Official Game Thread: Hawks at Thunder

[lethalweapon3]

 Elon’s just letting everybody sneak back on Twitter!

 

The San Miguel Beermen have been just one big man away from winning the celebrated Grand Slam of championship cups in the Philippine Basketball Association. By now, that man could have been Mike Muscala. In my estimation, his fate’s at least a couple years past due.

Nevertheless, the Oklahoma City Thunder, of North America’s National Basketball Association, simply won’t let Money Mike leave the prairie. Not of his own accord.

The former Atlanta Hawks backup, Muscala was shipped to the Lakers as part of the Thunder’s 2018 deal for Dennis Schröder, as the Hawks were kickstarting the brave, new Trae Young era. He wound his way to OKC the next summer, one thought at the time, to round up his modest NBA career.

Moose got a two-year deal, opted back in for 2020-21, and that was supposed to be it, as far as the then-30-year-old’s NBA tenure was concerned. Cue the music, and Porky Pig.

But, no, folks, that wasn’t all! Thunder exec Sam Presti brought him back for 2021-22. A two-year deal, with a team option. Predictably, on the heels of a pleasant tank job, OKC opted out of Muskie’s contract last summer. Lo and behold, rather unpredictably, they still weren’t through with him.

Presti inked Muscala to another contract with a second-year team option, saving a roster spot for him well before his team knew they’d lose their prize-pick big man for the season. Would-be rookie sensation Chet Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc injury weeks later, while running the floor with Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero at Jamal Crawford’s Slippery in Seattle Pro-Am. It looked like Muscala would get SOME meaningful floor time this season, after all.

Still, what fresh hell is this? Moose is starting basketball games, now? In the N, not P, BA? In 2023, Anno Dominique?

After being tasked with zero starts in his prior two seasons with the Thunder, Muscala is up to four starts in this campaign, notably, three this month. Perhaps there will be another in store tonight (8 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Oklahoma), since OKC’s 3-0 this month when Mike shares the starting stage with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company.

This development defies my comprehension. Then again, this unreliable narrator was also a fella who thought “Daigneault” was French for “seat-warmer”.

At 8-3 this month, and 5-1 here at Paycom Center since the Christmas break, Mark Daigneault has the Thunder (23-24) punching well above their weight. They’re not just Rolling Thunder at home, either. One night after dusting the 76ers in Philly two weeks ago, OKC traveled to Chicago and turned on the after-burners on a Bulls team that thought it was safe to DNP DeMar DeRozan.

By comparison, the Hawks traveled to Chicago on Monday, and they traveled, fumbled, and stumbled some more (19 team TOs) as they let the slow-starting Bulls traipse away in the final frame. Having already snacked on a John Collins- and DeAndre Hunter-less Hawks team in the ATL just last month, OKC is poised to pass Atlanta (24-24) at the .500 mark, tonight, unless Young (41 points and 8 assists @ OKC last March) has something to say about that in this return to his home state.

The Thundersonics (70-70) are one of three active franchises (the Blazers, the Raptors) that can scooch ahead of the Hawks in their all-time, even-steven head-to-head record with their next win. Far more important to Daigneault, he can match last year’s win tally tonight, with 34 games to spare.

While the Thunder enter today’s game as an 11-seed, in the congested NBA West, they are also a mere 2.5 games out of fourth. Anything resembling a Play-In spot, or better, for OKC given the unavailability of Holmgren and Presti’s plans to have the Thunder remain a lower-tier-salaried team, ought to render Daigneault worthy of Coach of the Year honors.

They have certainly done enough, to this point, to jot down SGA (30.7 PPG, 2^nd in NBA West) as a 2023 All-Star in non-erasable ink. As for the player who (thanks to Tyrese Haliburton’s untimely injury) once again leads the NBA in total assists, while tied for third in total points, I’m perfectly fine with the prospect of Trae getting the snub.

That would not be so much as penance served for the Hawks’ months-long malaise. More because I personally can do without enduring Young again being a last-player-standing in the captains’ All-Star draft, this time live before a studio audience of nearly 19,000. Let Gilgeous-Alexander, the scoring guard who thrives on drives rather than threes and dimes, be among the final players left exposed by LeBron and the Freak.

Further, I have an affinity for watching worthy Hawk players, rookie/sophomores or otherwise, play the back half of a season after they’ve been given the cold shoulder. We’ll recall that the greatest postseason in Atlanta basketball history, to date, occurred months after 2020 All-Star Ice Trae was left to cool his jets while the 2021 midseason classic was underway.

Afterwards, his boxscore numbers didn’t go up, nor did his efficiencies, to any significant degree. But Young (9.8 Iso TO% this season, highest among NBA guards with more than 3 Iso possessions/game) looked to jack up shots less and distributed more, eventually allowing a healthier team around him to improve by leaps and bounds ahead of his first, wildly successful playoff push.

It must be pleasant to be a guy like Muscala, unconcerned with such trivial matters, fully able to lock down his All-Star Break travel plans annually. While being a 6-foot-10 flexible big with an occasionally trusty jumper (41.6 FG%, 36.3 3FG%, incl. 38.7% over last 9 January games) can carry you a long way, in this day and age, being the old-head mentor on a young team, familiar with the coach’s system and willing to accept perpetual vet-min-level deals, carries you even further. However, Moose probably has plenty of reason to be concerned, in the weeks to come.

OKC already knows who next year’s rookie star is likely to be – namely, Holmgren. This allows the Thunder to continue burrowing ahead with the cast they have, granting OKC a swifter crack at the postseason than anyone originally planned. Might Presti dare to upgrade the roster, making calls instead of just taking them, Muscala’s $3.5 million annual salary would surely be in the mix of discussions.

There’s little wonder why Muscala is getting this pre-Trade Deadline showcase. He would not mind getting dealt to a surefire Finals contender that has designs on him sticking around as an emergency big off the bench. What he would not like is the possibility of getting traded to a team that plans to have The Talk, some GM glad-handing him for his man-hours of service before letting his contract hit the waiver wire. Undoubtedly, if there is a playoff series in Mike’s near-future, he’d much rather see things through this season with his current teammates, wherever it leads, than have to consider cracking open a Manila travel guide.

Sorry, Moose. It seems the Thunder just don’t know how to quit you. Then again, on second glance, maybe they do.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[kg01]

Lizzo** incoming.

** Big L

[lethalweapon3]

So the real reason Muskie's getting baited out there is because the Thunder lost Aleksej Pokusevski to a non-displaced tibia fracture at the end of last month. That and starter Jeremiah Robinson-Earl's unavailability due to an ankle sprain has them leaning heavily on the JaWilliamses, Josh Giddey, and Kenrich Williams to help Muscala hold the fort.

The Hawks would do well to overwhelm the Thunder inside, but future Primatene Mist spokesman DeAndre Hunter (asthma) and Onyeka Okongwu (tight hammy) remain questionable on the Boo-Boo Report ahead of today's game.

Bogi Bogdanovic's 4-for-6 opening half helped the Hawks keep the Thunder at bay, but only for awhile during the eventual 121-114 loss. He ended his first healthy month of this season at 40.4 3FG%, but January's 28.1 3FG% has him bumping against his NBA-career-low for three-point marksmanship. He'll need to turn things around soon to help take the Heroball pressure off Dejountrae.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

"Big Mac

Filet-o-Fish

Quarter Pounder

French Fries

Icy Coke

Thick Shakes

Sundaes

and Apple Pies!"

~lw3

[warcore]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The Hawks would do well to overwhelm the Thunder inside, but future Primatene Mist spokesman DeAndre Hunter (asthma) and Onyeka Okongwu (tight hammy) remain questionable on the Boo-Boo Report ahead of today's game.

That's as funny as the fact that he looks like the talking rock on Legends of the Hidden Temple!

[lethalweapon3]

Hawks getting back on defense: "Hey, Ousmane is this?"

Kenrich Williams is at his most dangerous when he is standing completely still.

~lw3

[shakes]

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

"

Thick Shakes

 

~lw3

Hey I’ll have you know I’m down 9 pounds since i started my diet this month.

[terrell]

 

Dre is out again.. smh

At least OO is available..

Edited January 26 by terrell

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[terrell]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Can they get Dre an inhaler? Good grief..

Edited January 26 by terrell

[JayBirdHawk]

For all who slept at a Holiday Inn last night and pretend to be doctors what is the difference between 'acute asthma symptoms' and 'asthma symptoms?'

[terrell]

16 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

For all who slept at a Holiday Inn last night and pretend to be doctors what is the difference between 'acute asthma symptoms' and 'asthma symptoms?'

IDK but here he is walking into the Arena..So he can breathe....

DJM needs to tie his shoes.. 

Edited January 26 by terrell

[Spud2nique]

Thanks lw3! Hawks win by a ton! @LongTimeFan I’m back baaaaabbbbyyy!!!

 

GO HAWKS!!!!

[LongTimeFan]

36 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

For all who slept at a Holiday Inn last night and pretend to be doctors what is the difference between 'acute asthma symptoms' and 'asthma symptoms?'

Better looking?

[Sothron]

Has anyone else noticed how our schedule has been so far this season? How many games have we played where the other team is at the rest advantage over us?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Call the game consistent refs.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

OKC shooting 76.5% FG and 4 - 5 from 3.

Only down by 4, so at least we're keeping pace with them.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bogi with 2 fouls already. OKC trying to disrupt Nate's Rotation Matrix.

[LongTimeFan]

We already have six offensive rebounds to OKC's zero.

[parfait]

Acute asthma is a flare-up or "exacerbation," where the symptoms are out of control and not manageable. That's often when an asthma sufferer has to go into the ER to get a breathing treatment.

Otherwise, asthma patients have "asthma symptoms" that are controlled day to day with use of medications and/or an inhaler. When there is an "acute" asthma situation, the inhalers alone are no longer cutting it.