know the name of that play What was that? It certainly looked like a frog trying to shoot. My goodness.

Baze is not NBA material. And those missed FTs in crunch time... Props to Howard, by the way!

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, BrazilianHawk said:

WTF moment of the game was Baze under the hoop with 6 (SIX!!!) seconds to shoot and doing that... I don't know the name of that play What was that? It certainly looked like a frog trying to shoot. My goodness.

Baze is not NBA material. And those missed FTs in crunch time... Props to Howard, by the way!