Official Game Thread: Hawks at Wizards: GAME 2

[lethalweapon3]

“I hear you, Melo, but she’s a Honey of an O, tho!”

 

Happy 4/19! Sure, 4/20 is right around the corner, but you’re just going to have to forgive Atlanta Hawks fans for jumping the gun, what with our short attention spans and perpetual hunger pangs. Atlanta likes our Hawks, sure. But we crave what truly gets us our high: good, intense, entertaining, compelling pro basketball.

Especially whenever the NBA Playoffs roll around, we’re on the hunt for that good kush. If the Hawks put out more of that chronically synthetic crap in Game 2 (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, CSN Mid-Atlantic in DC, NBATV) like they did through much of Game 1 against the Washington Wizards, then don’t blame us hoop stoners if our eyes begin wandering off in search of Sour Diesel – not the Squawker variety, mind you, the NBA strain.

To be, well, blunt about it, just watching ex-Hawks awash on other teams right now makes for some pretty good munchies. The Son of Tito hemming and hawing his way through press conferences after an 0-2 start, struggling to avoid becoming the common denominator for the last two #1 seeds that got swept out of the playoffs? Coach Fizdale flipping that spot where his wig should be, over the refs’ oddly-swallowed whistles? Jeff holding serve versus Kyrie, while Kyle mostly spectates alongside Edy and Dahntay from the bench? This is some quality ganja right here.

DeMarre, with the hopes of a whole nation on his back, tilting at the beast named Giannis? Jamal once again shooting and dribbling madly to try and save his playoff team’s bacon, only this time for Coach Doc against Joe Clutch (and Shelvin, and Boris, and Coach Quin)? Zaza simply doing what he can to stay the heck out of his star teammates’ way? Don’t get greedy with that; puff, puff, pass!

Our present-day Hawks, down just 0-1, have plenty of time to become Atlanta’s focal point again. But tonight, it is going to take a lot more than the first-half ATLchemy stirred up by Coach Bud ((cough, cough… sorry!)) and his crew in the series opener.

During Game 1, Dennis Schröder found his second gear on offense, serving up 25 points (3-for-5 3FGs), 9 assists and just 2 turnovers. Alas, he and Paul Millsap (19 points, 5-for-7 2FGs, 9-for-11 FTs) seemed to forget there was another end of the floor, one on which John Wall (playoff career-high 32 points, 14 assists) can thrive. And aside from Kent Bazemore (4 assists, one turnover in 28 bench minutes), hardly any Hawks helped Schröder move the ball, making it easy on Washington defenders to hone in on Atlanta shooters (7-for-25 3FGs).

Schröder’s starting backcourt mate, Tim Hardaway, Jr. (2-for-11 FGs, 0-for-6 3FGs) had the Wizards feeling like they won the trade deal with Kelly Oubre (11 points, 2 steals in 19 bench minutes). Hardaway’s opponent, Bradley Beal, was 2-for-11 on three-pointers alone, and got just three shots at the free throw line. Yet Beal made a difference in Washington’s 114-107 victory by contributing with other competitive facets (7-for-10 2FGs, 3 assists, 3 steals) in ways Hardaway did not.

Sap (2 paltry rebounds, 1 assist, no steals) continues to seek out a decent Playoff Paul version of himself, when Regular Season Paul would do just fine. He and Dwight Howard (minus-25 plus/minus through the first three quarters) found themselves outclassed on the Verizon Center floor by Markieff Morris (21 points, 7-for-13 2FGs, 4 blocks in his playoff debut) and Marcin Gortat (7-for-11 FGs, 10 rebounds). The Wizard duo’s eight offensive rebounds effectively neutralized any chance the Hawks had to effect the outcome via the glass.

Atlanta shot just 33.3 percent from the field in a low-scoring opening half, including 3-for-11 on threes. Yet the Hawks clung to a three-point halftime lead, thanks to drawing (according to Millsap) MMA-quality fouls from the Wizards and eventually sinking their free throws. Atlanta finished with 32 makes on their final 36 attempts in Game 1, including 19 in a row in the first half, after missing their first three shots.

That Hawks lead could have been more impressive had Millsap not gifted Morris with three free throw gifts as the half came to a close, followed by an exchange that only worked to enliven Morris and the Wizards going into the locker room.

Washington was the only team that seemed to make strategic defensive adjustments in Game 1 during the break. The hacking from Coach Scott Brooks’ squad slowed, allowing the Wizards’ starters to remain on the floor. Experiencing little pressure on the ball from Hawks defenders, Wall (15 points and 4 assists in the third quarter) and Beal (12 fourth-quarter points) began to find their flow.

The Wizards over-rely on their starting five (inclusive of Otto Porter), whose 1347 floor minutes in the regular season exceeded the next-highest 5-man NBA lineup by 467 minutes. True to form, this unit’s 25.4 minutes in Game 1 is the most by any 5-man lineup so far. Yet their second-half mastery of the Hawks’ top line rendered Atlanta’s 35-15 edge in bench points (11 of those 15 by Oubre alone) meaningless. The Hawks were only able to turn the tide, down double-digits, in the first quarter when Bud and then Brooks (inexplicably) turned to their reserves.

If there is one person on the Hawks’ end of the floor who is capable of decoding Coach Scotty’s offensive game plans, it’s the guy who was his small forward for six seasons in OKC. Yet Thabo Sefolosha found himself classified as DNP-WTF, even as the Wizards offense (69 second-half points) began freely picking the Hawks apart. Atlanta could coax just 12 turnovers (five off steals) out of Washington, whose players committed at least 18 turnovers in each regular-season matchup with the Hawks.

Atlanta was 5-11 when they produced five or fewer steals in the regular season, 10-17 when their opponents committed 12 turnovers or less. In Atlanta’s sole victory over Washington this season, the season-opener, the Hawks gathered 13 steals, including five thefts from Sefolosha in 22 bench minutes.

Rookie Taurean Prince was spirited but perhaps overutilized in his debut as a playoff starter (4-for-7 2FGs, 2-for-4 3FGs, 6 rebounds in 32 minutes). Despite his struggles throughout the back half of this season, Thabo (team-high 1.5 SPG; just behind Millsap with 2.9 deflections per game) will be needed in this series for more than just sideline pep talks.

The Hawks must make their man defense and motion offense look edible to their feening fanbase in Game 2. True Believers are true believers, but if we have to wait until Game 3 in Atlanta to see sound efforts at both ends from these Hawks fresh from the locker room, we’ll be tempted to draw our NBA toke from somewhere else tonight. Our channel-changing fingers will quiver, and they know why.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

 

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[Alex]

If the physical nature consumes Millsap again then we need to bring in Hump and I guarantee you isn't backing down and whining to stripes.

[lethalweapon3]

^On that point... ENTER THE HEXADECAGON!

~lw3

[macdaddy]

12 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

^On that point... ENTER THE HEXADECAGON!

~lw3

 

 

Also could have gone with this.   I mean what the hell is 'double-MMA'.   

 

[macdaddy]

DNP-WTF.  That's hilarious.   Although saying Thabo's 1.5 steals are 'just behind' Sap's 2.9 may be stretching things.  

[lethalweapon3]

1 minute ago, macdaddy said:

DNP-WTF.  That's hilarious.   Although saying Thabo's 1.5 steals are 'just behind' Sap's 2.9 may be stretching things.  

That's my brain-fart #257 of the day!

Errata City: Paul's got 3.1 deflections per game during the regular season, to Thabo's 2.9. On steals per game, Thabo's at 1.5 while Sap and Baze are at 1.3.

Keef knows he don't want Dem Hands from Sap, but Paul's gotta be willing to use his hands the right way (i.e., stripping and creating loose balls, not flailing them in the air to the refs in hopes of more calls that aren't coming).

~lw3

[Alex]

I will not be able to watch this one tonight...no longer have NBATV.  

[Lurker]

Can't wait until we have the PR nightmare of Dwight Howard being benched in a playoff series!

[macdaddy]

13 minutes ago, Alex said:

I will not be able to watch this one tonight...no longer have NBATV.  

You can get a free trial of slingtv or playstation vue.   You can watch either on your computer or on a streaming device like roku, firetv, or appletv.   

[BrazilianHawk]

[MaceCase]

Hawks have a bad history of trying to match other team's physicality.  Usually they recognize the other team playing bully ball, proceed to attempt to match only to watch the refs call everything on them, they then complain incessantly only to receive a tech which then gets Bud flailing down the sideline only to receive his own tech.  The team then goes full passive aggressive only to receive another tech for a glare or sarcastic comment.  They then bow their heads after while watching the other team continue to bully them.

 

You just know the moment Dwight puts Wall on his ass while making a legitimate basketball play, Wall will bounce up, throw some gang signs, Beal will pretend to hold him back while Kief attempts to Eskimo kiss Sap.  Refs will go on to review the play and assess a flagrant.......while Bud comes flailing down the sideline only to receive a tech.  Reddit and the twitterverse will erupt seconds later with screen grabs with the caption "Hawks are dirty".

[macdaddy]

1 minute ago, MaceCase said:

Hawks have a bad history of trying to match other team's physicality.  Usually they recognize the other team playing bully ball, proceed to attempt to match only to watch the refs call everything on them, they then complain incessantly only to receive a tech which then gets Bud flailing down the sideline only to receive his own tech.  The team then goes full passive aggressive only to receive another tech for a glare or sarcastic comment.  They then bow their heads after while watching the other team continue to bully them.

 

You just know the moment Dwight puts Wall on his ass while making a legitimate basketball play, Wall will bounce up, throw some gang signs, Beal will pretend to hold him back while Kief attempts to Eskimo kiss Sap.  Refs will go on to review the play and assess a flagrant.......while Bud comes flailing down the sideline only to receive a tech.  Reddit and the twitterverse will erupt seconds later with screen grabs with the caption "Hawks are dirty".

Truth.

[LamarHampton]

Maybe the best game thread of the year, @lethalweapon3 ! 

Timmy and Dwight better be on point tonight, the haters are watching! 

oh, but after the Boston game last night I've discovered some interesting new math: 8 > 42.   Lol!!!! Suck it Loston! 

[cam1218]

3 hours ago, Alex said:

I will not be able to watch this one tonight...no longer have NBATV.  

It should also be on SportSouth too.

[benhillboy]

My heart is telling me Thabo makes a difference and the Hawks win by 2.  My head says Zards by 11.

Edited April 19, 2017 by benhillboy

[Lurker]

25 minutes ago, cam1218 said:

It should also be on SportSouth too.

He is not in the Southeast.

[Alex]

3 hours ago, macdaddy said:

You can get a free trial of slingtv or playstation vue.   You can watch either on your computer or on a streaming device like roku, firetv, or appletv.   

Is the PlayStation option available on PS3?

[Guest]

I like the red font game thread lw3! Agree with Hampton, possibky thread if the year but I seem to feel that way on every game thread.

 

Red font is for a funeral. A Mo money mo murda if u will...redrum!

 

LETS GO HAWKS!!!

 

ps I wasted a career high in points for Sap as the Hawks blew an 18 point lead and lost by 2. Hope the real outcome is different!!!

[Lurker]

I really wasn't feeling it until I watched that Auburn kick return that didn't affect my team and I was trying hard not to laugh very hard.

[Alex]

4 hours ago, macdaddy said:

You can get a free trial of slingtv or playstation vue.   You can watch either on your computer or on a streaming device like roku, firetv, or appletv.   

Good looking out.  Downloaded PlayStation Vue on my ancient PS3 for zero cost.  Got a 5 day trial if it.  Picture so far is good enough...the app itself moves slowly.  I definitely wouldn't pay for this service, but will use it for free haha.