Official Game Thread: Magic at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“Oh, hey, AJ. Thanks a bunch to you guys. Did you hear, I’ve got Hou Stans now?”

 

When will we get Roger Goodell to stop the charade?

The happy accident that allowed Dallas to be “East”, and Atlanta and, eventually, N’Awlins to be “West”, set the stage for the most ostentatious, overhyped division in professional sports to dupe everyone once more.

We get it. Tom Landry’s success out of the box to build the Cowboys into annual championship contenders made them look like annoying interlopers in the longstanding feuds between the actual Eastern Seaboard clubs from D.C. (previously Boston), New York, and Philly. Cowboys running roughshod through the East, and the efforts to stop them at all costs, was kind of a big deal for the brave new world of TV. So was Gunsmoke.

The 1960s and 1970s are long gone, and the NFL and its media partners are still clinging to fading fables of the past in promoting Dallas’ division as the gold standard. We have arrived in the 21^st Century, the third Anno Dominique millennium, and Dallas and their Metroplex pro teams compete out of the NBA Western Conference, the AL West Division, the NHL Western Conference, the MLS Western Conference, and… the NFC East. What?

The Buccaneers had to be a bit peeved when they joined the league in 1976. Central Florida’s Team didn’t get the NYC-TV-market bump that their AFC counterparts, the Dolphins, were blessed with after merging into the AFC East from the AFL. Miami shared the former league’s Eastern Division with a Texas club, Houston. But even the Oilers were not invited into the media-heavy East upon their entry into the NFL. The Creamsicle Pirates of Tampa were shoe-horned into an NFC division with the Monsters of the Midway, playing wintertime games in the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field. Didn’t work out very well, for quite awhile.

With continued expansion and growing media-market balance, the NFL, like all pro leagues, have had chances to get their divisions geographically accurate. Like the Seahawks at the 1-yard line, they’ve chosen to pass, every time. The effect of that shows up every season, when the Worldwide Leader in Shouting About Sports steers the NFL Universe to center around a team that last appeared in the Super Bowl when Yo! MTV Raps stopped being a big deal, and its three faraway rivals.

The Cowboys’ booster seat comes at the expense of far more Eastern clubs, specifically the residents of the NFC Dungy South. As the Cowboys got fricasseed at home by Green Bay, this past Wild Card weekend, the Eagles got Baked in Tampa Bay. The NFC South’s repeat-division-champion-by-default Bucs blew the wings off Philly’s helmets.

Since the current NFL division format was instituted in 2002, the NFC East has had a Super Bowl Roman Numerals representative just six times, winning thrice. The NFC South has that same number, and are 3-3, too. Even the Dirty Birds, unlike The Boys, have been to The Big Game since 1995, twice. We’re not so different, are we now, NFC Least?

Perhaps I’m looking at all this wrong. Maybe it’s in a league’s best interest to have its most goody-two-shoed East Coast-ish club engaged in unending division rivalries with Gotham, New England, Tushpushadelphia, and/or the DMV.

Yes, Pat Riley, down there off South Beach, I’m talking about you. Is there any team in the NBA more Atlantic, geographically, than his Miami heat? Let’s Make the Atlantic Division Charlie Ward vs. PJ Brown Again. And just leave us more landlocked southeastern rivals, like the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic playing tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Florida), alone!

Atlanta, formerly of the NBA Western and Central divisions, has only fared slightly better in approaching the hallowed NBA Finals since the NBA Southeast Division was forged in 2004. They’ve only come out on top in the division on two occasions. The Magic have four division titles, although three of those came  way back when Dwight Howard was kind of a thing.

The heat have 12 division banners, or one should say, a banner showing 12 Southeast division titles, among others, in that time. And 13 is looking like quite the lock, already in mid-January, even as Miami’s three leading scorers have missed anywhere from 10 to 20 games as we near the halfway point of the season.

The heat are already 9-0 versus division foes, after having outlasted Paolo Banchero’s Magic and blasted the Hornets over the past week. Miami is just 15-16 versus everyone else. They’ll return from Toronto to host the Hawks on Friday, then try to put away the Magic again on Sunday. Before getting smoked in the 2023 Play-In opener, last year’s division winners for Miami went just 10-6. They could go 11-0 before the calendar turns to February, 13-0 before the league hits the All-Star Break.

The other four also-rans in the NBA Southeast seem conspiratorial in artificially inflating the heat’s sense of self-worth. The good news for the Hawks (16-23, now 9-4 versus the NBA West after Spur-viving on MLK Day), so long as they continue to profess a desire to be Play-In eligible amid all the tradewinds, is that the Magic (22-18, 8^th in NBA East) have clearly become the lowest hanging fruit to pick among division rivals.

In November, the Magic bookended blowout losses in Brooklyn with a home-friendly, franchise-record nine-game win streak. Going just 7-12, since the streak topped them out at 14-5, hasn’t dampened the spirits of a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2010’s Eastern Conference Finalists bowed out, with just two brief playoff appearances (2019 and the 2020 Bubble) since waking up from the Dwightmare.

For starters, 2022 first-overall pick Paolo Banchero (27.5 January PPG, 8^th in NBA) has been fantastic of late. Further, Jamahl Mosley’s club is getting healthier by the day.

Wendell Carter, Jonathan Isaac and Franz Wagner were not available, and Joe Ingles DNP’d, when the Hawks last visited Atlanta, leaving Mosley to depend upon second-year second-rounder Caleb Houstan (25 points, 7-for-14 3FGs, 4 assists and zero turns vs. ATL) to break out in his starting lineup.

Since pulling away from the Hawks in OT, 117-110, though, Houstan hasn’t launched a second act, and Orlando has failed to score above 100 points in its past four games (1-3). Mosley had to lean heavily on the reserves (ORL 42.8 bench PPG, 4^th in NBA, incl. league-high 9.7 FTAs/game), and ratchet up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, just to escape New York with a hard-fought 98-94 win over the Knicks on Monday afternoon, raising their road record to 9-13.

Quin Snyder would love being able to rely on his team’s elevating second-half defensive intensity and offensive production (ATL 33.7 second-half 3FG%, 29^th in NBA, ahead of just the Spurs’ 32.9 and behind the Magic’s 33.8; ATL 38.5 opponent second-half 3FG%, 4^th-highest in NBA, part of an NBA-worst 50.2 opponent 50.2 back-half FG%; 4^th-worst D-Rating and assist/TO ratio, 5^th-worst Net Rating in second halves). As recent homestand runs have further revealed, when it comes to assessing Atlanta’s lottery-quality woes along its roster, well, it ain’t that deep.

AJ Griffin, Patty Mills and G-Leaguing rookie Kobe Bufkin are only able to contribute with cameo appearances, at best. Two-way guard Trent Forrest, this month (15.4 MPG in six games) is getting the floor burn that one would have hoped would be going to Griffin, or Bufkin, by now.

The other players on standard contracts, when healthy, play just bit parts in what has been an 8-man rotation, down essentially to seven lately with De’Andre Hunter (Out, inflamed knee) still out of action. Backcourt scoring leaders Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and Bogi Bogdanovic find themselves overtaxed and over-exploited, spinning in mud all the more in games where their Hawks exit for halftime locker rooms behind the proverbial 8-ball. Jalen Johnson gets stretched thin trying to cover for everyone’s shortcomings, and thank goodness he has the boundless energy to do it.

The Magic are learning they give themselves chances to win ballgames, even when shots aren’t falling (34.2 team 3FG%, 29^th in NBA), by engaging in iso-oriented rockfights (NBA-high 1.11 points-per-iso-possession allowed; NBA-low 23.6 opponent assists per-48), especially knowing they can employ more arms to heave than their opponents. Orlando is up to nine players exceeding 20 MPG, with the two-way guard Trevelin Queen (19.5 MPG) and the recently starting Houstan rapidly catching up on that mark in Franz Wagner’s absence. Garrison, by comparison, Mathews is the Hawks’ 9^th-ranked minutes logger, at 11.9 MPG, behind Onyeka Okongwu’s 24.6.

Their offense winds up balanced, if low scoring, and not having to ride Banchero too heavily in fourth quarters and clutch situations gives his other young teammates, like Jalen Suggs, Carter, and sixth-man Cole Anthony, chances to grow into key roles. It has been enough to stay afloat, especially versus half-baked teams like the Hawks, for now.

Even if the Magic begin to get tripped up, and they fail to figure out a way past the heat in upcoming games, amid this road-heavy schedule, Banchero could soon be ballyhooed, as a deserving All-Star, on a team that might go into the Break with a sub-.500 record. Fancy that.

Banchero and Murray’s Seattle, along with probably Las Vegas, will soon be expanding the NBA into 32 franchises like the NFL, and the time will be ripe for the league to revisit rolling southern clubs Memphis and New Orleans into the NBA East. It’ll get kind of crowded, so somebody in the current division ought to make the jump into the Atlantic. So, g’day, Pat. Our Hawks, and the Griz and Pels, will do just fine wrangling for regular-season-ending banners with the Horcats, Wizlets and Magic, thank you very much.

In closing… how ‘bout ‘dem Buccaneers?

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

2 T's Matthews (strained calf) remains Out along with Hunter (inflamed knee). Ko-B continues piling up the points in the Skyhawks' latest win this afternoon in Wisconsin.

Gary Harris (also with a strained calf) is the sole Magician unavailable, along with Franz Wagner (sprained ankle)

As the Dubs-Jazz game gets understandably postponed, Bogi mourns the unfortunate and sudden loss of his fellow countryman:

 

~lw3

[HawksNWaffles]

let's keep the streak going......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dnice]

Waffles, they're still giving you the old jerseys, just like the game thread on Twitter sometime, lol

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The Buccaneers

Dead meat Sunday baby   

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Dwight Howard was kind of a thing.

When?  

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

AJ Griffin, Patty Mills and G-Leaguing rookie Kobe Bufkin

Looks like a good outgoing package ‍

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

In closing… how ‘bout ‘dem Buccaneers?

they overachieved and sent the mean Philly fans (not the native lw3 of course) hooooooooome, possibly a few into retirement . Should be fun.

 

lw3 the man  

Go  

Go Hawks! 

 

ps (4 or 5) 2k got Hawks by a whopping 25! 
 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, HawksNWaffles said:

let's keep the streak going......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What in the !!!! That first pic is the kid from Dear Mr. Henshaw!!! He made the league!!! Wow kudos!  

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, HawksNWaffles said:

let's keep the streak going......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t judge a book by it’s over but homeboy gonna mess up the x student real bad.  

 

Vegas line:

Dear Mister +10000  

Honestly they both look nice lil too nice.. a tie?

[kg01]

Kg: Siri, what's Italian for "punchface"?

Siri: Ban-chero

Kg: I knew it! 

[Dnice]

Looking like shit already  4 turnovers 

[Jody23]

Not sure why Trae attempted that pass.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Dead meat Sunday baby   

 

When?  

 

Looks like a good outgoing package ‍

 

they overachieved and sent the mean Philly fans (not the native lw3 of course) hooooooooome, possibly a few into retirement . Should be fun.

 

lw3 the man  

Go  

Go Hawks! 

 

ps (4 or 5) 2k got Hawks by a whopping 25! 
 

You took 47 shots and 34 threes with Trae?

At least try to play realistic . . lol.

[Wurider05]

That Tabitha Turner has a nice rack!! 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

no box out

rebound

no box out

rebound

 

score

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Just now, Wurider05 said:

That Tabitha Turner has a nice rack!! 

Tabitha is nice period

 

 

Great minutes by the bench so far. 

DJ leading the team well so far too.

[benhillboy]

@TheNorthCydeRises the Hawks lead the league in games with 4 players posting double doubles in the same game, most in 22 years.  Is that not a measure of above-average talent?

[Jody23]

As is the case with alot of young players, Jalen is going to have to get stronger with finishing through contact.

[JayBirdHawk]

11 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

@TheNorthCydeRises the Hawks lead the league in games with 4 players posting double doubles in the same game, most in 22 years.  Is that not a measure of above-average talent?

On offense - yes. Just on defense, hustle and rebounding 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

10 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

@TheNorthCydeRises the Hawks lead the league in games with 4 players posting double doubles in the same game, most in 22 years.  Is that not a measure of above-average talent?

 

With those 4 guys, yes.

Most good teams have All-Star level talent, with above average guys being very good at one or two things.

 

Our backcourt is fine.  It's the frontcourt where we are lacking . . . as evident by what Wendell Carter is doing to us right now.

 

LOL @ all of these turnovers.

 

[Nash]

Trae and DJM 6 assists and 6 TO's so far

[hawkman]

The officiating in this game is 'interesting'. This feels like wrastlin'.