Official Game Thread: heat at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR CRAZY UNCLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!”

 

Friday Tidbits! A gaggle of Atlanta Hawks will convene at The Farm tonight and try, once more, to beat the Miami heat (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Sun in MIA).

I can’t let this month pass without serving up some Squawklove for our top-flight Public Address Announcer. Just last April, it was sounding like 6-to-8 weeks, or months, would be a great prognosis for our local radio legend, Ryan Cameron.

Sepsis was the case that they gave him, on top of his longstanding congenital heart condition, and he spent weeks in touch-and-go status in the ICU after undergoing surgery. Cameron fought it off, was back on the airwaves by August, and holding down the mic at State Farm Arena’s center court when the Hawks’ season commenced in December.

I can’t tell you how much joy I get hearing those golden pipes get put to the test. By Tony Snell against the Nuggets. By Danilo Gallinari against a Celtics team that still doesn’t know what hit them. By Steph Curry and All-Stars that made the arena rims look like troughs. Lately, by our fearless Leader of Horde, Bogi Bogdanovic. By Red Velvet against the Pacers. And as always, by Trae Young, whose return from a Grade 2 lateral ankle sprain (out at least a couple games, including Sunday’s versus Milwaukee) will be worth the wait. “FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEE!” All hail The Ryan King!

The bad news? We’re reaching the point where Nate MacMillan and the Hawks’ coaching staff will have no choice but to sort out optimal rotations, involving returning would-be-starters and bench guys, on the fly after the regular season concludes (Magic Numbers: 7 for Play-In, w/ WAS; 12 for Top-6 Playoffs, w/ MIA). The good news? I was worried our other players returning to the floor jussssst in time for Trae/Clint Capela/John Collins to catch demoralizing injury bugs was destined to be a May problem, not April.

Capela (questionable, bruised back, because Atlanta Sports) nearly summoned the spirit of Willis Reed during Wednesday’s OT loss at Madison Square Garden. His will to fight through obvious discomfort, in vain hopes of salvaging a late lead for victory after Young was carried off, should be inspiration to some on the Atlanta IL to get off their dunn, er, duff, and overcome whatever currently ails them. Let’s go, “KD”. (Snell has been upgraded, to doubtful, so that’s something. Gallo remains questionable).

Due to an inflamed knee, Miami star Jimmy Butler wasn’t available to save his team on March 2, when the heat got the deep-freeze from Ice Trae (13 fourth-quarter points) in a 94-80 win that proved to be a pivot point for the Hawks (32-27). In the fourth quarter, MacMillan was able to rest Collins for a game the next evening, a win in Orlando. The Hawks win dropped Erik Spoelstra’s reigning conference champs back below .500, and recovering to their current standing, at 31-28 has been a long slog.

They’ve won three straight since Butler called out his team’s effort as “sawft”, following a loss in Minnesota this time last week. Miami would love to dig themselves out of the Play-In hole and, like the Knicks, dip past the Hawks in the standings with a win tonight, especially with the knowledge somebody not named Trae has to beat them. They’ll fly home tomorrow for a two-games-in-three-nights affair with the 11^th-seeded Bulls, a team that’s also figuring out how to make-do without their headlining, double-team-drawing star guard.

Be it Brandon Goodwin (under 10 career mins. vs. MIA, half of them w/ DEN), who starts in place of Young tonight, his Gwinnett chum Lou Williams, Point Huerter or Point Bogi setting the plays, execution on offense must be at a premium. Atlanta committed a combined 38 turnovers in the two-game series straddling the turn to March down in Miami, including a heat season-high 16 steals despite the Hawks’ victory in that latter meeting.

Miami, meanwhile, must make like a streetballing barbershop quartet and stay mindful to pass the ball. The heat are 0-5 when they assist on 20 or fewer baskets, including a season-low 15 when they last lost to the Hawks. Only seven heat turnovers in that game, too, but if you’re shooting 37.3 from the field, you’re not having a field day playing iso-ball (41.7 iso-play eFG%, 24^th in NBA). Combined with a deliberately slow pace, Miami has finished six games so far without exceeding 90 points (all losses; 5 times in 73 games last year), which is unacceptable in this day and age unless your last name is Spoelstra.

They’ve been without Trade Deadline pickup Victor Oladipo (out, sore knee) and Tyler Herro (questionable, sore foot), but their absences may only help with their perimeter marksmanship. Miami has shot just 35.0 3FG% as a team (24^th in NBA). Thanks to Kendrick Nunn in this week’s home wins over Brooklyn and Houston (11-for-20 combined 3FGs), and Herro shaking off the barnacles in San Antonio on Wednesday (5-for-6 3FGs), the heat have outshot their foes on threes in nine of their past 10 wins (the exception involving a kid named Steph, naturally).

Even if Capela’s a late scratch, rookie Onyeka Okongwu will need to be ready to help Collins and former heat forward Solomon Hill, particularly to keep Bam Adebayo guessing if it’s ever safe to vacate the paint. The heat depend not on blocking shots (4.1 team BPG, 29^th in NBA) but making opponents take contested interior shots over height, without fouling.

Their mediocre team rebounding, though (72.6 D-Reb%, 4^th-worst in East; 2.8 opponent putbacks/game, 3^rd-most in East) can allow Collins and Okongwu plenty of chances at cleanup duty when tough shots go up. In the aftermath of Kelly Olynyk’s trade to Houston and Meyers Leonard’s career immolation, former Hawk starter Dewayne Dedmon has been brought in and is already munching away at rookie Achiuwa’s precious floor time.

Over the past 25 NBA seasons, only one team, the 2009-10 Trail Blazers, have had to watch opponents shoot over 80 percent from the charity stripe (80.3 opponent FT%). Our Fine Feathered Friends ought to be feeling a bit ruffled, this deep in the season, as their foes shoot 80.5 FT%, a percentage that only dropped a smidgen as the Knicks made 20 of 25 foul shots on Wednesday.

It’s a shame, since the Hawks themselves have been reasonably good in this area (81.0 team FT%, 2^nd-best in NBA), and a prolonged absence by Young (career-highs of 87.4 FT% on 8.8 attempts/game) may worst be felt here. Kevin Huerter and Bogdanovic have combined to take 1.9 FTAs per game, less than Williams’ 2.5, and our demure wing duo could stand to draw more contact on their trips to the paint. Goodwin’s 62.9 FT% (37-for-41 in prior two pro seasons, 22-for-35 in this one) may be more of a small-sample anomaly, but he’ll need to be on-point when earning points from the line this weekend and going forward.

I know I’m not the only Hawks fan who notices this, too. On the legally obligatory “Without the Expressed Written Consent” ad during any NBA game, the rolling graphic of team logos begins with Boston’s, continues three-by-three in exact alphabetical order by NBA team locale, and ends, after Washington’s, with Atlanta’s. As KRS-One might say, “Why Is That???”

Also, I figured out the Hawks players did their “Take The Shot” pro-vaxx PSA in some swanky Emory Healthcare facility (I think they just replaced the TV ad with Clint’s great one-liner, sadly, after some Uncles got in their feelings and called Hawks Customer Service. Still up on the radio, though!). And I was relieved, because I was ready to hand Johnny Bap the max early, after catching him on the balcony up those fancy curved stairs with that monstrous chandelier, in what I thought was Collins’ MTV crib selfie. “Pay the Man!”, I shouted at first, “because I know the Man has some bills due!”

I’m still not going to games or public events, including the latest MLK-themed Unity Night today. But I did rather enjoy kicking back in a socially-distanced stadium seat mid-day yesterday, watching crew members drawing up the play lines for Atlanta United’s MLS home opener tomorrow versus the Chicago Fire (Saturday night, 8 PM Eastern Bally Sports South).

I had time to chill in The Benz after getting poked, awaiting side effects that never came. Spicoli’s CORE Response, Uncle Arthur’s foundation, and the team of Army soldiers delivering the shots, themselves vaccinated by the Georgia National Guard, had that whole joint running smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy. Now, it helped indubitably that there were next-to-no lines, although I can’t speak for the rush hour crowds (hours vary if you go without an appointment, but they’re open until 4:30 today, and have been open as late as 10 PM mid-week).

A full 24 hours later? To disagree just slightly with our dear rock-band buddies from Athens, it is NOT the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine. Take The Shot! (Qs and As are at https://www.emoryhealthcare.org/taketheshot/... Hush, Uncle Karl, hush!)

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Home is where the heart used to be!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

And, now, your annoying JC Photoshop rosterbation du jour.

Quote

If there's one thing the heat fans are league leaders in, it's photoshopped heat players

~lw3

 

[Spud2nique]

51 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Achiuwa’s precious floor time.

slay us masssss... twoooo minutessss... DOS! 

 

51 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

I know I’m not the only Hawks fan who notices this, too. On the legally obligatory “Without the Expressed Written Consent” ad during any NBA game, the rolling graphic of team logos begins with Boston’s, continues three-by-three in exact alphabetical order by NBA team locale, and ends, after Washington’s, with Atlanta’s. As KRS-One might say, “Why Is That???”

Rodney Dangergramps.

 

51 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Ryan Cameron.

 

Awesome preview as always. No respect continues in the betting world as well.

 

Hawks + 180  +5.5  o/u (room) 212 (where the upper echelon players like Herro dwell, VIP (for now) only.

 

Go Hawks! 
 

ps Again call me crazy but not having Trae messes up game plans for opposing teams on such short notice due to muscle memory of having to guard a guy like Trae. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Spud2nique

[Dnice]

UGH, don't make me puke with the that photoshop, at least wait til postseason!

[Dnice]

This doesn't have much to do with anything really, but David Alan Grier rocks a Hawk jersey on the Jamie Foxx new sitcom  Dad Stop Embrassing Me on Netflix

 I usually would see Lester on 227 with his  WFT hat or jacket, and other shows would throw the local teams in from time to time...

Edited April 23, 2021 by Dnice

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[bleachkit]

4 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

So BG, Bogi, Kevin, JC and OO. 

[benhillboy]

Dammit man I was really looking forward to the heavyweight bout between Clint and Bam.  Either way you got 2 no-nonsense coaches and Jimmy Bags, should be a great one.  It will be nice to see my boy Ded, didn’t know he was active or taking Prince’s minutes.  

Edited April 23, 2021 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

Meanwhile, Coach Spo won't be holding out 'til the end of the night.

~lw3

[BrazilianHawk]

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

[Spud2nique]

I think we get this game. We have discipline damnit #Natestyle

[Spud2nique]

Public pounding the Heat. Game line latest:

Hawks + 220 (previous +180) spread +6.5 (previous +5.5) 

 

Bogi/Huerter/Lou will fill in for Trae. We got this! 
 

GO HAWKS!!!!

[terrell]

 

 

@sarah_k_spence

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16m

 

 

Hawks starters vs. Miami tonight: Kevin Huerter Bogdan Bogdanovic Solomon Hill John Collins Onyeka Okongwu

[BrazilianHawk]

MLK jerseys, we got this!

[Dnice]

Bogi and Kevin in the backcourt to start. 

[MaceCase]

Johnny gotta get him back

[JTB]

Collins is horrible right now.

[sturt]

Pretty stoked to see King Okong get the leading role @ 5, and versus the guy he was most compared to when he got drafted. And needless to say, I'll be in a bad mood if McM doesn't give some real minutes that appease us official members of the Bru Cru.

[MaceCase]

O reaches, Bam teaches.