Official Game Thread: Nuggets "at" Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

We used to be a country. A proper country.

 

Eureka! We have found them. The only two teams on the North American continent with a worse NBA Net Rating in fourth quarters than your Atlanta Hawks (minus-10.4).

They actually played one another in Denver on Wednesday night. Somehow, the Earth did not spin off its axis during the final 12 minutes of action between the host Nuggets (minus-12.5) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (minus-10.7), the inertial 19-16 finish to the proceedings notwithstanding. But this lingering stat cannot be good news for the Back-to-Back MVP campaign of Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

The Nuggets have arrived at State Farm Arena to face the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, AT&T Sports Net in DEN), in a battle of teams that have largely been short-staffed the old-fashioned way. Each sit at 14-14, clinging to a Play-In slot in their conferences, suffering disappointing defeats of late, and their fans aren’t eager to hear excusplanations as to why their favorite teams aren’t clear-cut contenders, midway through December.

Each team made it to last season’s Elite Eight, losing to an eventual NBA Finalist, and each one is led by a franchise-defining star that, at their respective positions, cannot be duplicated. Only one star, however, is scheduled to play on Christmas Day. The other is the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player.

As hoop pundits weigh the relative merits of Steph Curry and Kev Durant for the next end-of-season honor, a few interjectors have reminded people that Jokic, the once-developmental Euro-prospect who became a full-time starter for the Nuggets five years ago this week, is arguably more brilliant on the court (career-bests of 26.6 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 63.6 eFG%; 7.5 APG) as he was in 2020-21’s award-winning season (26.4/10.8/60.2%/8.3, in 1.7 fewer minutes/game).

Consider further, while the absence of Kyrie Irving has Durant having to “settle” for James Harden as his sole second-banana, Jokic, without Jamal Murray for the balance of this season, has as his second-in-command…???

I suppose he can just take his pick and roll with it. Will Barton (team high 33.3 minutes/game, career-highs of 16.0 PPG, 38.2 3FG% and 4.2 APG)? Monte Morris (last 3 games: 18.7 PPG, 4.7 APG)? The gloriously-coiffed Aaron Gordon (team-high 23 points vs. ATL)? This space was reserved for Michael Porter, Trae Young’s former AAU partner who struggled out of the gate before being sidelined indefinitely last month after back surgery. Now, who takes charge for coach Mike Malone’s club, from one game to the next, might come down to a pregame tournament of rock-paper-scissors.

Sometimes, it’s a sixth-man seizing the sidekick role. Backup sophomore big Zeke Nnaji (52.8 3FG%) will surprise by nailing some uncontested triples, as he did versus Minnesota. Second-year two-way player Markus Howard matched Patrick Beverley’s defensive energy and hit four threes on Wednesday, but a rough-looking knee injury sidelined him during the fourth-quarter.

In a fortunate sense, the Nuggets, trailing Minny by double-digits since early in the second quarter, were already out of it, although nobody seemed to tell Atlanta native Anthony Edwards, who piled on with 11 of his 38 points in the fourth, nine of them off three-pointers along the way to a 10-for-14 3FG display from the perimeter. “He just danced with the ball and shot three after three,” Malone griped about the Ant-Man to DNVR Sports and the postgame media. “We just refused to get into him.”

Howard was left behind for tonight, the start of Denver’s three-game road trip. Malone and the Nuggs said, “Nah, son,” to Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland (15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists vs. ATL on Nov. 12), sending the stringy rookie guard home before the Minnesota game for an unspecified team infraction. Hyland will be eager to earn his keep tonight, “getting into” Atlanta shooters on behalf of a backcourt that’s already missing PJ Dozier (ACL tear, out for season), on top of Murray and Howard, and is only now getting back veteran Austin Rivers (probable, Health ‘n Safety).

Two days before the 124-107 loss to the T’wolves, Jokic was displaying his usual mastery, nearing a triple-double against the suddenly hapless Wizards with 28 points, 19 rebounds, 9 assists, plus 3 steals and a partridge in a pear tree. Only one man on that night was bound to put a stop to The Joker. And that man was Tony Brothers.

The notorious referee was quick to send Jokic to the showers early in the fourth quarter, hearing one too many haranguing complaints about no-calls from a star who was already 9-for-11 on free throws. Up 18 with six minutes to go at home would normally not be a problem. But remember, the Nuggets are statistically the worst fourth-quarter team WITH Jokic on the floor in crunch time.

Malone replaced Jokic with Facundo Camapazzo, and suddenly the Wizards (37-22 edge in the fourth) looked like the second coming of the fourth-quarter Rockets at The Farm.  Fortunately for the Nuggets, Washington’s Hackafacundo late-game strategy failed to yield dividends as Denver hung on for the 113-107 win. “We’re a much better team when (Jokic’s) on the floor and available,” opined Malone to the Greeley Tribune in stating the obvious. “Not in the locker room.”

The Nuggets (season-low 8 player TOs) had a fairly easy time keeping a road-weary Hawks club snowed under in the Colorado altitude last month, the Hawks shooting 5-for-28 on threes (incl. 2-for-23 by Traemates) along the way to a 105-96 loss. Shortly after skating to 8-4 on the young season, Denver endured a six-game avaLanche of their own. Then came the first half of this month.

December began with a loss in Gordon’s old stomping grounds, versus roughly the same Magic team the Hawks neatly dispatched on Wednesday. Orlando outscored Denver 29-20 in the final frame to steal the 108-103 victory. The Nuggets lost the first of two games in San Antonio, and while they won the rematch a couple days later, it was not without a 24-38 deficit in the fourth, cutting the final lead virtually in half.

The day before losing to the Spurs, Denver escaped New Orleans, but not before letting a six-point fourth-quarter lead slip, scrambling with the aid of Morris and Uncle Jeff Green to take back the lead, but failing to box out Jonas Valanciunas, whose putback with seconds left ushered in overtime, on the front end of a back-to-back, with travel to San Antonio looming.

Coming up short against the cream of this league’s crop, especially when the supporting cast is nowhere close to 100 percent is acceptable to most rational observers. Losing to the likes of the Magic, Spurs, and Timberwolves, though, and white-knuckle finishes against the present-day Wizards at home and the Pelicans anywhere, does not a strong MVP resume make.

Nikola will get his share of frontcourt All-Star fan votes regardless because, frankly, who beyond the Great Salt Lake plans to waste theirs on Rudy Gobert? But to outduel KD (who awaits Denver on Sunday) and Curry at MVP voting time, the Nuggets need to beat underdogs more consistently, and Jokic needs teammates who become as reliable as he is (usually) available.

With the T’wolves sinking 47.9 percent of their three-point attempts on Wednesday, the Nuggets dropped to 2-9 versus opponents shooting above 37.0 3FG%. As Jokic (19 boards, 22 points, 10 assists vs. ATL on Nov. 12) prefers to lurk around the rim to snare defensive boards, this would be a lousy time for another one of those, “We got plenty of shots, they just weren’t falling,” performances by the Hawks’ guards and forwards, before an Atlanta crowd that hasn’t enjoyed a victory, live, in quite some time.

Jokic can be counted on to put up pinball numbers, but the Hawks’ interior defenders cannot compound matters by getting cowed into cheap fouls. Wing defenders ought to be prepared for Nuggets cutting, in anticipation of Jokic’s high-post passes, and to rotate around the perimeter, ensuring there are no open opponents playing with house money, in our house, when Jokic kicks the ball out.

The team that has the fourth-worst fourth-quarter Net Rating, at minus-9.5? That would be the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sunday's visitor on Atlanta's three-game homestand, the team with the dreamy 18-12 record (8-0 versus sub.-500 teams, which hopefully the Hawks won't be).

Yes, the Cavs, potential winners of six straight games if they trip up the Bucks in Milwaukee tomorrow, the club whose up-and-coming talents and all-for-one veteran role players are currently making the media go gaga. In a league loaded with so much parity, just three games, just three crucial quarters, flipping one way or another, makes a big difference in how a team, and its superstars, are perceived.

With its roster getting healthier by the day (Onyeka Okongwu’s probable to get re-acclimated tonight) as others are spinning in grease, Atlanta has before them a trio of home games, plus a road trip to Philly, that serve as an opportunity to fundamentally alter perceptions ahead of their Christmas Day contest in the Big Apple. In the form of cohesive on-court units, the Hawks must be fundamentally superior in fourth quarters than they have been, to date. Even if the iron is a bit lukewarm at times, this is a prime time to strike.

For purportedly good teams showcasing MVP-caliber candidates, home wins in the NBA shouldn’t be like panning for gold.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

And now, your Health and Safety Protocol Update of the Minute.

~lw3

[Dnice]

 

[lethalweapon3]

Go, Gorgui, Go, Gorgui, GO!!

non-COVID, you say? ((denzelphew.gif))

~lw3

[shakes]

1 hour ago, Dnice said:

 

Capela coming down with a new strain of Covid called Jokicflu

 

 

[kg01]

Can we just not allow some rando beat us?  Let Jokic get hizzz, but limit the assists.  Last thing I wanna see is friggin Will Barton droppin' a 40-burger on us because we're lazy about closin' out.

Let's see a 48-minute, professional effort tonite folks.

[macdaddy]

Just now, kg01 said:

Can we just not allow some rando beat us?  Let Jokic get hizzz, but limit the assists.  Last thing I wanna see is friggin Will Barton droppin' a 40-burger on us because we're lazy about closin' out.

Let's see a 48-minute, professional effort tonite folks.

[bleachkit]

10 minutes of OO off the bench,  better than nothing. 

[lethalweapon3]

They feel good. I knew that they would, now.

~lw3

[RedDawg#8]

Will Barton gets buckets though

[Carmine]

Atlanta showing their @ss out already. I'm just here to see OO.

[Dnice]

Horrible  start.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Shoot the ball, Trae.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

4 hours ago, kg01 said:

Can we just not allow some rando beat us?  Let Jokic get hizzz, but limit the assists.  Last thing I wanna see is friggin Will Barton droppin' a 40-burger on us because we're lazy about closin' out.

Let's see a 48-minute, professional effort tonite folks.

 

( soap opera announcer voice )

 

The role of "some rando" will be played by Jeff Green tonight.

Good terrible shot Trae.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Trae starts playing aggressive . . . and great things start to happen.

[hawkman]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Trae starts playing aggressive . . . and great things start to happen.

He makes the offense go. 

[hawkman]

Bring some energy OO.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

All Bench lineup in.  Let's see what they do.  Not a good start so far.

[hawkman]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

All Bench lineup in.  Let's see what they do.  Not a good start so far.

Stagnant offense as usual.

[Carmine]

A CENTER WITH TOUCH!