Official Game Thread: Hawks at heat

[lethalweapon3]

“I’m not telling you again. A hot dog is NOT a sandwich, UD! And tomato ketchup does NOT count as a fruit. What, are you some kind of fruity sandwich guy? And what maniac washes their chicken before frying it, but seasons the grease?”

“Catch me outside, Jimmy! How ‘bout dat?”

 

The Miami heat get to borrow back their Dirty South Division title for one more season. The Atlanta Hawks are a gracious lot, but if all goes well, that munificence might not last for much longer.

This is the way we ball, but I know I’m the among the few NBA fans left who give a lil’ flip about subregional rivalries these days. Despite crawling toward a second consecutive winning season, this was far from a banner year for our Hawks, so I’m resigned to accept that Miami gets to hold the pennant for a few hundred more days. Here’s the deal, though. If my team cannot have first in the Southeast in any particular season, then, by golly, I want second-place all to my lonesome.

It's selfish, but that’s another reason it would greatly benefit the Hawks, tonight (8 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Sun in MIA), to win at FTX Arena and offer the heat a taste of what might be coming down the pike, should Atlanta and Charlotte wind up in the Chase for #8.

#7 would be heaven, but short of that, I simply like to see Charlotte beneath Atlanta in the standings. In any standings. Don’t even get me started on the MLS action at the Five Stripes’ Little Brother’s house this weekend.

Per my back-of-napkin work, the Hawks have the superior divisional record, granting them the two-team tiebreaker, as well as the edge over Charlotte in the event of a four-way tie at 43-39. But in a three-way scenario where Brooklyn gets involved, the Hornets would earn the higher seed over Atlanta, due to finishing with the best three-way head-to-head.

Sorry, Charlotte, but I’m just greedy, in this narrow, one-upping way. Besides, I don’t want Atlanta’s Road to the Playoffs to roll through the nest of a Hornets team that hasn’t been there since Purple Shirt Guy’s big mouth got them dispatched all the way back in 2016. Keeping them entrenched at the 10-spot, the Horcats would need a pair of miraculous road wins just to get there, much like the Wizards need chemistry and the Magic need some milk to sneak in next season. In the meantime, I’d rather enjoy snootily looking down upon them all.

Pat Riley’s and Eric Spoelstra’s heat are used to enjoying this perch above all of us, having made this pedestal all their own pretty much since the Heatles arrived and the Dwightmare unfolded. They’ve leased out the division title to the Goody Two Shoes Hawks, The Best Backcourt in The East Wizards, and the Parity Magic on occasion, yet they always find their way back on top. Still, even while bearing the best record in the NBA East (52-28; 12-2 intra-division) this season, the sands seem a little shifty down in SoBe.

Almost midway through a four-game losing skid a couple weeks ago, as Jimmy Butler let a Warrior not named Steph Curry zip by him as part of a 19-0 Golden State run, Coach Spo called a timeout, and squabbled with Jimmy Buckets before the heat’s unofficial team mascot piped up. The spat between Butler and Udonis Haslem ignited a verbal sideline fracas, featuring a clipboard-slamming Spoelstra, that burned through another Miami timeout.

After losing that game, the fuming heat went on to let the Knicks go on a winning 19-2 fourth-quarter run, then fell behind by 37 at home to the Nets. Fortunately, with a five-game win streak that included back-to-back wins this week at Jimmy and Kyle Lowry’s old stomping grounds of Chicago and Toronto, they’ve since righted the ship. For the time being, Butler and Miami are feeling like Kings of the World.

For the record, I’m on Team Jimmy. Yes, I want The Human Napalm to stick to that franchise long enough that I can enjoy the eventual Miami meltdown. And, yes, Jimmy being loaded up on a personally crafted double espresso instead of a General Foods International Coffee doesn’t help matters when things get tense and go left.

But much like Full Force with their fully functioning olfactory receptors in House Party, Butler loves to sense what he sees as sawftness among his cohorts and bosses. Calling it out, sooner than later, tends to turn his would-be empires into washed-out sandcastles.

This time around, he perceives that Spoelstra and everyone else in the heat organization lack the gumption to thank Haslem for all he did back when LIVESTRONG wristbands were cool, hand that man the obligatory golf clubs, cancel his key card and order him to skedaddle.

The man and his team can’t tell you whether he’s an assistant coach, a heckler, or a sergeant-at-arms. But at Markieff Morris’ salary, UD’s the highest-paid at each profession in the NBA. This isn’t Auburn Hills. Why is a 41-year-old threatening to beat the donkey of an NBA star? And who gets the authority to do this while in official team gear, and cashing a paycheck? We get it, Miami, you’re grateful for your local legend. But turn the dadgum page, why don’tcha?

Riley has Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson locked in through 2023-24 ($126 million guaranteed for the quarrelsome quartet at that time), and Spoelstra show no signs of retiring. It would be fun to watch Haslem and Butler complete the slow-motion implosion from afar, especially if they pull a 1999 and fail to reach the second round. I’ll be over here on the hillside just in case, fiddle in hand.

Tonight, Hasbeen probably isn’t planning on exceeding the 11 minutes he logged during the COVID craziness of December. But Spo may not have much choice in the matter. Starters customarily get to dress up like Udonis after clinching the 1-seed during the final weekend of the regular season. But the heat also have a litany of reserves designated as questionable on the pregame injury/illness list.

The Nobel Peace Prize nominee for his role in last month’s sideline skirmish, Dewayne Dedmon is dealing with a sprained ankle. Omer Yurtseven’s got a tummy bug. For Gabe Vincent, the piggy that went to market is bruised. Keef and Haywood Highsmith have matching hip flexors. P.J. Tucker is definitely on the outs, having joined Caleb Martin with a calf injury.

Many of these guys will play today anyway, aside from Tucker, having had two off-days to recuperate. Plugging Sixth Man Award frontrunner Tyler Herro, Robinson and Max Strus alongside a reacclimating Victor Oladipo (no consecutive games played since March 11; DNP’d in MIA’s 144-115 win over CHA) ought to serve just fine as a kickstarter without much contribution from Lowry or Butler. But if Adebayo is due for any rest, with limited healthy frontcourt options, it may be Turn Back the Clock Night for UD in what ought to – excuse me, could – be the Miami native’s career home regular season finale.

While there is still no word on the timetable (oh, how I despise that word) for South Floridian John Collins, the Hawks’ injury list is much shorter, as Bogi Bogdanovic’s sore knee and Lou Williams’ back discomfort (each questionable for today) are the only other citations. Particularly without the BLAH offense (Butler, Lowry, Adebayo, Herro) around to do much for long stretches today, Atlanta should have the talent advantage on the floor from start to finish, to go along with the health-and-conditioning edge.

Whether these Hawks have the will edge, avoiding the bad habits with transition and perimeter defense, offensive inertia and shot selection that put them in the Play-In position, will be a determinant for whether they’ll get a Play-In game or two back home. Had they played the hand of cards they were dealt better earlier in the season, Atlanta would be right up there trading paint with Boston, Milwaukee, and Philly for a home Play-Off opening round. But now that they’re in this situation, they need to make good on the perception that they’re a team no one, be it Miami or Charlotte, wants to see at elimination time.

If you’re not first, you’re last, sure. But in the Dirty South Division, I want the team I root for to be the best last. And I don’t mind if the Hawks, and not the Hornets, perform well enough going forward to have the chance to become the last team top-seeded Miami sees during the playoffs. With all respect due to a NASCAR racing clan, it’s the one way I get to be a Petty year-round.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[kg01]

4 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

If you’re not first, you’re last, sure. But in the Dirty South Division, I want the team I root for to be the best last. And I don’t mind if the Hawks, and not the Hornets, perform well enough going forward to have the chance to become the last team top-seeded Miami sees during the playoffs. With all respect due to a NASCAR racing clan, it’s the one way I get to be a Petty year-round.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

me 'n lethal finna be the Super Petty-o Brovas

And come on, Hawks.  kg needs this to hang over my BIL's head.

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[marco102]

15 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

~lw3

I'd like to see a Cavs win and loss to Milwaukee on Sunday.  Put's the Hawks in 7th in the playin. 

[Spud2nique]

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

“I’m not telling you again. A hot dog is NOT a sandwich, UD! And tomato ketchup does NOT count as a fruit. What, are you some kind of fruity sandwich guy? And what maniac washes their chicken before frying it, but seasons the grease?”

“Catch me outside, Jimmy! How ‘bout dat?”

 

The Miami heat get to borrow back their Dirty South Division title for one more season. The Atlanta Hawks are a gracious lot, but if all goes well, that munificence might not last for much longer.

This is the way we ball, but I know I’m the among the few NBA fans left who give a lil’ flip about subregional rivalries these days. Despite crawling toward a second consecutive winning season, this was far from a banner year for our Hawks, so I’m resigned to accept that Miami gets to hold the pennant for a few hundred more days. Here’s the deal, though. If my team cannot have first in the Southeast in any particular season, then, by golly, I want second-place all to my lonesome.

It's selfish, but that’s another reason it would greatly benefit the Hawks, tonight (8 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Sun in MIA), to win at FTX Arena and offer the heat a taste of what might be coming down the pike, should Atlanta and Charlotte wind up in the Chase for #8.

#7 would be heaven, but short of that, I simply like to see Charlotte beneath Atlanta in the standings. In any standings. Don’t even get me started on the MLS action at the Five Stripes’ Little Brother’s house this weekend.

Per my back-of-napkin work, the Hawks have the superior divisional record, granting them the two-team tiebreaker, as well as the edge over Charlotte in the event of a four-way tie at 43-39. But in a three-way scenario where Brooklyn gets involved, the Hornets would earn the higher seed over Atlanta, due to finishing with the best three-way head-to-head.

Sorry, Charlotte, but I’m just greedy, in this narrow, one-upping way. Besides, I don’t want Atlanta’s Road to the Playoffs to roll through the nest of a Hornets team that hasn’t been there since Purple Shirt Guy’s big mouth got them dispatched all the way back in 2016. Keeping them entrenched at the 10-spot, the Horcats would need a pair of miraculous road wins just to get there, much like the Wizards need chemistry and the Magic need some milk to sneak in next season. In the meantime, I’d rather enjoy snootily looking down upon them all.

Pat Riley’s and Eric Spoelstra’s heat are used to enjoying this perch above all of us, having made this pedestal all their own pretty much since the Heatles arrived and the Dwightmare unfolded. They’ve leased out the division title to the Goody Two Shoes Hawks, The Best Backcourt in The East Wizards, and the Parity Magic on occasion, yet they always find their way back on top. Still, even while bearing the best record in the NBA East (52-28; 12-2 intra-division) this season, the sands seem a little shifty down in SoBe.

Almost midway through a four-game losing skid a couple weeks ago, as Jimmy Butler let a Warrior not named Steph Curry zip by him as part of a 19-0 Golden State run, Coach Spo called a timeout, and squabbled with Jimmy Buckets before the heat’s unofficial team mascot piped up. The spat between Butler and Udonis Haslem ignited a verbal sideline fracas, featuring a clipboard-slamming Spoelstra, that burned through another Miami timeout.

After losing that game, the fuming heat went on to let the Knicks go on a winning 19-2 fourth-quarter run, then fell behind by 37 at home to the Nets. Fortunately, with a five-game win streak that included back-to-back wins this week at Jimmy and Kyle Lowry’s old stomping grounds of Chicago and Toronto, they’ve since righted the ship. For the time being, Butler and Miami are feeling like Kings of the World.

For the record, I’m on Team Jimmy. Yes, I want The Human Napalm to stick to that franchise long enough that I can enjoy the eventual Miami meltdown. And, yes, Jimmy being loaded up on a personally crafted double espresso instead of a General Foods International Coffee doesn’t help matters when things get tense and go left.

But much like Full Force with their fully functioning olfactory receptors in House Party, Butler loves to sense what he sees as sawftness among his cohorts and bosses. Calling it out, sooner than later, tends to turn his would-be empires into washed-out sandcastles.

This time around, he perceives that Spoelstra and everyone else in the heat organization lack the gumption to thank Haslem for all he did back when LIVESTRONG wristbands were cool, hand that man the obligatory golf clubs, cancel his key card and order him to skedaddle.

The man and his team can’t tell you whether he’s an assistant coach, a heckler, or a sergeant-at-arms. But at Markieff Morris’ salary, UD’s the highest-paid at each profession in the NBA. This isn’t Auburn Hills. Why is a 41-year-old threatening to beat the donkey of an NBA star? And who gets the authority to do this while in official team gear, and cashing a paycheck? We get it, Miami, you’re grateful for your local legend. But turn the dadgum page, why don’tcha?

Riley has Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson locked in through 2023-24 ($126 million guaranteed for the quarrelsome quartet at that time), and Spoelstra show no signs of retiring. It would be fun to watch Haslem and Butler complete the slow-motion implosion from afar, especially if they pull a 1999 and fail to reach the second round. I’ll be over here on the hillside just in case, fiddle in hand.

Tonight, Hasbeen probably isn’t planning on exceeding the 11 minutes he logged during the COVID craziness of December. But Spo may not have much choice in the matter. Starters customarily get to dress up like Udonis after clinching the 1-seed during the final weekend of the regular season. But the heat also have a litany of reserves designated as questionable on the pregame injury/illness list.

The Nobel Peace Prize nominee for his role in last month’s sideline skirmish, Dewayne Dedmon is dealing with a sprained ankle. Omer Yurtseven’s got a tummy bug. For Gabe Vincent, the piggy that went to market is bruised. Keef and Haywood Highsmith have matching hip flexors. P.J. Tucker is definitely on the outs, having joined Caleb Martin with a calf injury.

Many of these guys will play today anyway, aside from Tucker, having had two off-days to recuperate. Plugging Sixth Man Award frontrunner Tyler Herro, Robinson and Max Strus alongside a reacclimating Victor Oladipo (no consecutive games played since March 11; DNP’d in MIA’s 144-115 win over CHA) ought to serve just fine as a kickstarter without much contribution from Lowry or Butler. But if Adebayo is due for any rest, with limited healthy frontcourt options, it may be Turn Back the Clock Night for UD in what ought to – excuse me, could – be the Miami native’s career home regular season finale.

While there is still no word on the timetable (oh, how I despise that word) for South Floridian John Collins, the Hawks’ injury list is much shorter, as Bogi Bogdanovic’s sore knee and Lou Williams’ back discomfort (each questionable for today) are the only other citations. Particularly without the BLAH offense (Butler, Lowry, Adebayo, Herro) around to do much for long stretches today, Atlanta should have the talent advantage on the floor from start to finish, to go along with the health-and-conditioning edge.

Whether these Hawks have the will edge, avoiding the bad habits with transition and perimeter defense, offensive inertia and shot selection that put them in the Play-In position, will be a determinant for whether they’ll get a Play-In game or two back home. Had they played the hand of cards they were dealt better earlier in the season, Atlanta would be right up there trading paint with Boston, Milwaukee, and Philly for a home Play-Off opening round. But now that they’re in this situation, they need to make good on the perception that they’re a team no one, be it Miami or Charlotte, wants to see at elimination time.

If you’re not first, you’re last, sure. But in the Dirty South Division, I want the team I root for to be the best last. And I don’t mind if the Hawks, and not the Hornets, perform well enough going forward to have the chance to become the last team top-seeded Miami sees during the playoffs. With all respect due to a NASCAR racing clan, it’s the one way I get to be a Petty year-round.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

Nice work as always lw3! @kg01 and his BIL bragging rights. Meanwhile I’m stamping where I’ve been! 

Spud was here.. (ps I didn’t put the mitt on but turned out quite fitting; Trae’s D lately. ) 

Any Hawks fans in Brooklyn? Just curious. I can house sit.  

 

[AtLaS]

We just need to win tonight, Miami clinched 1st so likely will be resting players.  No funny stuff.

I know you should never try to avoid anyone, but the only team i really fear is Milwaukee.  Honestly would rather play Miami in the 1st round lol.

[hawkman]

37 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Nice work as always lw3! @kg01 and his BIL bragging rights. Meanwhile I’m stamping where I’ve been! 

Spud was here.. (ps I didn’t put the mitt on but turned out quite fitting; Trae’s D lately. ) 

Any Hawks fans in Brooklyn? Just curious. I can house sit.  

 

I have that same hat. You have good taste! 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[Sothron]

They are playing their regular players in a game with zero meaning for them? What is that? What if one or more of their guys gets hurt in a meaningless game? 

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, Sothron said:

They are playing their regular players in a game with zero meaning for them? What is that? What if one or more of their guys gets hurt in a meaningless game? 

They'd prefer to face us at the 8th seed over Brooklyn.

[hawkman]

11 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

They'd prefer to face us at the 8th seed over Brooklyn.

Oh really? Hopefully, the Hawks make them regret that strategy after tonight's game.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[benhillboy]

Trae with the on ball deflection on Bam down low wow

[hawkman]

Early mitten sighting.

Bogi's hurt. SMH.

[h4wkfan]

Kyle Lowry is a dirty player. Change my mind. SMH. 
 

also. How is it a flagrant to step under a 3 point shooter and not someone driving. I get it’s bang, bang. But isn’t it the same closing out on a shooter?

Edited April 9, 2022 by h4wkfan

[TheNorthCydeRises]

That open court steal by Trae was Iverson-like.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks have deflected or stolen more balls in this quarter, than they have in a game all year . . at least that's the way it seems.

[benhillboy]

Herro and Trae out here elite playmaking 

[terrell]

Dre with a big fat DONUT in the 1st qtr.. O points.. O boards.. O assists.. O everything...

 

[kg01]

Dafuq was the call?!

The hand is a part of the ball!!