Official Game Thread: Clippers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“I did all I could, coach. You know what would help us out tonight? Some real good wings.”

 

Postponed! We officially announce that Hell Week #1 has been moved to next week. In the meantime, Atlanta Hawks fans, we’re enjoying Game #2 of Purgatory Week.

Having ended a quick road trip in Milwaukee, where De’Andre Hunter and John Collins dropped scoring tallies in the 30s (shoulda been 40 for Hunter, to keep it a Buck) to help the short-taloned Hawks, they return to see State Farm Arena, and  a few of the LA Clippers (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Prime Ticket in LAX, NBATV). Hunter and Collins might be a bit surprised to discover, tonight, they’re destined to be the two best forwards on the floor.

Clipper stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are under wraps, quarantining under the NBA’s Health ‘n Safety protocols. A third starter, grimy guard Patrick Beverley, injured his knee during Sunday’s 108-100 win over Mike Muscala’s Thunder, and he will be sidelined as well. NBA.com stats has Pat Bev and The KLaw as the league’s best 2-man tandem on the floor (min. 300 mins. played) by Net Rating (+20.5), three places ahead of Leonard and PG-13 (+17.7).

The latter pairing has a Player Impact Estimate of 57.3, equivalent to that of the Collins and Trae Young combo that serves up the best PIE that any Eastern Conference squad outside of Philadelphia or Milwaukee can offer. Not too far behind is the dystopian duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, whose Nets will grace The Farm with their presence tomorrow.

Tyronn Lue’s club has performed well in the early going, checking in at 13-4, and they’ll still strive to win their eighth-straight today even without their best leaders. But one must note that six of their past seven games, excepting a trip up the coast to Sacramento, were home games at STAPLES Center.

LA’s last loss involved letting Steph Curry go wild in a second half collapse to the Warriors in Frisco. But this is the first Clippers game outside of “The Golden State” since playing around the way in Phoenix on January 3. Further, they’ve made it this deep into their schedule without playing beyond the Pacific or Mountain time zones.

The next nine days encompass a six-game East Coast road trip for LA. While opponents won’t exactly constitute a Murderer’s Row, four games are a pair of back-to-backs, including Miami and Orlando on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Returning home from a Brooklyn-Cleveland back-to-back next week, the Clippers will have Boston waiting for them.

The only pole position that should matter to Lou Williams tonight is the one held by the Lakers, currently a half-game ahead of the Clips after LeBron’s successful return to Cleveland last night. How well the Clippers finish relative to their banner-raising in-town rivals dictates how successful this regular season can be objectively viewed.

The pride of South Gwinnett, Williams has played like a guy sorely in need of a lemon-peppered pep-dance in recent weeks (49.9 season TS%, his lowest since 2005-06; 21.4 FG%, 2.8 APG in past four appearances). To keep up with the Jameses while George and Leonard are shelved, Lue will need LouWill to shake out of his doldrums.

The leading active scorer for the Clippers entering today is Serge Ibaka (12.2 PPG, team-highs of 6.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG), which is, well, yeah. A balanced scoring effort versus Atlanta (8-8) is necessary for LA to get this road trip off to a promising start. The newly acquired and contract-extended Luke Kennard (45.0 3FG%) will have to step up, as will point guard Reggie Jackson (5.3 assists per-36, leads active Clips ahead of LouWill’s 5.2).

Terrance Mann had some productive minutes when filling in as a rookie for Kawhi against the Not- Ready-for-Prime-Time Hawks back in November 2019 (6-for-8 FGs, 8 assists). The 2019 second-round swingman did the same in winning last season’s finale in the Bubble, when the Clippers sat Kawhi, PG and LouWill, and he’s past due for a quality outing in a game that isn’t a blowout victory.

LA leads the league shooting 42.3 percent on threes, but they’re accustomed to Kawhi and PG being the primary creators of open looks. Returning from illness, Marcus Morris will need to be as much of a threat inside the 3-point arc (37.5 2FG%) as outside (47.4 3FG%, highest among active Clippers).

Sacre Bleu! Maybe Charlotte was the problem all along? Last season, Nic Batum (34.6 FG% in just 22 games in 2019-20) was behind the glass the Hornets would break only in an emergency. Now, he’s sinking half his shots, digging in defensively (1.3 SPG) and at times looking every bit the multi-tool starter Charlotte thought they were getting back in 2015.

The additions of Batum and Ibaka were the key additions in a mediocre offseason directed by GM Lawrence Frank, who bid adieu to Doc Rivers and handed the keys to assistant coach T-Lue (notables on the bench are assistants Larry Drew, Kenny Atkinson and Chauncey Billups). Ibaka has helped take pressure off the green Ivica Zubac, who cannot compare whether starting or otherwise to the departed Sixth Man award winner Montrezl Harrell, now a Laker. But Batum’s renewed competency has allowed Lue, to this point, to get away with a three-swingman starting unit. How the Clippers proceed over the next few games will help assess whether there are alternative rotations that could work at postseason time.

The Hawks took advantage of the undermanned Timberwolves and the Pistons to ascend back to a .500 record. Now, with the schedule getting far stronger in the coming weeks, during Purgatory Week, it behooves Lloyd Pierce’s club not to look any gift horse in the mouth.

Speaking of Trojan horses, our Man of Troy, firehose-water-guzzling Onyeka Okongwu, did the best he could filling in for Clint Capela (questionable, talk to the hand) in Milwaukee on Sunday. But Giannis and the Bucks nearly doubled up the Hawks on the boards (52-27, incl. 16-5 offensive) in an otherwise entertaining 129-115 loss for Atlanta.

The Greek Freak got solid help from Khris Middleton, Donte DiVincenzo, Bobby Portis and even Pat Connaughton, and tonight’s Hawks would do well helping box out and secure boards to win the battle of second chances. LA tops the league with a low 9.8 opponent second-chance points-per-48, but George, Leonard and Beverley aren’t around to help out Ibaka, Zubac and Batum.

Ultimately, it would be great to have Young (questionable, back spasms) available for upwards of 70 combined minutes today and tomorrow. But Rajon Rondo (7 assists, 2 TOs in Sunday’s 30-minute start) and Brandon Goodwin will need to provide net-positive production, no matter how long their stints on the floor tonight. Until Cam Reddish (5.9 assist%, lowest among 22 NBA sophs w/ 20+ MPG; 43.1 3FG%, second-lowest) gets his jumper in gear, he’d do well to use his considerable ballhandling skills to help Atlanta keep the rock moving. With or without Trae or Clint tonight, sound passing and rebounding will keep the Clippers chances’ at stealing a victory on some wings and some prayers.

Ya Boi is not one of those who will Risk It All to show up at a basketball game, yet there are at least one-to-two thousand of us around The ATL who wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. Fortunately, our Hawks have partnered with Emory Healthcare and Dr. Oz’s outfit, Sharecare, on more than just the floor and jersey sponsorships.

Applying the “Safety Six” and “3W” health protocols of their own ought to keep attendees reasonably safe from airborne infection and from each another, while they’re in the building. Wash your hands! Watch your distance! Wear your mask! A fourth “W”? Worry, about any disinformation garbage about masks, tests and vaccines you “learned” from perusing Worldstar forums on your own time, please, and thank you.

On top of that, all I ask is that the ticket-goers who saunter into The Farm at any time this season be as True To Atlanta as anybody the Hawks can find. Don’t be That Guy nagging Hawks Customer Service for your money back because Your Guy on the opposing team isn’t suiting up. And don’t let me catch doofuses from Douglasville in there on TV, popping their Nets, Mavs, Lakers, Raptors and Clippers jerseys while trying to distract our Hawks at the free throw line. If we wanted annoying distractions, we’d just hire Pat Beverley full-time.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Here's hoping for some smoother sailing with the short-handed Clippers than we enjoyed last year.

 

Go, Johnny Go! Go! John and B-Good.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Cam's on the Questionable list as of the 5:30 report, his Achilles tightness having him join Trae and Clint as up in the air.

Danilo Gallinari (ankle) is probable.

~lw3

[GameTime]

 

[NBASupes]

Whenever I see Achilles tightness, I know that probable listing is BS.

[Bonkers]

I don't know if yall heard but former Hawks beat writer Sekou Smith has died. RIP Sekou smh

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

Ugh! RIP Sekou Smith! mannnnnn...

 

~lw3

[bleachkit]

16 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Whenever I see Achilles tightness, I know that probable listing is BS.

Maybe they want him to take a mental health day to relax and unwind. The worst thing to do when your shot isn't falling is to start pressing.

[Peoriabird]

9 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Maybe they want him to take a mental health day to relax and unwind. The worst thing to do when your shot isn't falling is to start pressing.

Easy fix...Stop shooting!

[JayBirdHawk]

46 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Whenever I see Achilles tightness, I know that probable listing is BS.

He was listed as 'Questionable'

 

 

[Wurider05]

No offense but why does the media act like Kobe was the first guy in the world to have a daughter or to spend time with his daughter. I mean come on this idol worshipping and narrative creating is getting tiresome. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Bonkers]

Dre day

[terrell]

Hawks need a starting 2 guard..Huerter and Trae defense too bad, and Cam is too inconsistent and always nicked up..

Edited January 27, 2021 by terrell

[Buzzard]

No excuses tonight. Lets get this win.

Go Hawks!

[Dnice]

Damn Kevin..

 

"Comedy  central  will be back after this"

  Bob rathbun..

[terrell]

Solo the new VC...

[hawkzlova123]

Lol at bob... 

Nique really enjoys when he has more company

[terrell]

1 minute ago, Dnice said:

Damn Kevin..

 

"Comedy  central  will be back after this"

  Bob rathbun..

Not starting 2 guard material. Im sorry..