Official Game Thread: Trail Blazers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“Say, Jeff Teague’s no longer around these parts, right? Phew!”

 

I never promised you a Portland Trail Blazers win at the Rose Garden. Yet here they are, entering tonight’s game with the Atlanta Hawks at The Highlight Factory (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Northwest) having just won its first game in its home arena since November 18.

The Blazers are feeling quite relieved, having previously gone 0-6 in that 42-game span, beating a 76ers team that had last month handed Portland its worst loss of the season, a 101-81 thrashing in Philly. At least that game featured Damian Lillard, who missed Thursday night’s rematch and may sit out today’s game while healing a strained hammy. Hopes were wilting once again on Thursday in the City of Roses, when the Sixers widened their lead to 18 points late in the third quarter.

But as Lillard sat, Shabazz Napier rose. To that point of the game, Lillard’s replacement in the starting lineup had a solitary point on the scoreboard. He finished the game with a season-high 23 points, helping out C.J. McCollum (34 points vs. PHI) and Jusuf Nurkic (21 points, 12 rebounds vs. PHI), who finally found a way to make baskets in the vicinity of the rim. A 19-0 fourth-quarter surge helped coach Terry Stotts’ club avoid a seventh-straight home defeat and, at least for now, remain at arm’s reach from the lottery-bound teams in the Western Conference.

The reason Portland (18-16) has remained above water is their solid record away from home (10-6), with wins notched specifically against Eastern clubs – Indiana, Brooklyn, Washington, the Knicks. This month alone, they’ve won three games in a span of just four days in Miami, Orlando, and Charlotte, and they come into Atlanta aiming for a Southeast Division road sweep, with or without Big Game Dame (25.2 PPG, career-low 41.8 FG%, career-high 92.8 FT% and 5.0 RPG).

The Blazers do have a one-day rest advantage, as the Hawks flew in last night from Toronto after getting stiff-armed by our old friend Bebe Nogueira and the Raptors. Atlanta (9-26) doesn’t win when they’re not fending opponents off the glass, as yesterday’s loss extended their winless streak to 0-9 when opponents nab 50 or more rebounds. They also don’t stay in games when they get sloppy with execution, and the Kent Bazemore we all know and loathe returned yesterday with five first-half turnovers, coincidental with the game getting squirrely for the visitors.

The lack of care with possessions wasted a banner evening from second-year forward Taurean Prince. No one will mind if his career-high 30 points (5-for-6 3FGs) and 10 rebounds becomes closer to a norm for Taurean the DeLorean. But if we’re ever able to return to something resembling Budball, Prince (2.5 APG) and the Hawks’ frontcourt must be more routinely involved in the passing game.

With small forwards included, the frontcourt contributed just two of Atlanta’s 21 assists on Basketball Night in Canada. In Tuesday’s big home win over Washington, Miles “Hands of Stone” Plumlee collected three dimes on his own. Prince’s season-high of eight assists came in the biggest-margin victory of the season, the 46-point crowning of the Kings last month.

The Hawks need all hands on deck to keep opponents from feasting on the offensive glass, as everyone from centers Jonas Valanciunas (6 O-Rebs vs. ATL), Bebe (3 O-Rebs in 7 minutes), Jakob Poeltl (3 O-Rebs) and even rangy guard Delon Wright (3 O-Rebs) were having their way on Thursday. After getting schooled early by Joel Embiid and then busting heads with J.J. Redick, Portland’s Nurkic (5 O-Rebs vs. PHI) re-awakened his Bosnian Beast act in time for the Blazers’ late run. He and the crafty Ed Davis intend to be particularly active around the rim today.

Perimeter defenders, particularly in the corners, must get in proper position in the paint after shots go up, given the likelihood of long caroms. The Hawks can stay in games, and even lead them, when they’re at least staying even on 50/50 balls. Perhaps inspired by the ghost of LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland bigs like Nurkic, Noah Vonleh (probable, disloc’d finger), and Meyers Leonard (questionable, ankle sprain) have grown particularly fond of settling for long-range two-pointers, so it’s essential for the Hawks to collect those probable misses and spark swifter transitions downcourt.

After getting boatraced downcourt repeatedly in the first half in T-Dot, the Hawks should rather enjoy a game against a Blazers team that doesn’t push the tempo very often (NBA-low 5.5 fastbreak PPG) and would much prefer a halfcourt battle-of-wills. If Dennis Schröder (6-for-20 FGs @ TOR; 8.3 APG and 1.3 SPG last 7 games) is on his A-game at both ends, controlling the tempo and contributing to getting stops, Atlanta can enter 2018 smelling more like a nice bowl of roses, and less like what it often takes to grow them.

Happy New Year! Go Dawgs! And Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

 

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[StephenHawking]

Awful officiating so far. Blazers allowed to strap the whole arm without getting called... 

[lethalweapon3]

We over here on the TankFans Sideline like...

Can't out-suck everybody! Great closeout win! Let's Go 2018 Hawks!

~lw3

[Peoriabird]

Another horrible game by Dennis

 

-Diesel

[benhillboy]

29 assists and 13 offensive boards.  I’ll take it.  I only heard the second half on the radio but the performance seemed dominant and Steve having a good time equals the same for the listener.  I wish I could’ve seen Belli try to dunk twice and fail.

Cav is gonna be one of those guys you look up and somehow he’s played 12 seasons. 

Dennis gonna Dennis and attack the defense’s neck. These low turnover, high assist games are becoming more commonplace.  And WTF was that dribble move he put on Nurkic?

A gaudy 32 baords from our forwards led by Prince again.

Won 4 out of the last 7, break em up.  This one in front of a sellout crowd for the Blazers no less (how they’re over .500 is beyond me).   I assure you guys Schlenk doesn’t mind these wins.  They only assure that Bud U. stays accredited.  Let’s Go.

Edited December 31, 2017 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

#Collinsface

~lw3

[NBASupes]

We are starting to win too much for my liking. 

[StephenHawking]

Has to be mentioned that Dennis also played exceptional defense in the second half against CJ. 

And my god I freakin LOVE Cavanaugh. Always full throttle!!

[AHF]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

We are starting to win too much for my liking. 

Totally the case.  Risk of Bobby Sura-ing ourselves if we keep this up.

[benhillboy]

1 hour ago, StephenHawking said:

Has to be mentioned that Dennis also played exceptional defense in the second half against CJ. 

And my god I freakin LOVE Cavanaugh. Always full throttle!!

Damn, Dennis locked up McCollum like that?  Listening to the game and how quiet he was I automatically figured it was Baze.  That’s very impressive even though McCollum has regressed a bit.

Edited December 31, 2017 by benhillboy

[TheFuzz]

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

We are starting to win too much for my liking. 

As long as we're bottom 5 I'm good.

[GrimeyKidd]

Glad to see my team winning 

[Guard]

3 hours ago, NBASupes said:

We are starting to win too much for my liking. 

Co-sign. There are several teams either 2 or 3 losses away from having the worst record in the league.

http://www.tankathon.com/

All this winning is beginning to be counterproductive. The Hawks can’t afford to mess this rebuild up by winning meaningless games. 

Edited December 31, 2017 by Guard

[benhillboy]

I believe in all that schmuck about building winning habits and all that jazz so games are never meaningless for our young guys who project to be here long term in Prince, Collins, and Cavs.  If Schlenk is as good a negotiator as I hope he’ll have the appropriate assets and losses to get his guy, I’m guessing that Doncic fellow. 

[AHF]

There is no such thing as being a good enough negotiator for top picks unless you have elite assets.  Finding a dumb GM also helps.

[benhillboy]

20 hours ago, AHF said:

There is no such thing as being a good enough negotiator for top picks unless you have elite assets.  Finding a dumb GM also helps.

That’s what I’m banking on.  I wouldn’t call them “dumb” just less than shrewd.  Even I know the top of the draft is packed with future studs.  I don’t know how the mid and bottom of the draft projects but all these picks seem like damn good if not elite assets.  Teams are gonna adjust their drafting styles a little after seeing where we took Collins.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

25 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

That’s what I’m banking on.  I wouldn’t call them “dumb” just less than shrewd.  Even I know the top of the draft is packed with future studs.  I don’t know how the mid and bottom of the draft projects but all these picks seem like damn good if not elite assets.  Teams are gonna adjust their drafting styles a little after seeing where we took Collins.

I don't believe they will.  A lot of these NBA GMs fall into the trap of drafting for need, than best player available.  And honestly, a lot of them are poor evaluators of talent.  I personally think the only reason why we took Collins, is because we decided to give up on our expensive veteran frontcourt ( Millsap and Howard ).  The fact that Collins didn't have much range on his shot, and was a supposed defensive liability, were other reasons why he dropped.  These GMs are so obsessed with jump shooting big men, that they'll overlook big guys who can traditionally dominate around the rim.

How Justin Patton got chosen before John Collins, is a testament to how dumb some of these GMs and their scouts are.  Could you imagine Collins on either the Bulls ( who initially drafted him ) or the Timberwolves ( whom the Bulls traded the #16 pick w/Jimmy Butler ).  As good as the T-Wolves are now, they would be absolutely scary if they were able to bring Collins off the bench at the 5 spot, instead of Gorgui Dieng.

And for those of you who place value in the VORP stat ( Value Over Replacement Player ), Collins ( 0.7 ) ranks 4th in the NBA among rookies. The other thing is this:  Only TWO of the top 10 picks have a VORP above 0.0 ( Jayson Tatum and Lonzo Ball ).  Meanwhile, 6 guys picked 19th or lower have positive VORP numbers.

This is not to say that being in the top 5 of the lottery isn't valuable.  A lot of your future Hall of Fame talent is found there.  But these GMs misread so much talent, that you can always find a stand out player almost anywhere in the 1st round, as long as you take a guy who has a skill set that could potentially be turned into something special.