Official Game Thread: Thunder at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“So, shall we Shag now, or shall we Shag later?”

 

Out went the team that has allowed the most points per game in the East. In comes the team that scores the fewest points in the West. Who is the one that will frustrate us the best?

The homestand keeps rolling along for our Atlanta Hawks, with Mike Muscala’s Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS OK) here today to follow up Saturday night’s act by the Charlotte Hornets at State Farm Arena. The Hawks made quite the nail-biter out of their contest against the weary visitors from Carolina, in part, by letting the Hornets collect a whopping 21 offensive caroms. They now face an OKC team that, nominally, leads the NBA with 48.4 RPG.

Fortunately, coach Mark Daigneault has been placing emphasis on the defensive backboards (NBA-high 37.8 D-Rebs), not as much on the end where OKC (NBA-worst 50.5 TS%) is woefully inefficient. Still, he’s got various and sundry Thunder crashing the glass at all times.

The undrafted Kenrich Williams, rookie second-rounder Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and 2019 second-rounder Isaiah Roby came off the bench and snatched nine offensive rebounds away like candy from Al Horford and the Celtics on Saturday night, part of OKC’s square-shaped three-game road excursion that concludes with a trip home tonight.

Nine of the Thunder’s 15 O-Rebs, leading to 12 second-chance points, came in the fourth quarter, beginning shortly after a Jayson Tatum triple widened the C’s lead to 20 points. Al’s layup with 63 seconds remaining, putting Boston back up by twelve, was supposed to close the proceedings. But sloppiness and a loss of focus ensued from the scrubs on the home side.

A Darius Bazley putback of a missed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander free throw, a pair of ballhandling Celtic turnovers, then a three-pointer by Lugie Dort following a rebound of Kenrich’s missed three, narrowed Boston’s edge to four, pressing Ime Udoka to begrudgingly shove his starters back in to save the game with ten seconds to go.

Despite bowing out with a 111-105 defeat on Saturday, scrappiness keeps Daigneault’s poor-shooting, low-scoring Thunder in ballgames, as it did one evening before in a 96-89 loss at Milwaukee. The world champion Bucks saw its comfy 20-point third-quarter lead evaporate, down to two, in the space of just nine basketball minutes.

A 91-89 rockfight on Friday, with just under 30 seconds to go, ended mercifully with a 15-foot sling from Milwaukee’s goliath, Giannis, and some missed heaves by Gilgeous-Alexander. Nonetheless, for last weekend’s home teams, the later-game outcomes versus the Sooner State visitors seemed painfully unnecessary.

Boston’s and Milwaukee’s recent game tapes ought to feel familiar to Nate McMillan, who sits tied at 696 NBA coaching wins for 19^th all-time with former Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks coach, and Knicks coaching legend, Red Holzman. Nate, who also recently passed Red for 20^th all-time in regular-season games coached, doesn’t have John MacLeod on his personal radar. But once he scooches past McLeod with 12 more victories, McMillan will have 18^th-place in NBA wins all to himself for a while. Get your weight up, Spoelstra!

McMillan watched with dismay on Saturday as Eastern Conference Player of the Week finalist Clint Capela (81.5 FG%, 14.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG and 1.3 SPG in last 3 games) routinely left his man to help flail at a loose Hornet. The problem wasn’t Clint, but his teammates, who individually failed to properly rotate, box out, and grab Charlotte’s misses with intention. They looked a lot like Atlanta United standing around the net in NYC yesterday, leaving goalkeeper Brad Guzan out to dry. At least those defenders aren’t allowed to use their hands to retain possessions.

Tonight, McMillan’s Hawks get to vie for 50/50 balls with the springy young legs of Bazley (team-highs of 6.0 D-Rebs/game and 1.1 BPG), lotto rook Josh Giddey (team-highs of 7.3 RPG and 5.6 APG), sophomore Aleksej Pokusevski, and SGA (questionable for today, sprained ankle; team-high 20.4 PPG plus 5.1 RPG). They also get to wrangle with the Thunder vet who is the team’s most efficient player by most metrics, and it’s not South Atlanta/Georgia Tech legend Derrick Favors.

Leading the charge in per-minute D-Rebs for OKC, the longtime former Hawk Muscala (team-best 22.3 points per-36) also comes off the bench as the only Thunder contributor who hits threes with some level of proficiency (46.7 3FG%, 4^th in NBA, on nearly four attempts in under 15 minutes per game). Of the ten other Thunder players getting up a pair of three-point shots per game, only Robinson-Earl (36.2 3FG%) has been hitting above a 32-percent clip.

The Thunder are a quintessential R-and-3 team, where everyone is expected to run at the rim for rebounds and everyone, excepting maybe Favors, is expected by Daigneault to hoist threes at the hoop, all without regard to skill level. With all due respect to SGA, Giddey and Dort, no one better personifies the Thunder than The Moose, once he gets loose, when they’re playing at their best.

Muskie got the next night off in Boston after snagging a season-best nine D-Rebs and sinking a season-high 4 threes on six attempts versus the Bucks. He is playing like a 30-year-old career bench guy who knows his contract will soon expire and is at the end of his ro… I’m sorry, what’s this?

I’m hearing that this isn’t Money Mike’s contract year? That he was brought back to OKC, on a two-year deal (club option for another $3.5 million next season) by pick-hoarding boss-man Sam Presti this past August?

It is true that Muscala was enjoying the best statistical season of his career with the Thunder last year, arguably better than his final go-round with the 24-58 Hawks in 2017-18. But once he got shelved alongside Horford in mid-March, with a purportedly sprained ankle, the sun looked to be setting quickly on his eight-years-long tenure in The Association. Perhaps it would soon come time for “Mike Jawz” to rekindle his fledgling rap career. Make the music with your mouth, Mike!

Things looked to be careening toward a future in beat-boxing in the summer of 2019, when the Minnesota native and free agent was shocked to find Presti rapping at his door, Masai-to-DeMarre-style, with a contract offer in his other hand. While more attention was paid to this past offseason’s pickup of Favors, a renewed contact for Muscala, two weeks Derrick’s senior, was under most everyone’s radar. Including that of Mike, who teared up at what looked like maybe his final NBA exit interview last May. Suffice to say, Sam’s a big fan.

While the 2021 tank was certainly integral to Presti’s far-sighted plans, it was notable that OKC was a nifty 17-22, mere games behind Memphis in the rambunctious NBA West, then went on a 5-28 plummet the rest of the way after he put Muskie, Horf, and most importantly SGA (plantar fascia tear) in rice. Yes, the Thunder (6-10) have dropped four of their past five. But they have won five of the past seven games when Muscala has played. He’ll have at least one Atlanta Hawks fan, after tonight’s final buzzer, rooting him on to many more Thunder victories in the months to come.

Longtime viewers of these long-winded threads (this keyboard’s catching a reprieve over the Turkey Break) already know that I don’t stop weighing the Trae-Luka draft-day deal with the subsequent inclusion of Cam Reddish. Floor general Trae Young’s arrival to Atlanta, in 2018, meant it was time to help pack Dennis Schröder’s bags, too.

In a three-team deal, the German kid known as the Menace, and some French kid nicknamed TLC, headed to OKC. Moose went to Philly, while Carmelo got a nice lunch here at Mary Mac’s Tea Room. More importantly, the Hawks seemed to have a 2022 lotto-protected first-rounder coming its way.

That extra pick looked juicy to Hawks fans back then. That was until Presti put the squeeze to the competitive veteran talent on his roster, figuring out a downright pyramidical scheme of obtaining draft picks to help desperate teams dump vets, then getting more picks to help desperate teams acquire them.

Because 6-10 at this stage of the season is a resounding overachievement, one of the only possible first-rounders OKC has going out, not coming in, could conceivably be back in play for Atlanta. This pick bifurcates into 2024 and 2025 second-rounders if – somehow, not already when --it makes it to the next NBA Lottery.

As the Western Conference looks more and more like the NFL’s AFC, the Thunder currently sit one full game behind Minnesota for the final prospective Play-In spot. As for the teams below them, the Kings are a royal pain, the Spurs are simply going through the motions, the Pels are up a crick without a chicken drumstick, and the Rockets, bless their hearts, have no idea what’s going on.

One more team out West gets caught slipping – looking at you, Minnesota – and Atlanta fans could be throwing back popcorn at Play-In time. The T’Wolves remember moonwalking into a rare playoff spot, in 2018, thereby gifting Atlanta with the chance to draft Kevin Huerter in the small-p process. The dealing away of Dennis and Mike just days after that draft may reward the Hawks as Adreian Payne had done once before. Only this time around, Mike may have a personal say in that transaction transpiring.

Now I’m not suggesting actually keeping the theoretical pick. I don’t know Duke University’s Paolo Banchero from Buford Highway’s Pollo Campero, and I’m not trying to start bathing in the waters of Lake Tankathon anytime soon. But there is a “lock” next to Oklahoma City’s line on that site, one that looks like it could be “picked” with just a little more work on their end.

What I do find tantalizing is the maximization of near-term draft capital for the Hawks’ front office, ahead of 2022’s Trade Deadline. Atlanta could package one of both of its picks with a veteran to upgrade its roster in preparation for the, well, let me not jinx our own chances at the P-word by saying it aloud, not with our streaky Hawks (8-9) a full game behind momentary 8-seed contenders Cleveland, New York and Boston. The less the conveyance from OKC looks like a mirage, the better Travis Schlenk and company’s pre-Deadline negotiating positions to upgrade the roster for a certain kind of run.

Jalen, Onyeka, Sharife and Skylar continue to toil in hopes of future rotational minutes. And as De’Andre works to get back up to speed, the last thing the Hawks need, going forward, is a future mid-to-high-level draft-pick for some long-range prospect, least of all their own selection.

Continuing to avert the risk of that future tonight, Atlanta needs to be superior in execution in all avenues, from guarding OKC’s perimeter shooters and closing out without committing bailout fouls, to winning the turnover battles, avoiding the roving Dort on inbound plays, moving the ball without overdribbling and making open shots, to most importantly keeping the Thunder hopelessly one-and-done on offensive sets. As long as Atlanta takes care of fundamental business, it won’t matter what OKC’s star ballhandler does.

“He’s like Trae, only… taller! Bigger! More versatile! A better defender!” I, along with many others, fell for the “Like Trae, but better,” hype surrounding the pro-tential of Gilgeous-Alexander, who would be the Hornets’ main-stager right now, had the #11 pick not been swapped down for the Clippers’ next pick, Miles Bridges, on 2018’s Draft Day (not a lot of Who Won The Trade talk around that one, eh?). Both Trae and Shai earned their big-bag extensions this summer. Yet, as Trae displayed more recently, your ability to shine, as a young and playoff-inducing superstar, often comes down to the company you keep.

Shai’s not, “like Trae,” and he’s not “better.” With his 6-foot-6 frame, SGA is naturally a better shooter than Trae from the field, and he ought to be better along the boards, as he is. But his shot-creation skills, from a team-leading guard standpoint, pale in comparison, even without veteran talents paired alongside him to siphon away the usage. With steelier defenders and a savant defense-oriented coach around him, a more dedicated and durable Young has been able to narrow the gap on that side of the floor.

Reddish’s scoring binge in the past two games, and Capela’s 20-and-15 evening in the win over Charlotte, has them now comfortably joining three other active Hawks (discounting the injured De’Andre Hunter) in double-digit scoring this season. With a repeat of his 36 points over the past two games, Huerter could soon follow suit, granting Young and the Hawks the deep and balanced offense that had been touted, on paper, in the run up to this season.

Stuck much like Luka in the West, Shai is largely left to chart his own path back into playoff-caliber territory. Very much unlike Luka, he's awaiting less experienced talents like Bazley, Poku, Tre Mann and Giddey to fill the gaps.

Young spun straw from the outset with the Bazes and Bembries, but eventually benefitted from the healthy presences of Capela, ex-Clipper legend Lou Williams and ex-Thunder star Danilo Gallinari. SGA, who dipped his toe in playoff waters with Lou and Gallo’s Clips and Gallo’s Thunder during his first two trial-by-fire seasons, will need crafty vets around once more, in order to make his next scene-stealing postseason breakthrough.

It was assumed in the short term that the essential veteran in tandem with Gilgeous-Alexander would be Favors, by default. But it is becoming more evident that Muscala, of all people, may be the keeper, perhaps even the player other GMs will pray Presti dangles for deals, once it’s time to talk turkey about picks and prospects as the Deadline approaches.

It would be great, come March 30th with a handful of this season’s games remaining, for Atlanta to be in a position to “help” Moose and Shai with a playoff push in OKC. But that is far into the future, and the Hawks have more immediate concerns at hand as they look to sweep their homestand and sustain their newfound momentum. Having trae-ded places on their professional trajectories, Young and his aspiring Hawks have no time for regrets about stealing any of Shai’s Thunder.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Bogi's on the boo-boo report, listed as questionable having not had much time to heal his bruised quad.

SGA (sprained ankle) remains listed as questionable, too. Four Not Ready for PTP'ers (Tre Mann, Theo Maledon, Vit Krejci and our old friend Paul Watson) are back home on OKC Blue assignment.

 

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

Longer read. I need a 5 min hiding spot.

[lethalweapon3]

Luke Adams' headliner for the piece on the Thunder for HoopsRumors last weekend made the "Wait, Wut?" vein in the middle of my head pop up...

Quote

 

How Thunder Are Simultaneously Below Salary Floor, Over Cap

 

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2021/11/how-thunder-are-simultaneously-below-salary-floor-over-cap.html

 

...but it was well-explained and made sense once I got around to reading it.

Cliffs Notes:

They've got a bunch of exceptions and non-salary cap holds ($37+ million worth of 'em, tacked onto $78 million in real salary for cap purposes) putting them technically "over the cap" by about $3 mill. But there's no rush to renounce any of them until it's time for Presti to swing a deal.

Besides, one of the traded-player exceptions they gained from passing around Trevor Ariza will expire in February and put them back below the cap line anyway.

Deadline deals or not, OKC's players will still root for a sub-salary-floor distribution bonus by season's end.

~lw3

[kg01]

Somebody need to fire the Thunder barber 'cause Daigneault they let Kenrich get out the chair before they was finished trimmin' the back.

 Why all the peculiar looks?  Ohh, y'all don't know Daigneault is pronounced "dey-know".

Funny now?

Gah, screw you guys (and ladies).  Speaking of 'screw', Hawks better not screw this up.  OKC is a team that can beat you if you don't show up with a professional effort.

One need only look back a year ago when this same team, fueled by the most glorious shag this side of 1979, whupped our collective arses and talked ca$h sh*t while they were doin' it.  Hey, if you walkin' around with a shag on purpose, you gotta have the sh*t-talk game to go with it.

I'll be tuning in to watch the game but also to see if Lauren asks McMillan if he grew up rooting for KD and the Thunder.  Just kidding, LJb. 

 kg is cookin' with fish grease, leddies and gentlemen.

 On the front burner, Nique.

[Spud2nique]

48 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

They now face an OKC team that, nominally, leads the NBA with 48.4 RPG.

Whoa, first?

 

49 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Lugie

never heard it said like that I dig. 

 

51 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Josh Giddey (team-highs of 7.3 RPG and 5.6 APG),

Just wish Abdelnaby would care a lil lol. Does this kid have any Delly in him? I hope not.

 

53 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Atlanta/Georgia Tech legend Derrick Favors.

@kg01’s ultimate boy. 

 

55 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

longtime former Hawk Muscala

  

 

57 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

He’ll have at least one Atlanta Hawks fan, after tonight’s final buzzer, rooting him on to many more Thunder victories in the months to come.

 

2, I’m a big moose fan he hustles. Bucknell’s finest.

 

58 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Carmelo got a nice lunch here at Mary Mac’s Tea Room.

Is that where we took Eddy Curry and Kenyon Martin like 18 years ago?  

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Paolo

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

What I do find tantalizing is the maximization of near-term draft capital for the Hawks’ front office, ahead of 2022’s Trade Deadline. Atlanta could package one of both of its picks with a veteran to upgrade its roster in preparation for the, well, let me not jinx our own chances at the P-word by saying it aloud, not with our streaky Hawks (8-9) a full game behind momentary 8-seed contenders Cleveland, New York and Boston. The less the conveyance from OKC looks like a mirage, the better Travis Schlenk and company’s pre-Deadline negotiating positions to upgrade the roster for a certain kind of run.

Should be an exciting time.

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

trajectories

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

stealing any of Shai’s Thunder.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

 Awesome as usual, let’s make it 5 in a row! 
 

GO HAWKS!!!

[Spud2nique]

20 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Somebody need to fire the Thunder barber 'cause Daigneault they let Kenrich get out the chair before they was finished trimmin' the back.

 when I first saw like look a few years ago I was like what in the world.. now I’m kinda used to the Joe Dirt mullet.

 

22 minutes ago, kg01 said:

guys (and ladies).

Equal opportunity is why we love ya! Lol.

 

23 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I'll be tuning in to watch the game but also to see if Lauren asks McMillan if he grew up rooting for KD and the Thunder.  Just kidding, LJb. 

Lol. Did Muscala’s dad grow up watching McHale?

 

24 minutes ago, kg01 said:

 kg is cookin' with fish grease, leddies and gentlemen.

 On the front burner, Nique.

Keep this up and it’s HEAT CHECK time! 

Trap game, don’t take it for granted.

[terrell]

Our Wings Free throw attempts this season

Kevin Huerter: 6

De’Andre Hunter: 10

Bogdan Bogdanovic: 12

Cam Reddish: 40

[JayBirdHawk]

Classic trap game!

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 Linth

 

 

 

[terrell]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Classic trap game!

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Bogi is a go.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

With no SGA tonight, I expect the Hawks to ROLL BIG.

 

Which means . . .

 

[hawkman]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

With no SGA tonight, I expect the Hawks to ROLL BIG.

 

Which means . . .

 

I want to believe they will come out and curb stomp these guys, but I know better. Just get the win, even if it's ugly.

[hawkman]

Yeah, Cap has his legs back.

[Sothron]

[hawkman]

Giddey is a matchup problem. He's good.

[Carmine]

2 minutes ago, hawkman said:

Giddey is a matchup problem. He's good.

They need to attack him on the other end of the court, wear him out.

[Dnice]

Early, but I'm agreeing with Jays statement