Official Game Thread: Mavericks at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“C’mon, Luka, chill! Can’t you see, man? You’re scaring them!”

 

It’s Wivals Reek in the NBA! Let’s see who our Atlanta Hawks drew… ah, yes, of course, our bitter wivals, from Dallas!

Please, NBA, you ain’t low. You can try to pretend we’re all still living in 2018-19, wearing Crocs with socks and whatnot. But face it, everyone knows the Hawks won Da Trade, and we’ve so moved on from all that. Our guy got his club to a Conference Final, so did theirs, and both our teams have been spinning their wheels ever since. That doesn’t a wivalwy make! Embiid-Jokic is a worthy inter-conference wivalwy. But this? Pshh.

Enough about our Hawks' clueless schedule-makers up in Secaucus. Ahead of tonight’s game with the Mavericks (CORRECTION: 7 PM Eastern, NBATV, CBS Atlanta/CW-Peachtree TV and 92.9 FM in ATL), on behalf of all fellow fans at State Farm Arena, I need to subject our dear All-Star level talent to an intervention.

What did Lauren L. Williams ever do to you, Luka Doncic?

You might be the last person left in Georgia to worry about what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has to say. The Hawks beat writer is simply doing her job, reporting on the newsworthy stuff she sees and hears, and you come after L.L. with some, “You’ll be the first one to always put something bad about me.” Right! It is in the beat reporter job description, Luka. Look it up!

Besides, 99 percent of whatever LauWill scribes about you, not necessarily the trippin’ Hawks team around you, is positive. No, really, it is, just ask her! Just imagine what Trae Young puts up with on the daily, that Mouth of the South Tim McMahon typing over at the Dallas Morning Spews whenever he’s not getting downgraded by Tony Reali. Unless it’s to chide a reporter for belittling a “broke” reader who declines to peer behind his precious paywall, Trae doesn’t go in on the media just because he had some bad hair days and his Mavs lost games.

Dallas Sports fans have been just fine with their brief WCF appearance (what else are they gonna do, wait for the Cowboys to make it to a Super Bowl?). They’re pleased with the Mavs painstakingly revamping the team around their regionally homegrown star and this decade’s NBA assist leader (your wival’s questionable for today, recovering from a concussion while trying to, wouldn’t you know it, play a little defense) with the knowledge that, anytime their team creeps into the playoffs, Young is sure to give some playoff hopeful the creeps.

But you, Luka? You are really starting to give this whole NBA town the creeps.

All respect to you, Luka Tha Don, as you’re popping threes and freebies like never before (career-highs of 33.6 PPG, 37.3 3FG%, and 23.7 FGAs/game) and dishing the rock (career-best 9.3 APG) even with another capable playmaking ballhandler in tow. Thanks to the dedicated votes from a whole other country, unlike Young, and the NBA’s insistence on pegging you as a guard instead of a playmaking frontcourt player, you will go a long time without having to worry about getting into ASGs as a reserve.

But your gaudy boxscore stats haven’t made your teammates better, nor your team a more serious contender. We’ve cycled in one big-man after another to pair with you, and the blend doesn’t work out, since you’re interested in aiding your team’s bottom-five defensive rebounding status only when it allows you to pad your triple-double tallies.

Yes, Trae’s club struggles mightily every night to keep teams out of the paint, and to effectively guard the perimeter, too. But Young isn’t the one who checks into games at 6-foot-7 and, at minimum, 230 pounds. You could be giving us Paul George, or even Jalen Williams. Instead you’re giving off Grant Williams, with neo-Joe Johnson skills, and a lot more pouting than Iso Joe ever did.

You have the dough to bake yourself into a certifiably adaptable NBA body that can play 1-through-4, and particularly guard 1-through-4. But your Hawks find themselves stuck on the treadmill, because you won’t keep your rooty-tooty patootie on one. Before you ask, you slovenly Slovenian, no, you cannot have me thrown off this here thread.

Getting shown up by another All-Star wival in your building on national TV, with opposing teams’ fans paying for lower-section seats to crawl under your skin, as your iso-ball game runs out of steam and your team suffers a losing 40-point swing in the space of a quarter of basketball, is not a reason to take things out on the refs, or the reporters on the local beat.

Young does tend to gripe with officials and risk getting tossed when outcomes aren’t going his way, too. But you’ll find few other NBA superstars capable of collecting all the trash talked in his direction, from the stands and in the press, and recycling it into compost with his composure. Love him or hate him, praise him or critique him, all eyes are on him, and his eyes are on the rim. We’re told to keep that same energy, like Trae does himself, as every day for him is simply another opportunity. As you get fixated on press clippings, Young knows when to just turn the page.

Meanwhile, your code name around the ATL has become Cheshire, Luka, as there always seems to be another bridge around for you to burn. At just 5-7 this month, a record pockmarked by mostly double-digit defeats, and now with three-straight Ls, the teammates that your presence alone was supposed to make better, simply become trade bait every year at Deadline time. Your droning is turning the home fans off, leaving ample arena seats available for other teams’ fans to fill. You, and your whining, have become the only constant around here.

Don’t hide behind your troubled coach, Quin Snyder, and have him demand the local papers write some positive basura whenever your team finally trends upwards for a week or two. You got positive press, in November, when your squad was several games above .500, and since then you have ventured back into negative On/Off territory (team has better ratings when Luka’s off-court, currently minus-1.2 as per bball-ref).

But the AJC, quoting what they hear verbatim during your games, is The Problem? Sure, man.

Yo, Igor Kokoskov! Come get your boy.

 

Let’s Go (actual) Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Transitioning back out of Freaky Friday mode... There's no telling what hodgepodge of matchups will take place this evening, with the statuses of both Trae (Questionable, concussion) and Kyrie Irving (Questionable, sprained thumb) up in the air. All we know for sure is that De'Andre Hunter (Out, inflamed knee) is merely days away from being days away.

As of the early-morning Boo-Boo Report, Maxi Kleber is recovering from a dislocated little piggy and has been upgraded to Probable, while Mavs frontcourt mate Dwight Powell (abrased cornea) remains Out.

Clint Capela (contused calf) and backup Bruno Fernando (spasming back) are listed as Questionable. 2Ts Matthews (strained calf) has been upgraded from Out to Questionable, while Kobe Bufkin (Questionable, G-League assignment) may or may not get upgraded from Skyhawk to Groundhawk.

Irving's 41 points in the Mavs' 132-130 OT loss here at State Farm Arena back in April 2023 was a franchise record for a Dallas player versus Atlanta. Mavs coach Jason Kidd holds their team mark for most assists against the Hawks (17, in February 2010), in the same game setting the record for the most times (1) running into an opposing coach to draw a technical foul on the coach (poor Woody).

In the race for Sixth Man (Scorer) of the Year, Timmy the Shimmy Hardaway has opened up a 17.1-16.6 Bench PPG lead on Bogi Bogdanovic, as per Hawks' GameNotes. They are the only two NBA reserves sinking at least 3.0 triples off the bench per contest.

 

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Reminder:

Tonight is a @peachtreetv game locally. — No Bally. —

Hawks-Mavs is also on NBA TV if you’re not blacked out. — It’s a 7:00 game. Not 7:30.

[lethalweapon3]

(^Great minds post alike! ~lw3)

Some poor soul's gonna read my OP and wonder why they got to the game in the second quarter. Lemme go update that start time:

It is nice of the Hawks to roll-back tipoff for an opponent that has to travel for a game back home tomorrow. Would be awfully nice if all teams did this on occasion, or at least not roll their tipoff times forward.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Gray Mule]

It's past time for a Hawk's victory.  Let's get us one tonight!!

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

Also, Hawks have listed Trae as... In!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[Chrimturn]

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Shewww.  1 for 7.    Give ‘em a pass on the Quick Back after a short West Coast trip.  Keep firing fellas.  Get the juice flowing.

Nice to see the other 2 out there knockin’ some rust off.

[lethalweapon3]

"BUT!"

~qu1n

[Spud2nique]

Thanks lw3!

Go Hawks!

[cam1218]

@lethalweapon3 my random thank you for still doing these when all of us (even the positive ones) are fed up with the team. Much respect to you!

[ShooterSays]

Cap and Bey are negatives on the floor at this point. 

[ShooterSays]

To whoever made the call to trade Luka - I hate you.

[cam1218]

Sad thing is Trae’s concussion came from his improved defensive efforts lol. Now as this team is sinking I wonder how he responds.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Props to the Hawks for not being stressed by Luka's great start.

Solid efforts by the bench group on defense, with Trae running the show.

[thecampster]

JJ 4-4 for 9 points.  I love this kid.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

11 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

To whoever made the call to trade Luka - I hate you.

Why?

He's a tremendous talent.  But his frontcourt is ass too, which is why the Mavs are hovering around .500.

 

All star talents need help.

Quin could stop this if he just send both bigs hard at Luka, and force the ball out of his hands.

 

LOL @ that defense.  What is OO and JJ doing?

[Vol4ever]

I can't watch the game tonight dang!