Official Game Thread: Hawks at Nuggets

[lethalweapon3]

“And we’re here to PUMP…” *clap* “…YOU UP, SOLOMON HILL!”

 

 

Today’s burning question: Whither the Leastern Conference?

Just a few days ago, Luke Adams of HoopsRumors delved into an early-season oddity – the teams of the NBA East were winning more of their head-to-heads against NBA West opponents, 22-19 at the time of his writing. Adams noted it’s something that, at season’s ends, had occurred just once in this millennium, in 2008-09, a 231-219 edge for the boys employed predominantly on this side of the Mississippi.

The next night, Detroit outclassed Houston in a high-profile battle of 2021’s top two draft choices. The Bulls made quick work out of Dallas at home, and Charlotte got off the canvas with a road win at Memphis.

As of now, the NBA East maintains its lead, 26-23, no matter how hard our Atlanta Hawks toil to return the NBA back to its status quo. There’s a good likelihood they’ll drop to 2-5 versus the NBA West with a loss tonight against the Nuggets in Denver (9 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Altitude TV in DEN).

Utah (5-0 vs. the West, 8-4 overall) took time out of its busy schedule of losing to Eastern squads of all stripes, on Tuesday, to wax a Hawks club that is depleted of players, rest, and confidence. The Jazz got back on course yesterday with a loss at home to the literal Fighting Lloyd Pierces of Indiana, a contest highlighted by Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner engaging one another in a late-game do-si-do.

In a similar vein as what occurred on Tuesday between Nikola Jokic and one of the Morris Twins, Gobert and Turner basically fouled each other, looked to the refs to see if any would bother to blow their whistle, before the mutually flustered bigs got together to do the Please-No-Fines Polka.

The Gobert-Turner Two-Step was instructive, given that each saw what had happened just days before, when Morris (whichever one it was, I can’t keep up) ran up near midcourt and went in on a passing Jokic’s side like Rocky in the meat freezer before jogging away. The reigning MVP gave the refs the split second they needed to call a foul in his favor, then snidely whiplashed Morris with a forceful shove to the floor from behind.

That looked like it would be a multi-game suspension for The Joker and perhaps -- unless you happen to have been paying attention to the Hawks’ “fortunes” of late -- a break for Atlanta heading into tonight’s action. However, the new officiating adjustments, in which refs turn into distracted Earl Hebners while infractions occur, wasn’t the only big shift in the NBA offseason.

Nuggets legend Kiki VanDeWeghe (more as a player than as a GM), in August, stepped down from his authoritative role as the NBA’s executive VP in charge of handing out discipline, a role he held for eight seasons. Kiki had been notoriously heavy-handed in laying down corporate justice, and Nuggets like Jokic, once suspended in 2019 for leaving the bench during a Nuggets-Jazz altercation, and Mike (excuse me, MICHAEL; no one says Mike Jordan, right?) Malone, suspended for going at refs for a no-foul on Jokic in 2017, had not been spared.

The signal that Kiki’s influence has waned is telling. Over twelve hours have passed, and there remains no sign that Fred VanVleet is going to have to shill out the $25k the league ordered from Josh Smith for his Big Balls Dance a decade ago, or even the $15k fines to the Marco Belinellis of the world during Kiki’s tenure for similar Sam-I-Am dedications.

The message from on-high is telling. Between COVID protocols, injury and conditioning management, long-term injuries, and internal infighting, there are enough of the NBA’s stars missing games as it is. Just don’t be out here doing anything mad flagrant, and the league is likely to issue light sentences and just let players settle scores the old-fashioned way. That is, having your brooding brothers buy tickets to your assailant’s games, or create all-new Twitter accounts purely for clapbacks.

So, Jokic is available, after all, for today’s game, and that’s good news for Malone after his Nuggets caught Indiana on the first night of the Pacers’ back-to-back across the Rockies. The usually bouncy Michael Porter, Jr. got sprited at the rim over the weekend and will miss time due to a back strain. Obviously, the Nuggets will be without Jamal Murray for the balance of the season as well, so Denver could ill afford a lengthy absence for Jokic, even if it comes in games against teams like Atlanta.

Hopefully he’s in a high-spirited mood anytime he and the struggling Clint Capela (0.8 BPG and 43.8 FG% in last 4 games, despite just 3 blown bunnies in 8 shots @ UTA) find themselves in entanglements around the rim. Capela has to vacate the paint to keep Jokic (5.7 APG) from having target practice at the top of the key, with both the rim and cutting teammates.

That puts John Collins (26 points, 10 boards, no blocks in games @ GSW and UTA, matching his outout @ PHX) in a crucial role of protecting the rim and securing boards, keeping Aaron Gordon and Jeff and JaMychal Green from creating second-chances, and all without fouling.

You’d have a hard time convincing fans of yesteryear that a team spearheaded by Jokic (#1 in D-Rating, bball-ref recipe) would be anywhere near the top of the league in defensive efficiency. Yet he has proven adept for Denver (100.9 team D-Rating, #2 behind GSW in NBA) at securing stops with deflections and steals (career-high 1.6 SPG) while still winning rebounding wars on the defensive end (10.9 D-Rebs per game, up from 8.0 in his MVP season).

Trae Young (still a sterling 28.7 PPG scorer in last three games, w/ 46.4 3FG%, plus 9.3 APG) shouldn’t necessarily have to go bucket-for-bucket with Murray’s replacement as Denver’s top scorer, Will Barton (30 points vs. IND; 24.0 PPG, 5.5 APG, 1.3 TOs/game, 51.4 3FG% over last 4 games). But he will have to be more efficient with his shot than the backcourt defenders Malone will throw in his direction, be it Monte “The Count” Morris, rookie Bones Hyland (37.5 FG%), or future Lion King sequel song title Facundo Campazzo (38.7 FG%).

Trae will have to cut down on his own mistakes leading to turnovers (5.3 per game over past 3 road contests). Without the Human Euro-take-fouler Bogi Bogdanovic (questionable, sore ankle) or De’Andre Hunter (questionable, strained wrist), there are fewer help defenders for the Hawks to recover in transition.

Even if the Hawks come out of today’s match bagel-for-4 on this excursion, I will consider this road trip a bit of a win. The last time Atlanta beat the Nuggets, back in February, they had to proceed without the services of LP, as the then-head coach, having flown home early from Boston for childbirth purposes, found himself embargoed due to health-and-safety protocols until he could produce negative tests.

The month prior, a game in Phoenix was postponed due to contract tracing issues for the Suns, with Pierce and another Hawk employee being left behind at a hotel as the team headed on to Salt Lake without them. All of that was with the looming and disruptive threat of what I call Original Recipe COVID at the time, as no Extra Crispy variants had yet taken hold.

I am keeping a squeamish eye on the Sixers, Cavs, Spurs, and teams in the NHL, and I’ve got splinters from knocking on wood that for all that ails our Hawks at the moment, vaxxed though they may be, brushes with a still-swirling pandemic haven’t been among of them.

The end of a losing streak, tonight, would be gravy. But for my mashed potatoes, I just want to see the Hawks’ players and staff return home to lick their wounds in as healthy and upright a condition as possible. For at least the next ten days after tonight, the Best Western Conference is going to have to find somebody else to kick around.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[kg01]

 Man the Hawks really need a win.  In times like this, what you really need is a good ol' slumpbuster baybee ..

I found one for @lethalweapon3  ...

Don't worry @JayBirdHawk, we never leave you out ...

Chocolate-butter?  I'm sure @Spud2nique can find romance here ...

C'mon down @AHF, we can't leave you out ...

@NBASupes, go 'head and take one for the team ...

And, last and least, gotta throw my guy @macdaddy a bone (hehe) ...

Ok, now that you got that outta yer system, let's get a win Hawks!

I must say, I really had to be careful on these gifs.  Yikes.

[hawkman]

I hate to call this a "must win" game this early in the season, but the Hawks really need this win. They need a game where they play well from start to finish. I'd really like to see some continuity from the second half of last season when they looked like they could hang with any team in the league. We haven't seen that team much this season.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The Gobert-Turner Two-Step

(Ya, still)

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Fred VanVleet is going to have to shill out the $25k the league ordered from Josh Smith for his Big Balls Dance

Ooooh that’s right Smoove my mind immediately went to Iverson when I saw it.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The end of a losing streak, tonight, would be gravy.

Yes it would. Awesome as always lw3! This 5 game skid is over tonight baby! We need to get one and remember how good it feels. Keep it simple and swing it. 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Spud2nique

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

 Man the Hawks really need a win.  In times like this, what you really need is a good ol' slumpbuster baybee ..

I found one for @lethalweapon3  ...

Don't worry @JayBirdHawk, we never leave you out ...

Chocolate-butter?  I'm sure @Spud2nique can find romance here ...

C'mon down @AHF, we can't leave you out ...

@NBASupes, go 'head and take one for the team ...

And, last and least, gotta throw my guy @macdaddy a bone (hehe) ...

Ok, now that you got that outta yer system, let's get a win Hawks!

I must say, I really had to be careful on these gifs.  Yikes.

I think I get the theme of these..  You forgot one.. 

 

 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

Chocolate-butter?  I'm sure @Spud2nique can find romance here ...

 
 

 

 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, hawkman said:

I hate to call this a "must win" game this early in the season, but the Hawks really need this win. They need a game where they play well from start to finish. I'd really like to see some continuity from the second half of last season when they looked like they could hang with any team in the league. We haven't seen that team much this season.

Agreed that would be really nice we’ve played well in spurts but never put 4 quarters together. Also agree that it’s not a must win, wait, did you call it one? Lol.it would just be really really nice. Only game 13 though so technically (and legally) I’m not allowed to panic just yet. That’s what they’ve told me and that’s what I know. Yup. 
 

Get a win though..

[JTB]

Huerter deserves a starting opportunity tonight along with Trae in the back court. He’s like the only wing moving off consistently.

[terrell]

De'Andre Hunter will be available vs. Denver, per Nate McMillan. Bogi will be a game-time decision still.

[benhillboy]

The Nuggets are cellar dwellers in terms of FT attempts and three point shooting.  That should be enough to parlay into a close win when you absolutely need one to salvage this trip.  Damn their fraudulent current defensive ranking.

[lethalweapon3]

My Bogi's back, and there's gonna be trouble.

Meanwhile: Oh, Brother(s)!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[terrell]

Defense is optional......

[terrell]

Dre needs to sit. You can't be giving up OREBs to wings on the break 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Capela gets the ball, Trae cuts into the lane . . . Capela FAKES to Trae, and takes his own hook shot.

AIR BALL

 

.Never talk about Trae moving without the ball ever again. The guys on the team want their own shots, not to create more shots for the teams leading scorer.

Just now, terrell said:

Dre needs to sit. You can't be giving up OREBs to wings on the break 

 

Dre is a very below average rebounding wing.  That's just not his thing.

 

[terrell]

3 turnovers for Trae already.smh.. At least his 3 ball is finally falling...

[JayBirdHawk]

Predictable Nate with the same rotations and all bench.

[terrell]

Nate with the all bench lineups still? Wtf man...

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

Predictable Nate with the same rotations and all bench.

Getting tired of his shit for real...

[GameTime]

Nate's offense is horrendous at times.

Edited November 13, 2021 by GameTime