Official Game Thread: Thunder at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“ATLAAAAAANTA, GEORGIA! Where the wins come sweepin’ up from Plains!”

 

How much farther out can our Atlanta Hawks build this springboard?

The Hawks are in no position to look past Al Horford and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder at State Farm Arena this evening (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Oklahoma). But a couple weeks ago, when the back-half schedule was finally revealed, many of us fans were staring at that long, arduous Western road trip, wondering just how bad the plunge was about to get.

What we didn’t have at the time was a platform for success. Now, if the Hawks (20-20, matching last year’s win total) can extend their winning streak to seven in the final game before the road trip, they’ll be in a fine position to make quite a splash by the time the excursion ends. Perhaps, even doing more than just staying afloat.

Most of us don’t fondly reflect upon the 2016-17 season of Coach Bud, Pawl, Dwight, Dennis, Timmy and Baze, but that was the last season the Hawks were at-or-above .500 forty games into a season. After some early season struggles, it took that team’s seven-game win streak, our franchise’s last, to get there (our favorite new quadragenarian, Kyle Korver, was traded to Cleveland midway through that run). That was also the first season the Hawks had to deal with the departure of our four-time All-Star, Al Horford, to Boston.

As the Trade Deadline looms, Al is shaping himself up for any playoff contenders interested in picking up the final two-plus years of the four-year, $109 million deal he signed when he bailed Boston for Philly in 2019. The 34-year-old is scoring 14.4 PPG, the highest since his final season in Atlanta, with his shooting efficiency up a smidgen from his disastrous Sixers tenure. His current head coach would not find it easy to bid him adieu.

“Al’s an unbelievable person and an unbelievable player,” praised the Thunder’s Mark Daigneault, after Horford game-winning dish to Lu Dort sealed a win over the Spurs last month. Horf was DNP’d in three of OKC’s subsequent four wins, including the 118-109 win over the Hawks two nights later. The Thunder (17-23) have a shot at snatching one of the final play-in spots, but team exec Sam Presti is committed to playing the long game, and some combo of low-first-rounders and veteran reserves may be enough to swing a deal over the next week.

Horford is expected to play Atlanta for the first, and maybe last, time in a Thunder jersey today. Meeting him in the paint, John Collins (20.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG in last 8 games) is making it similarly difficult for the Hawks to consider parting ways prematurely.

Stepping up as Atlanta works through some dinged-up frontline health issues (Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu remain listed as questionable), Collins registered double-digit rebounds in consecutive games for the first time since the Hawks-Hornets series in early January. One of his four blocks and several of his five offensive rebounds were critical on Tuesday to helping Atlanta avoid a deflating defeat in hurtling Houston.

During this win streak, the Hawks (40.5 3FG% and 83.3 FT% in March, tops in the NBA East), and Trae Young, in particular, have been able to turn to an array of hot-n-ready shooters coming through. Danilo Gallinari, Tony Snell and Kevin Huerter combined to nail 13-of-23 threes in the win over the Rockets, allowing Young (13 points, 14 assists vs. HOU) to be the lowest scorer among Atlanta’s starters.

Young’s scoring ebb likely won’t last much longer, especially if Dort (contract-guaranteed for two more seasons this week; 4-for-9 3FGs vs. ATL on Feb. 26; questionable due to a sprained toe) and rookie Theo Maledon (season-high 12 assists vs. ATL; questionable, sprained thumb) aren’t available to haggle him tonight. But it is comforting to see, even against lower-level competition, Trae’s nightly contributions supplemented in winning fashion by a competent and balanced offense.

The offense in recent games for the Thunder (17-23) has been typified by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (23.6 PPG, 41.3 3FG%) calling his own number and teammates, when not calling their own numbers, setting up Gilgeous-Alexander. OKC isn’t among the best at moving the ball, even with Horford around, and when SGA lacks primarily ballhandler help (George Hill has been out for months, too), things can get stilted (league-worst 1.23 team assist/TO ratio this month) when he isn’t setting teammates up, either.

SGA seeks to bounce back from objectively his worst performance on the season, committing 8 turnovers, getting just one free throw, assist, and rebound apiece, and checking in at minus-36 as his Thunder were plundered 123-102 in Chicago on Tuesday (no, Kris Dunn wasn’t involved). All of that and his 21 points were spread out over just three quarters, as Daigneault set him aside with OKC down 102-79 entering the fourth.

“Finding a balance between [SGA’s] own offense and helping the team function,” the Thunder coach noted after the Spurs win last month, is a high priority for the talented guard’s development, adding on that day, “He didn’t get seduced by the points on the board.” But for two-way center Moses Brown (20 points, 16 boards incl. 8 O-Rebs, 5 blocks), the Windy City washout could have been much worse.

The emergence of Brown, in just his second NBA start, rookie Aleksej Pokusevski (23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in Sunday’s home win vs. MEM), and Kenrich “Shag O’Neal” Williams (14.7 PPG, 70.4 FG% last 3 games, 3-for-3 on threes in past two games) makes the older heads in OKC’s frontcourt, including Horf and his former Hawk backup Mike Muscala (DNP’d in 3 of past 4 games), all the more expendable.

Trevor “Who He Play For?” Ariza was just Iguodala’d to Miami on Wednesday, OKC using some of the TPE from Gallo’s sign-and-trade. And Hamidou Diallo was sent to Motown this week, for a swing at Svi Mykhailiuk. Perhaps inspired by Moses, Presti would like to let even more of his people go in the coming days. Creating another TPE with Ariza’s salary could facilitate more deals.

The Gallinari-Snell-Huerter trio combined to shoot 3-for-14 from downtown when the Hawks fell in OKC last month (Kevin matching Trae’s 3-for-9 on 3FGs), and 7-for-28 from the field for the game. They weren’t the only drags on Atlanta’s offense. But their newfound familiarity with where and how to attack, inside and out, is creating a diverse synergy (118.0 O-Rating, 3^rd in NBA East; +10.3 Net Rating in March, 3^rd in NBA) that makes it harder for opposing defenses to simply drill down on Young. If Bogi Bogdanovic (8-for-17 FGs in past two games) joins the party, too... watch out!

The Hawks’ diving platform was looking more like a short plank a couple weeks ago, with the treacherous Western waters awaiting below. The Rockets game initiated a run of 13 straight opponents from the NBA’s superior conference, including three home games when Atlanta returns next month.

But consider, as the squad prepares to kickstart its tour at STAPLES Center, that the Hawks won’t have the most important unavailable player, between the two teams, when they face off with Anthony Davis’ Lakers. Also, while it sure helps to have Luka tearing teams apart by his lonesome, Trae’s forthcoming faceoff with the Clippers seems much less imposing after last night. By continuing to take care of business tonight and extending the springboard, the Hawks can build the kind of momentum that won’t have them feeling all wet by the time the road trip ends. Cannonball!

We could poo-poo Atlanta’s winning ways by focusing on the lessened strength-of-competition. But in bowling, if you’re given ten frames where you’re left to knock down the 1-pin on the second roll, rolling a gutter ball over and over will have you down in the dumps. That was the story permeating through the opening months of the Hawks’ season, a chapter they need not turn back to anytime soon.

Alternatively, picking up all the spares, and allowing yourself a chance to closeout with some winning strikes, will have you going from “What on Earth Am I Doing?”, to “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!”. (Enjoy retirement, Pete Weber!)

 

Stop AAPI Hate! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

#KnightHawk time.

 

[lethalweapon3]

OKC won't let up in the backcourt.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Let's see if we can do a better job of controlling the Thunder drives to the basket they killed us last game.

[JeffS17]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Let's see if we can do a better job of controlling the Thunder drives to the basket they killed us last game.

Yeah, Capela had a bunch of blocks last game too... if he stays out of foul trouble, and we play at our slower pace, I think we can keep them under 100.  Tonight will be big for Nathan to see how he handles big minutes as backup.

[bird_dirt]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

#KnightHawk time.

 

It's Knight Time! Nathan be puttin' heads to bed!

[Carmine]

Would love to watch but gotta keep the streak alive. Go Hawks!

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Moses Brown

Only one Moses I know and that was Malone! Also that Moses didn’t have a Spalding tattoo courtesy of Lauri on his forehead and would never allow that, ok maybe later on in his career. 

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Aleksej Pokusevski

He’s a baller with a passing touch!

Nice game thread Lw3! Let’s get it!

I’ve been recording and shooting around for a hour then playing catch up!

[Spud2nique]

I gotta keep the tradition for the sake of the streak! 
 

Go Hawks!!!!!!

Edited March 18, 2021 by Spud2nique

[Spud2nique]

Hawks ML -330 spread -8 (previously at 7 public siding with us) o/u 224.5

Game time folks! 

 

[Marvin24Williams]

Lets keep this streak going 

[JeffS17]

That 3 by Trae went off camera for a couple seconds

[hawkman]

I absolutely LOVE seeing Trae utilize the mid range pullup. Keep that up. 

[Peoriabird]

Trae looking for his shot early and often.

[JeffS17]

Just now, hawkman said:

I absolutely LOVE seeing Trae utilize the mid range pullup. Keep that up. 

I dont mind it but hes gonna get trashed so hard as soon as he misses two of those in a row lol

[REHawksFan]

1 minute ago, hawkman said:

I absolutely LOVE seeing Trae utilize the mid range pullup. Keep that up. 

Trae being aggressive early. A good sign. 

[Peoriabird]

These fools keep challenging Capela!  LOL!

[JeffS17]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

These fools keep challenging Capela!  LOL!

I can't decide if were doing a great job contesting or they just cant make a layup 

[hawkman]

Payton to Kemp!

[MaceCase]

The guys are having fun out there.