Official Playoff Game Thread: heat at Hawks -- GAME 4

[lethalweapon3]

“Lemme tell ya, Spo, I’ve been accused of having a Suspicious Package a few too many times for my liking, y’know what I mean?”

 

Three games under our belts, and we still don’t have a series! We’re often told it’s not a series until somebody steals a road game, or when a team finds itself up for elimination, having lost its third game, for example, in a seven-game series. Neither of those things transpired on Friday, and that still may hold true if the Atlanta Hawks play even incrementally better against the Miami heat tonight at State Farm Arena (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, TNT).

Atlanta indeed needed every last screech and ca-caw from their swag-surfing fans at The Farm to climb out from a double-digit hole and curtail a heroballing Jimmy Butler at Friday’s final horn. Cramming commuter-fans into their seats in a timely fashion, on a pleasant Sunday evening, shouldn’t be as much of a challenge, so the house should be packed for Game 4 and rocking at tipoff. That should benefit these Hawks, who persistently crow about the advantageous comforts of playing before the home crowd, in producing their best opening quarter in this series.

Butler faces the additional challenge of carrying some laboring co-stars. Kyle Lowry’s hamstring is acting up from all of his pratfalls. It rendered him inactive for the pivotal final quarter of Game 3 and pairs his upper-leg ailment with Bam Adebayo’s continuously bruised quad. While the evening tip time does not necessarily translate into a schedule win for Miami, the extra intervening hours that were not afforded Atlanta ahead of Game 1 should aid in the heat players’ recuperation.

Neither of Lowry (5.1 PPG below; 31.3 FG% in series) nor Adebayo (9.8 PPG below; 45.0 2FG%) are scoring near their regular-season averages, while the ice is only beginning to crack for sixth-man Tyler Herro (5.6 PPG below, despite a team-high 24 points in Friday’s 111-110 loss). Butler has been ready and willing to be Playoff Jimmy, but it’s hard to foretell whether his perimeter proficiencies (42.9 3FG% on 4.7 3FGAs/game vs. ATL; 23.3% on 2.0 3FGAs/game in regular season) can hold up for an entire series, particularly this one.

It is reaching the height of suspicion that heat coach Erik Spoelstra may choose to ride with one of Gabe Vincent (probable for Game 4), on his bum toe, or Herro to offset Lowry’s absence or limitations as a starter, while Victor Oladipo watches Trae Young (19.0 PPG despite 17.4 3FG% vs. MIA) and Delon Wright from afar.

“[Caleb Martin] played [in Game 2] and had significant, important minutes in that second half. I anticipate the same thing will happen for Vic and [Markieff Morris],” Spo told media after Game 2, although both vets were scratches on Friday, too. Martin (ankle sprain) now joins Kyle, Bam, and P.J. Tucker (strained calf) on the list of gameday questionables.

However Spo rotates his backcourt, Atlanta’s under Nate McMillan has a conditioning advantage to exploit, even with Lou Williams (out, back ache) unlikely to appear unless an elimination game is on the horizon.

McMillan cannot be pleased that his Hawks had been losing the turnover margins against Miami (16.0, to MIA’s 15.0), but he must have enjoyed the turnover-free comeback in the fourth-quarter of Game 3. Also, while the languishing nature of Game 1 skews the head-to-head stats, one advantage Atlanta currently holds is in points scored off of those same turnovers (20.3, to MIA’s 18.3).

The possibility of having Clint Capela (questionable, hyperextended knee) back in the lineup is tantalizing for the Hawks, particularly in seizing back the rebounding edge going forward. But the immediate task ahead is to run on the weary-legged heat and execute with few unforced errors and out-of-rhythm shots.

If Atlanta can continue to tamp down the heat in the middle quarters (MIA +6 in the combined 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of Game 3, down from +10 in Game 2 and +20 in Game 1), they could find Butler and the heat scrambling late in hopes of avoiding a return to Florida, and later Georgia, with this series knotted at two wins apiece. Closing the books on Game 4 would require the Hawks to commit to limiting catch-and-shoot open perimeter looks (particularly for Max Strus, Tucker, Herro and Duncan Robinson), going over on screens, and staying high enough on heat ballhandlers that they cannot barrel into defenders and draw foul shots with the clock stopped.

Let us all make it through Game 5 before anybody starts calling this 1-versus-8 matchup a series. That goes for you, too, Paul Pierce!

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Hopefully the 'Magic' of the City was great to the heat.

[kg01]

Refs: David Guthrie, Courtney Kirkland, Brent Barnaky. 

I'll leave the scouting report to @thecampster and his .... sources.  Yeah, I know source intel when I sees it. 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

pleasant Sunday

Not to be mistaken with a BS (beautiful Saturday) 

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

his upper-leg

minimus 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Hawks to commit to limiting catch-and-shoot open perimeter looks (particularly for Max Strus, Tucker, Herro and Duncan Robinson), going over on screens,

Yup.

Great game thread lw3! A red out on Friday and a blackout for Sunday! (We got our statement jersey’s on)!

GO HAWKS!!!!

Ps Vegas has Heat -1.5, 2K to come!

[Plainview1981]

Is Clint supposed to play?

[terrell]

23 minutes ago, Plainview1981 said:

Is Clint supposed to play?

Gametime decision.

[terrell]

If Lowry is out and Spoelstra starts Herro, surely Nate will counter and stick Delon on him right?

Come on Nate, you can do it..

[Spud2nique]

I’m not gonna sugar coat this? We are down by 4 at half on 2K. Bam is having his way with me like a big Herc might in prison.

OO had the block of the century on Jimi. Chased his a$$ from mid court, timed that $hit and SLAP GIT THAT SLOP OUTTA HERE YIMI!!! 

Down 4,

NATE! What should I do? Any adjustments? No? Get the ball to Trae and let him work? Ok cool, got it! 
 

LEGGOOOOOO!!!!! 

[kg01]

I want fLowery to play.  A tite hammy and that boodee are a precarious combination. 

[Spud2nique]

 BULL$HIT

NATE ADJUSTMENT WASN’T ENOUGH AND I PLAYED LIKE A$$! 
 

COMON HAWKS DON’T PULL THIS IN REAL LIFE! 
 

Good news: No triple double for big Herc Bam.

I think this is karma for realgm trash 🗑 talkin Mavs lol. 

Edited April 24, 2022 by Spud2nique

[Spud2nique]

14 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I want fLowery to play.  A tite hammy and that boodee are a precarious combination. 

That’s great but are you doing your job? You know, mud wrestling with the BIL in a bottomless jersey top only sunny Sunday in the Sac? 
 

[BrazilianHawk]

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

[Spud2nique]

Other side wants to wrap it up fast…

[hawkman]

2 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Other side wants to wrap it up fast…

Mighty arrogant to be concerned about Philly 'waiting on them' or Embiid's thumb right now. Them getting past the Hawks is NOT a given. A decisive home win tonight and it's Hawks in 6 or 7.

[shakes]

Did my part yesterday.  Was out for walk with the wife and the dogs and 3 young boys started passing us on bikes.  First one was wearing a Bayern Munich Schwiensteiger jersey.  Next one was wearing a Pippen Bulls.  Next comes a kid in a Miami Vice Jimmy Butler jersey.  I booed that kid till he was out of earshot.  

[kg01]

17 minutes ago, shakes said:

Did my part yesterday.  Was out for walk with the wife and the dogs and 3 young boys started passing us on bikes.  First one was wearing a Bayern Munich Schwiensteiger jersey.  Next one was wearing a Pippen Bulls.  Next comes a kid in a Miami Vice Jimmy Butler jersey.  I booed that kid till he was out of earshot.  

As a lawyer, shakes knows he can't state that he actually pushed that kid off his bike then played it off by saying he was "tryna kill a bee" ...... with a 2-handed shove?

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

That’s great but are you doing your job? You know, mud wrestling with the BIL in a bottomless jersey top only sunny Sunday in the Sac? 
 

We had a call to try and reconcile.  Then he starts talking about not need fLowery and how they can just toss lOladipo in to score 40 and I blacked out.  Turns out, in actuality, I went on a rant about his lack of basic bbiq and how 'he on't know sh*t'.

Needless to say, peace talks broke down. 

[kg01]

"My brother told me what the Heat sideline dustup was really about.  Haslem caught Jimi using his toothbrush ... again.  Haslem was walking around tastin Virginia Slims, didn't know why.  It all came to a head when Jimi screamed 'you've come a long way, baby'." - Deric Spoelstra 

[kg01]

"Word around the dinner table is my brother had to go to marriage counseling.  Wife caught him peeking at Lowery's boodee during practice.  Eric said, 'babe, have you seen that onion?  I ain't seen gams like that since Rick Mahorn put on Zeeks shorts by accident.'" - D. Spo 

[Spud2nique]

53 minutes ago, kg01 said:

We had a call to try and reconcile. 

[Spud2nique]

54 minutes ago, kg01 said:

basic bbiq