Official Game Thread: 76ers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“Come to see! Victory! In a land, called…”

 

A half-million army of happy All-Star voters can’t be wrong!

Before delving further, a mea culpa, to precisely 11 of y’all.

Yesterday, on January 9, 2024, Anno Dominique, around noon, was the first time I recalled that I have a team to tend to, at Hawksquawk XXIII on Yahoo!. It’s OK! I’m only, like, 52.0 games behind. I’m killing it with Fantasy Tankathon XXIV lottery odds!

I am so happy with my default Auto-Pick draft haul, what with LaMelo Ball and Bradley Beal and Tobias Harris and Andrew Wiggins and Jalen Duren and whatnot carrying my water. Much like an AWOL defense secretary, or a wylin’ Bay Area power forward, going forward, I vow to do better. Insofar as it’s humanly impossible to be faring any worse.

Now, over on ESPN? Different story! Your Boy’s Reign of Terror came to a merciful fantasy end on Sunday after seven consecutive weeks of unmitigated Dubyas. I have but one gentleman to thank for my glorious run to the top (fine, two. You, too, KD. Whenever you show up).

I am embedded among the sleeper cell of individuals slamming the VOTE button for THE Trae Young, near-future NBA All-Star, every 24.001 hours. This legion includes people who care not one whit about the musty, fusty periodic results of the team (now down to 8-27 against the so-called spread, after deciding that disappointing Atlanta Hawks fans in regulation, versus shorthanded Orlando, who is now 25-12 ATS, best in NBA East and just ahead of 23-12 PHI, wasn’t suffering enough) he leads onto NBA floors.

Shorties being aggressively quixotic on the hardwood is always a cool story in the league, and it is sure to draw sympathetic supporters, especially some of us longtime residents of He Too Little Nation. That alone doesn’t account for enough of what has surely blown past one million All-Star votes by now on Young’s behalf by satisfied customers. What matters way more to some of us finicky fans is: do you contribute to winning… fantasy wins, that is to say?

Back in October, my trusty Lethalputer told me it was safe to peer through my Torch Red-colored glasses to select Trae third-overall in my ESPN draft, the very first guard off the board. Nikola 1, Giannis 2, Trae 3 (???), Tatum 4, Joel Embiid 5. Yes, subsequent first-round recipients of Luka, Rese, and SGA all thank their lucky stars. They’re all looking up at not just constellations, but Your Boy, well atop my points head-to-head league fantasy standings. How’s that dust taste, peeps? Y’all need a cloth to clean out your gullets, or…?

Joel paces ESPN point fantasy leagues with nearly 65 fantasy points per game. Take a short jaunt down the list, though, and you’ll find Trae, with a blistering 50 faux PPG, the second-best mark among East guards behind Señor Haliburton’s 58. We will know a lot more, a week-or-so after the Indiana 150’ers weekend return to Atlanta, about whether Trae leads the field for *replacement* Eastern Conference All-Star starter, rendering appeals to a dismissive media punditry unnecessary.

There are several categories available, over on NBA Dot Com, for All-Star fan voters to slice through the noise and choose their starting fave-fives. The most obvious, arguably a tad lazy, of those is Fantasy Points (FP), as conveniently calculated by Dot Com stats. Tyrese’s 50.2 leads all East guards. Then, in second place, there’s Trae at 48.6 FP, closer to Haliburton than Donovan Mitchell (46.5), LaMelo (lol, 44.6), That Other Tyrese Over There (Maxey, 42.9), Scary Terry (42.0, thanks Melo), Dame Lillard (41.7), and Jalen Brunson (41.0) are to Him.

In seasons past, where The Association simply listed players in alphabetical order by surname, players like Young were at a decided disadvantage, particularly with voters whose index fingers tire easily. These days, as one can sort by actual Points (Trae 7^th overall, 3^rd in East), Assists (Trae 2^nd in East and overall), and Fantasy Points (9^th overall, neck-and-neck with KD for 8^th), Trae (unlike Squawk XXIII, for my past three months) is no longer out of sight, out of mind.

Now, as my three-year-long ESPN Fantasy Football reign o’ terror just concluded with a deflating second-prize finish, it is worth re-emphasizing that, when it comes to your fantasy-sport superstars, their best ability is availability. Dagnabbit, McCaffrey. Didn’t we almost have it all?

Few NBA greats understand this better than Embiid, whose Philadelphia 76ers are in town (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Illadelph). The reigning MVP is the sole player compiling over sixty Dot Com FP’s per game (63.3, four points ahead of NBA West leading vote-getter Luka) every time he steps on the floor. It’s the “stepping on the floor, every time” part that’s threatening to become a problem, for him even more than the Sixers (23-12, 3^rd in NBA East, 4.5 GB BOS).

Having built up his career in the Iversonesque heart-and-soul spirit, of playing and excelling through pain, that Philly fans crave, Embiid (last 16 games: 36.5 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 6.2 APG, 2.2 BPG, 40.4 3FG%) wants to prove that last year’s MVP-winning dash was no one-hit wonder. But the new Triple-P policy of player participation has him on thin ice for MV-rePeating, or even collecting any of the league’s most prestigious end-of-season honors.

He has already missed eight games due to injury/illness. Make that nine, tonight, as a swollen knee will have him back on the shelf, with 46 games to go after this evening. Eighteen is the requisite number that would push him (min. 65 games played w/ min. 20 minutes in each; maxed out at 68 games for his career in 2021-22, 66 in his MVP season) out of the running, leaving only “All-Star Starter” up for grabs. Even that status, for the reigning MVP, is endangered.

The first-place Celtics’ Tatum hovered less than 100,000 votes behind Embiid after the first ballot returns were revealed last Thursday. Giannis, despite his pointing fingers at the equipment manager for the second-place Bucks’ ongoing issues, had a cozy 300,000-vote lead over Embiid for the East’s top frontcourt slot.

Without Joel, Philly did beat Paolo (and Franz) in Orlando by 20 points (hee hee) just a couple weeks ago. Yet that’s one of only two wins, versus six defeats, without him. Maxey and Harris’ team arrives in Atlanta, well rested, but only after getting dunked in the Baptismal pool by John Collins (9-for-10 FGs) and the Jazz in Philly, suffering a 120-109 defeat without Embiid’s services back on Saturday evening.

It was Philadelphia’s second-straight L after losing by 36, with Joel soldiering through his bum knee for a half-hour, at division-rival New York. Coach Nick Nurse’s club would rather be surging toward the top of the NBA East, not risking a descent into its mushy middle (seeds #4 through #8 are all at 21-15, 2.5 GB PHI).

Have no fear, Sixer fans, the Hawks are here! Additionally, Philly ought to have Harris, De’Anthony Melton (questionable, sore lumbar) and Furkan Korkmaz all suiting up again. In Embiid’s case, though, it will help his cause in the run-up to All-Star Weekend if the Sixers are winning ballgames, and if he, not Maxey, remains the primary reason why.

Meanwhile, The Partridge Family couldn’t get Trae Young fantasy fans any happier, no matter how fast the hapless Hawks (14-21, 5-9 at home, 9-17 vs. NBA East, but 2.5-point favorites tonight! Thanks, Joel…) hurtle toward a wholesale rebuilding around Him and, until he gets tossed under the proverbial bus JC-style, too, Jalen Johnson (zero points on one shot over a full twelve 4^th-quarter minutes during the 117-110 OT loss @ ORL, joining the scoreless Clinkongwu Onyekapela center contingent).

I can speak for Spud, fantasy Landry of Trae over on Squawk XXIII, when I declare virtually any day in which Trae plays (probable for tonight, despite his sore shoulder), and isn’t getting himself tossed mid-game by the refs, a pretty darn good day. Plus, keeping Atlanta Play-In Relevant, through April, will assure us fantasy GMs that the durable Young doesn’t get McCaffreyed by real-life team managers at Fantasy Playoff time. In the meantime, we’re like the fella on the right in the meme enjoying the vista from above, grinning ear to ear, as the bus meanders around a drab mountainside.

Doubling as a dour Hawks fan on the other side of the bus, the one thing I beseech of my King Rayford III (NBA-high 8.6 fourth-quarter PPG, tied w/ Giannis) is to please bestow upon your subjects more fourth-quarter free throw makes. Hey, freebies are fantasy points, too, and Your Boy needs to pad his weekly leads!

Young (2.0 clutch FTAs/game, behind only Embiid’s 2.3; 82.5 FT%, to Joel’s 95.2) had two of five crucial missed free throws that Atlanta would have loved to have sunk on Sunday. That was before his last-minute layup, a steal by Capela (questionable, sore Achilles), and a dime from Jalen to a dunking Saddiq Bey scrambled the Hawks into a fruitless overtime session.

I was hopeful that Hawks minority owner Grant Hill would have left no doubts by now, but is there any way us first-place fantasy managers can weigh in on the Olympic starters for Team USA, ahead of Paris 2024 this summer? After all, as Jay-Z might advise G-Hill, Paris is the place where all Trae’s naysayers can be Outside, living their best lives.

The Hawks have a chance, finally with some rational at-home rest, to kick off a five-game homestand by rattling off wins over the Embiid-less Sixers, the Reesyburton-less Pacers, and the swagger-less Wizards, all before the Dejounte-less Spurs arrive for MLK Day, and before Atlanta tries to get its lick back versus the Wagner-less Magic next Wednesday.

Failing that, as is likely? I just need Ice Trae -- The Man, The Viper, and The Prosecution -- to continue balling so hard, ESPN’s Fantasy Commissioner will want to fine me. Yup! It’s Your Boy!

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[HawksNWaffles]

2nd times the charm, lets get this win

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

He talkin' 'bout Practice!...

...but One T will still sit this one out after spraining his ankle in Orlando. It was nice to have a numerical rest advantage over other teams, for the week that it lasted. Two Ts is Questionable with a sore calf, as is Clint with his sore Achilles. Dre Hunter (inflamed knee) is reportedly turning a corner, but not in time for tonight's action.

On the Sixer side, Embiid remains joined by Robert Covington (Out, also with a swollen knee). Melton remains Questionable as of the early-morning Boo-Boo Report. Tobias Harris returns after missing his first game of the season in Saturday's home loss to The Fighting Simone Fontecchios.

The homestand is expected to help Atlanta catch up on its league-low 14 home games thus far. Hawks GameNotes reminds us that November 22 was the last time Atlanta had a second-consecutive game at The Farm.

They also cite Elias Sports when noting the last time the team had just 14 home contests in its opening 35-game slate, the team was still in St. Louis, swan-songing it in 1968 (nice 16-1 start, though), with "neutral games" thrown in the mix at Philadelphia (versus the Pistons?), Baltimore (versus the Sixers??), and Miami Beach.

Can you tell that I would really like to meet the league's schedule-makers?

In the race to 1,000 Triples, Bogi needs just two, while Trae needs just four. Some pour soul had to confirm that NBA teammates never crossed that particular threshold in the same game.

I cannot believe The Process years (and I guess the post-Chuck pre-A.I. seasons) dragged on for so long that the Hawks had a sizeable lead all-time on the Sixers. Maybe Syracuse really struggled with St. Louis back in the day. But anyway, Atlanta's 179-175 lead is narrowing after losing five-straight versus Philly.

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Eh, what's one more log on the ol' fire?

~lw3

[TheNorthCydeRises]

#NoMoreHomeLosses

[Chrimturn]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

#NoMoreHomeLosses

5 in a row here.  Chance to flip it.

[thecampster]

OMFG when Jalen is allowed to push the ball up court, his whole approach changes and he becomes a menace.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I need to see a list of corner 3 shooters.  Bey has to be near the bottom.

[JayBirdHawk]

OO creating plays for Saddiq for corner 3s....and he keeps missing 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bruno must be in between hair appointments.

[JayBirdHawk]

Show 'em your moves Trent.

Then an awesome pass to Bruno...be ready Bruno.

FIBA Bogi steal and slam!

[terrell]

8 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

OO creating plays for Saddiq for corner 3s....and he keeps missing 

I can understand how Bey can be useful, but he plays way too many minutes to not be a liability.

Make your FT's Bruno!!

Edited January 11 by terrell

[TheNorthCydeRises]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

OO creating plays for Saddiq for corner 3s....and he keeps missing 

I knew this had to be low, but not this low . . . damn. 

He may be worst in the league in making the corner 3, while LEADING the league in corner 3 attempts.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

JJ whip pass....nice!

[Chrimturn]

Bogi came to play today.  All over the place

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

I knew this had to be low, but not this low . . . damn. 

He may be worst in the league in making the corner 3, while LEADING the league in corner 3 attempts.

 

That's awful. Then he compounds his misses by stepping out of bounds too 

Trae defense...slowed down that fast break.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bruno being productive and active.  And setting good screens and giving hard fouls to prevent the And 1.

That's all you ask for out of your big.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Bruno being productive and active.  And setting good screens and giving hard fouls to prevent the And 1.

That's all you ask for out of your big.

He's gotta be ready to shoot the ball though. Too much having to gather

[TheNorthCydeRises]

RIP Bama

You had a great run.  But now it's time for you go back to the depths of Hades.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Bruno