Official Game Thread: Hawks at 76ers -- GAME 7

[lethalweapon3]

The Philadelphia Was Up By...

 

I’ll be real with y’all, I don’t do PEGs (Possible Elimination Gamethreads) terribly well. So before I put quick thoughts together about Game 7 between the 76ers and our amazing Atlanta Hawks in Philadelphia (8 PM Eastern, TNT, 92.9 FM in ATL, Postgame coverage on Bally Sports Southeast), here are a few season-oriented Tidbits I wanted to roll out there.

I got my answer to a question I posed in the season-opening thread about the theme of this Hawks campaign: Rested Development? Or, Arrested Development? Turns out the answer is decidedly, “Both.” Thank you, Magic 8 Ball!

The work put in during the elongated layoff served to benefit Trae Young, the recuperated Clint Capela, and De’Andre Hunter quite well. While Hunter’s burgeoning confidence was the biggest surprise, Cam Reddish struggled mightily in his sophomore season, before injuries for both cut them short. All will continue to improve, given a return to a steadier conditioning regime and schedule next season. In the meantime, Atlanta can take pride in becoming the best team, in the East, among those left out of last season’s Bubble.

Have I introduced you to your favorite NBA team’s principal owner? Going forward, please be sure you spell his name right. This is Mister Tony Re$$$$$ler. This man has been chomping at the bit to spend, spend, spend, and not just on real estate and arena swag. Don’t think this Beverly Hills mogul isn’t looking admiringly at Clippers owner Steve Ballmer right now.

Team prez Travis Schlenk is here to ensure the Hawks owner isn’t just spending for spending’s sake. Nonetheless, we are about to enter Hot Billionaire Summer. Re$$$$$ler is about to match a big-bucks offer sheet for John Collins, like it or love it. Too rich for your blood? Not for Tony Our Tiger! Besides, ask 76ers owner Josh Harris if Al Horford is still burning holes through his pockets.

Re$$$$$ler’s about to lock down Trae Young to a max contract extension. Because, duh. Young is displaying why it was so critical not to settle for bowing out during, or before, the Play-Ins. This is already, on a good day, a title contender, because of the level-headedness and stewardship of young Trae. We’re trying to get where the Sixers (roughly $30 million higher team payroll) already are, where even on a bad day, we’re a title contender.

Schlenk wouldn’t know for sure on 2018’s Draft Night, but the lack of respect for Young at NBA Awards time, relative to his trade partner in Dallas, probably saves his boss a few coins at extension time. Weirdly enough, it turned out the trade deal may have saved Schlenk his own job, too. Oh, and if Re$$$$$ler is feeling a little frisky after Trae’s extension gets inked? Have you all met Green Velvet?

The most pressing items on Tony’s expense sheet? A harness and grapple line. Just in case the 76ers hold a higher score than the Hawks in the final second of today’s action, when that final buzzer sounds, Re$$$$$ler is going to drop down like Sting from the rafters and hand Nate McMillan a multi-year coaching contract deal, and a Tibaldi Fulgor Nocturnus pen. Heck, he might even let McMillan keep the little scribbler.

Nate may throw in some riders before he inks the deal. Can my son Jamelle (Ben Simmons’ sister’s ex, by the way) join the staff? “Sure. Happy Father’s Day.” Can LP come back on board, too? May I pry Gary Payton from Oakland? “Done and done.” What you want? Baby, Re$$$$$ler’s got it!

What’s this I’m hearing, about some NBA Draft Lottery in a couple days? That’s nice. How would I want it to shake out if I had my druthers? Houston. OKC. Minnesota (sorry, Warriors). Chicago (nah-uh, Orlando, no double-dipping this year!). That’s all for Draft Lottery talk for awhile.

If Trae wants to go full Tokyo Drift, go for it! As long as he understands he’s sitting beside LP the whole time while Coach Pop lets elder guards like Dame Lillard go for the Gold, more power to him! Don’t let me catch Derrick White out there with the Albanians, though. Whatever he decides, be safe out there!

The real Summer Games? Cam! Gwu Tang! Nate Knight! Skylar Mays! Maybe B-Goody? Our next first-rounder! Whether it’s to continue the upwardly mobile development on the main roster, or firming up a roster spot in College Park, I look forward to seeing them all in Las Vegas!

Oh, yeah, so, Game 7. I don’t have much, I just hope Coach Nate has more up his sleeve than I can conjure up. Shooters gotta shoot, and at this point, they gotta swish. If we can assume we’re not going to have Bogdan Bogdanovic ver. April.0, if any edition of him, then we’ll need major two-way performances (getting stops, hitting shots) out of Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari.

We may not have our MLK jerseys on, but remember, Collins and Capela, when the trolls on the Sixers start trolling, violence is not the answer!

Collins will have to make more out of his touches, early in the game and not simply once the Hawks have to scramble out of deep holes. Lou, Gwu and the bench mob (when blended in with the top line) must outshine their counterparts, because Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris and the Sixer starters are bound to overdo everything to salvage their season.

One more tidbit. 

The Real 2020-21 MVP? You, the fans. There has been a lot to endure. The 2020 playoff run interceded by a pandemic, having to wait over eight months before the Hawks could make personnel moves, over nine months before they could tip off again. The early promise of 2021 derailed by injuries, bad losses and a coach upheaval.

Bigger than all of that, keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy and even-keel, as best we could. Much like the Hawks, we’re all still standing! Whether this Hawks run lasts for a few more hours or 32 more days, I hope Hawks fans have found ample moments of worthy joy throughout the journey. Celebrate the Hawks, tonight, but be sure to take time to celebrate yourselves and each other.

 

Happy Father’s Day! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

ICYMI, @TheTruth's thread participants previewed Game 7 quite well, so I'm posting a link to that here.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

For the season being on the line, I can get with this ref crew!

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Minnesota (sorry, Warriors).

Yes please.

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Gwu Tang!

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

One more tidbit. 

The Real 2020-21 MVP? You, the fans. There has been a lot to endure. The 2020 playoff run interceded by a pandemic, having to wait over eight months before the Hawks could make personnel moves, over nine months before they could tip off again. The early promise of 2021 derailed by injuries, bad losses and a coach upheaval.

Bigger than all of that, keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy and even-keel, as best we could. Much like the Hawks, we’re all still standing! Whether this Hawks run lasts for a few more hours or 32 more days, I hope Hawks fans have found ample moments of worthy joy throughout the journey. Celebrate the Hawks, tonight, but be sure to take time to celebrate yourselves and each other.

 

You are the man lw3! 
 

Go Hawks!

[lethalweapon3]

Nothing unexpected on the 5:30 Boo-Boo Report. Trae's probable, Joel is "questionable", Bogi (sore knee) is no-finger-quotes questionable. As for Cam...

 

~lw3

[NBASupes]

Cam look a solid 6'10

[NekiEcko]

8 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Cam look a solid 6'10

6'10"?!?1

hmm, I think 6'9" but he did get taller

[lethalweapon3]

Not sure the last time overall in the league, but here are a couple series where a higher-seeded Philly lost a series with the aid of three home losses. One was a 5-game series I remember quite vividly.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1968-nba-eastern-division-finals-celtics-vs-76ers.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1984-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-nets-vs-76ers.html

 

~lw3

[aali34]

Posted this in the game-6 thread. Might as well bring it here too.

 

[lethalweapon3]

George Hill's, Joe Johnson's and Shelvin Mack's Utah Jazz won thrice in L.A. to beat Doc Rivers' Clippers in the first-round back in 2017.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-western-conference-first-round-jazz-vs-clippers.html

~lw3

[Dnice]

 

[Carmine]

Loss of Bruno really hurts but it's a next man up mentality. We gonna fight in his stead. Go Hawks!

[bleachkit]

4 minutes ago, Carmine said:

Loss of Bruno really hurts but it's a next man up mentality. We gonna fight in his stead. Go Hawks!

Win one for Bruno. 

[bleachkit]

56 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Nothing unexpected on the 5:30 Boo-Boo Report. Trae's probable, Joel is "questionable", Bogi (sore knee) is no-finger-quotes questionable. As for Cam...

 

~lw3

He's gonna have to lock up Giannis for us. Get ready son. 

[Spud2nique]

T minus 1 hour before tip  

 

[ATLHawks3]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

Cam look a solid 6'10

add 2 more inches.

[warcore]

Cam Reddish

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Yes please.

 

 

You are the man lw3! 
 

Go Hawks!

That's the new nickname

Gwu Tang

 

 

[ATLHawks3]

 

[RedDawg#8]

One game.

Tonight

That's all we need.

Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Control what you can, let go of what you can't.

Bogi, whether he plays or not, he will be feeling that knee. We cannot bank on him coming back and giving us a 20 piece.

Get to the line. Stay aggressive. Hit free throws. Swing the the ball, do not settle for the 3.

Box out, rebound, stay attached to the shooters.

Team effort tonight. No waiting on hero Trae