Official Game Thread: Hawks at Trail Blazers

[lethalweapon3]

“Vatican just called. Il Papa wants the hookup on a case of BOLT24.”

 

Tidbits Time!

We won’t have Rudy Gobert around to spank us tonight! Dusting off the first double-digit L of the season, our Atlanta Hawks head to the Pacific Northwest. They’ll be thankful if the good sirs on the Portland Trail Blazers (10 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Northwest in PDX) don’t have another paddling in store for them.

Coach Lloyd Pierce conserved some players’ energies during the front-end of last night’s back-to-back, keeping every one of his Hawks (5-6) under 30 minutes. It’s not as if Trae Young (1-for-11 FGs; probable for today despite back tightness) and the starters did anything worth expending any more ergs.

Imagine the margin if Cam Reddish (4-for-5 3FGs, rest of squad 1-for-23) didn’t bring his outside-shooting A-game! Cam’s questionable for today with a bruised knee, so even if he plays, he’ll give up some minutes to Kevin Huerter today. ‘Twas just a year ago, tomorrow, when Huerter’s velvety-smooth jumper ended our decades-long Hawks Hex in San Antonio.

Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell (7 steals combined, more than Atlanta’s tally of 6) stifled the Hawks backcourt with few problems, while Gobert gave Clint Capela and our wide-eyed rookie Onyeka Okongwu fits in the opening half. Aside from a pair of Atlanta runs in the second and third quarters, the eventual outcome was academic.

Capela and the barely visible John Collins must be far more imposing this evening in Portland, as the Blazers (7-5) are reeling with the losses of their starting bigs. At worst, JC should find it easy to be the most impactful Collins on the court tonight.

Zach Collins had to undergo his second ankle surgery in five months, on the same malady that ended his run in the Bubble. He’s out until probably the end of this month. The other beefy big in coach Terry Stotts’ starting lineup, 290-pounder Jusuf Nurkic, returned strong at Bubble time after planning to miss last season while recovering from a leg injury. But now, a broken wrist suffered in Thursday’s 111-87 home loss to Indiana will keep the center out, likely until after the Blazers’ currently scheduled games conclude.

Nurkic wasn’t the singular reason the air escaped Portland’s balloon on Thursday. Even with him on the floor, Indiana went on a 21-8 run to close the half up 59-36. In the battle between Nate McMillan’s last two coached teams, the Pacers throttled the Blazers (7-4) without the services of either the traded Vic Oladipo or the incoming Caris LeVert. (Edmond Sumner filled in as the emergency starter for Indy; historians know who I’m talking about, but you’ll hear of another person named Sumner on Monday, if I can finish my rambling MLK Day pregame thread on time.)

Portland had won four in a row before that loss, but now they’ve suffered four of their five defeats by double-digits. That includes losing the season-opener versus Utah, by 20, and at G-State by 13.

How do the Blazers compensate? One thing Damian Lillard (26.9 PPG, 7.2 FTAs/game, 6.8 APG) and CJ McCollum (team-high 27.6 PPG, 43.4 3FG%, 5.3 APG) will try to do is shoot their way out of any situation. The pair was fairly inefficient with a combined 44 points on 34 shots plus 8 free throws. And aside from pogo-stick Derrick Jones (pro tip: if he’s heading toward the paint, foul him before he gets there, or run the other way), no other starters or Carmelo Anthony’s bench crew could get unstuck.

For a team that’s not usually turnover prone (2^nd-lowest TO% in NBA), Portland’s 16 assists and 18 player turnovers on Thursday won’t get it done on most nights. The Blazers (2^nd in NBA for 3FGA rate, just ahead of Utah) could find themselves pressing too much to stay in front tonight, particularly trying to play tit-for-tat if Young’s wayward jumpers start finding nylon again.

Make my funk a T-Funk! Trae’s momentary shooting woes (28.8 3FG%) are the least of my worries, as long as he contributes well in other facets of the game and other Hawks elevate their play when the ball heads their way. He won’t be hounded as much by Portland’s star guards as he will by Robert Covington and Rodney Hood. When the double- and triple-teams come, Young (8.4 APG, 4^th in NBA) can artfully move the ball inside, where Collins, Okongwu and Capela can overwhelm the hope-you-miss defenses of Enes Kanter and Melo, the turn-sideways-to-go-missing Jones, and the hack-happy Harry Giles.

Even if Atlanta’s shooters are off-line, second-chance points abound for the current NBA leaders in that category (16.6 points per-48). When Portland’s iron is unkind, there’ll be ample opportunities to score on the break (15.9 opponent fastbreak points per-48, 4^th-most in NBA).

A steal and a block from Young helped soften the blows last night in Salt Lake, with Portland’s backcourt stars getting multiple defensive looks from Atlanta’s young defensive wings, Trae will need to continue being an assertive help defender, aiding the Hawks in forcing mistakes and low-percentage jumpshots from Lillard’s and McCollum’s floormates.

The Timberwolves will be in town for Monday’s MLK Day Game, and we’ve heard much of Karl-Anthony Towns and his family’s ordeal with the COVID-19 pandemic. @JayBirdHawk shared Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little’s weeks-long personal bout with the coronavirus in the Homecourt thread last month. As did Towns, Little advises everyone within earshot or eyeshot to please be careful:

 

 

One clever way to stay close to family during the pandemic? Get them on the team! The pride of Hot Springs, Arkansas and Montana State basketball, Keljin Blevins is Damian Lillard’s cousin. Lillard has been a mentor for Blevins, even more so after the latter’s father passed away while he played at Southern Miss. After training with the Blazers and their Summer League roster in 2019, Blevins made it into the G-League and now serves as Portland’s sole two-way player.

https://www.spokesman.com/video/2019/feb/01/bobcats-keljin-blevins-plays-through-heartache-hel/

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[benhillboy]

Should be a much better game tonight with Trae actually being able to bring the ball up as the team sets.  Keep Kanter off the offensive glass and we should be good.

Check that boy LaMelo out at 7:30, Ravens/ Bills at 8:15, and the home team at 10 imma be a channel-clicking mutha shut yo mouth.

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, benhillboy said:

Should be a much better game tonight with Trae actually being able to bring the ball up as the team sets.  Keep Kanter off the offensive glass and we should be good.

Check that boy LaMelo out at 7:30, Ravens/ Bills at 8:15, and the home team at 10 imma be a channel-clicking mutha shut yo mouth.

Oh, Ravens/Bills. Almost forgot.

[Dnice]

It might be race at 10pm, who gets knocked out first, me or the hawks!

[JTB]

Oh boy! How bad is it going to get tonight???

sorry to be a downer but I’m expecting that I will be turning this game off by halftime! Ain’t got time to be going to sleep mad tonight  

[bleachkit]

14 minutes ago, JTB said:

Oh boy! How bad is it going to get tonight???

sorry to be a downer but I’m expecting that I will be turning this game off by halftime! Ain’t got time to be going to sleep mad tonight  

We will go on a run late that get's us to within 10, you dont want to miss that.

[JayBirdHawk]

I will predict a Hawks win! 

[bleachkit]

15 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I will predict a Hawks win! 

Kevin has the game of his life, going 8-10 from three.

[terrell]

Harden just shot 15 free throws. I wonder what Nash thinks about that? smh

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Kevin has the game of his life, going 8-10 from three.

I've said what I've said    Win.

[Cwell]

Cam out tonight. Knew I saw him favoring his leg last night

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I think I'm taking the Hawks tonight.  Let's see if that changes their luck  . . with the pressure of getting me $126.48 . . lol.

$25 wager

• Gonzaga ( -15.5 )
• Atlanta ( STRAIGHT UP!! )

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

15 minutes ago, Cwell said:

Cam out tonight. Knew I saw him favoring his leg last night

So Huerter gets the start. 

LP is probably losing his mind, trying to figure out a rotation now.  This may FORCE him to play Solomon Hill at the 3, and rely on the young bigs this game.  Unless he opts to go small in the backcourt, with Rondo - Goodwin playing together.

( thinking about getting my $25 back before these games start )

[JayBirdHawk]

What does LP do?

Young, Rondo, Goodwin
Huerter, Snell, Mays
Hunter,  Hill
Collins, Gwu
Capela, Bruno, Knight

[JTB]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

What does LP do?

Young, Rondo, Goodwin
Huerter, Snell, Mays
Hunter,  Hill
Collins, Gwu
Capela, Bruno, Knight

It’s not going to be a good night. Go back to Trae Centric and we may have a chance  or atleast be able to keep up 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

What does LP do?

Young, Rondo, Goodwin
Huerter, Snell, Mays
Hunter,  Hill
Collins, Gwu
Capela, Bruno, Knight

 

That's what he should do.

 

[JeffS17]

12 minutes ago, JTB said:

It’s not going to be a good night. Go back to Trae Centric and we may have a chance  or atleast be able to keep up 

Man I can't wait to have Dunn in the rotation

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Damn.  I really need to take that $25 bet back. 

It's either take it back, or add a 3rd team to the parlay and play a 2/3 round robin.

Let me ask Alexa.

 

 

Thanks a lot Alexa.

[Marvin24Williams]

No Cam? LP salivating at the thought of more shared floor time for Goodwin and Rondo