Official Game Thread: Warriors at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“Who needs the Splash? ‘Cuz we the Crash Brothers now, right?... Um, please, Sir Dray, don’t bop me.”

 

Vive la difference!

The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club ought to look a lot different, tonight, than the team that got souffled in San Francisco tend days ago.

Not necessarily a whole lot better. And not because of anything Landry Fields is working on. Just, different.

That’s because the Golden State Warriors will not be coming in off eight off-days, fueled by emotion. Instead, the Dubs have arrived in Atlanta after playing in Memphis’ Central Time Zone late Friday night, losing that dreaded hour in travel and preparation.

Oh, and the incomparable Trae Young is likely to be available this go-round (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Bay Area in SFO), pairing with Dejounte Murray to make this backcourt matchup with the Splash Brothers (10-for-18 3FGs in the 134-112 win vs. ATL on January 24) a fairer four-quarter fight.

There’s a new face to complete Golden State’s Mount Rushmore. Not long after his perfect shooting display from the field (11-for-11 FGs) against the Hawks at Chase Center, Jonathan Kuminga (25.6 PPG, 14-for-23 on threes in last 8 games) finally won over his stick-in-the-mud coach Steve Kerr for a regular starting spot. JK’s been a boost to the spirits of the Warriors, and especially his biggest on-court advocate.

“(Kuminga is) starting to carry us more than we’re carrying him,” Draymond Green offered after Tuesday’s home win over the Sixers. The 21-year-old Congolese forward, the 7^th pick in 2021’s NBA Draft, could stand to rebound and make defensive plays around the rim with greater regularity. But given the Warriors’ other options upfront, Draymond isn’t complaining about his protégé’s scoring spurt.

“That’s the maturation process,” Green said with unintentional irony. “That’s what you hope to see. (Kuminga is) handling it with grace and very well.”

Matruing very well, Steph Curry remains locked in with the Warriors through 2025-26 when he’ll still be two years younger than his Akron General Hospital mate, LeBron James, is now. His longtime co-stars on The Mount are trying to figure out what they can do to make themselves worthy of clinging on to Curry’s carpet ride.

Klay Thompson (career-lows of 42.1 FG% and 38.2 3FG%; 39.0 FG% over last 7 games), with his $43 million contract expiring this summer, won’t sign a meager two-year extension that could have him looking like trade fodder by 2025-26’s midseason. Green has another $78 million locked up through 2026-27, and he is hoping he can withhold his on-court antics long enough to be a net-positive influence going forward.

After years of being able to hold off as the younger players, Andrew Wiggins included, failed to develop under Kerr’s watch into steady co-stars, Kuminga’s ascension has accelerated the calculus, for Junior Mike Dunleavy, of transitioning his team around Curry. With Kuminga’s outside shot beginning to fall, maybe the Dubs let Klay walk this summer, after all. Perhaps some team will be tantalized by Green’s new-leaf-turned-over promise, coupled with his on-ball defensive premise, and offer up something that lets Dunleavy reformulate the roster in ways his football-bound predecessor could not.

In any case, Curry’s conditioning should allow him to comfortably enter his 40s, with the Warriors on his next mega-contract, as a tough playoff-out, should he so choose. He hasn’t had to fly over people, or off the handle, like a Ja Morant does. He hasn’t had to barrel over people to get his shots or earn trips to the charity stripe, as the graying LeBron did while hunting for merciful whistles over the decades.

Most importantly, Steph doesn’t have to be a waterbug scampering over the entire court. He’s allowed the freedom, by Kerr, to coast on the defensive end, only helping to secure long rebounds when necessary. Getting Chris Paul, Moses Moody and Gary Payton II back in the fold in the coming weeks will only aid him further.

Steph can dribble himself into a spot-up shot as easily as he can skirt around give-and-go screens to get open on the opposite end of the offensive court. For all of Golden State’s dependence upon his scoring, altogether, Curry’s 2.5 miles traveled per game this season (just 1.0 on defense), as per Second Spectrum stats, tracks about even with Atlanta’s corner-running Saddiq Bey, significantly less than All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey’s league-leading 2.9 MPG.

Curry's prospective longevity is instructive for Atlanta’s backcourt sensation, who could soon become the senior-most voice on the Hawks before he knows it. While he takes pride in keeping the same energy, Trae Young will one day be tasked to do more with less energy.

He is already conserving plenty on a club that professes to be high-paced, as his tracked average on-court speed of 4.02 MPH (below Curry’s, and Bey’s, 4.26) is neck-and-neck with Houston’s Fred Van Vleet for the lowest among players exceeding 2.4 MPG. By no means slow, Trae as a ballhandler is just unable to be sped up, by even the league’s most hyped defenders. His ability to dribble to the spots he wishes on the floor, then stop-and-pop or dish-and-dash, maximizes his unique court-vision talent.

Now that he is blessed with a jumpshot-capable, high-flying greyhound in Jalen Johnson (17.0 PPG, 2.0 SPG and 8.2 RPG in last 10 games), Fields and the Hawks have an avenue to re-tune this roster specifically to Young’s and Johnson’s evolving skillsets. Similarly, Dunleavy may soon choose to proceed with Curry, and Kuminga, and not much else as holdovers charting the path forward. Steph, like Trae, are punchers, and on teams with good chemistry that provide defensive cover, each can provide their clubs a decent chance in any bout.

Curry’s wellness may benefit with the rest that could come from another unexpectedly extended NBA summer, an offseason he could extend further by passing up on the chase for gold in Paris. It could come to pass if the Warriors lack the depth they’ll need to navigate the eight back-to-back series (including yesterday, 16 of their final 38 games) in their newly compressed schedule.

Even in a best-case scenario where the Dubs survive the Play-Ins, they’d be a tough first-round exit unless they improve sharply on their lackluster 8-11 road record. They’re the last NBA team with over 20 road games left to play, a status which doesn’t change after today.

Young (7 TOs but 32 points, 7-for-11 3FGs, and 15 assists vs. PHX) and the Hawks were signing jerseys and heading to the lockers, after dispatching the Suns 129-120 last night, right as the Warriors were embarking on a fourth quarter in West Tennessee versus a game yet severely shorthanded Grizzlies squad. Kerr was able to utilize rookie sixth-man Brandin Podziemski (14 assists, zero TOs @ MEM) to limit Steph and Klay’s minutes in the second half, and two-way forward Gui Santos to relieve Green.

Yet it took a couple late-game Curry baskets hoisted from around Germantown to send the Grizzlies into hibernation, Golden State’s 121-101 winning outcome much closer than it looks on paper. Veteran Cory Joseph was DNP’d last night but had been holding the fort in recent weeks averaging over 15 minutes per contest, so his presence on the State Farm Arena floor is likely.

Joseph will be good for a sprinkle of assists, help rebounds and three-point shots. He, Lester Quinones and Podziemski, together, allow Curry to just do his thing, not necessarily everything, at crunch time. As they did successfully last night in overwhelming the Suns’ backups, the Hawks’ reserves, including at least Bogi Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu, must offset Golden State’s bench contributions. (As for the starters, please, for all that is holy, make your bunnies, Clint.)

You usually hear the saying applied to individual standout players. But the time may come, sooner than later, where we look up to find two franchises featuring rosters, like their headlining supernova anchors, that are “built different”.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

. I do wonder why this hasn't caught on to use in the arena.

Calling the 6th man fan section! Ca-CaWWW!!!

[lethalweapon3]

I was worried all season that nobody at Hawks, Inc. was going to dump their season-long "I'm a WARRIOR!" promo TV/radio ads for games ahead of this particular one (no idea who's barking the rap, because I'm an Old. My guess was Killer Mike?). They switched them up last week with some Rathbun voiceovers, to keep the ATL-GSW ad from sounding Hawkward, so I am a bit relieved that somebody was paying attention.

The win at N'Awlins on November 4 was the last time the Hawks won four games in a row.

Dubs GameNotes adds that the Warriors' 32 "clutch" games are the most in the league, but they are 15-17 in those close contests. The Hawks and Warriors' injury/illness reports, due to each team playing a SEGABABA, will be due at 1 PM Eastern.

~lw3 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[bird_dirt]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

 

So Vit and MoG are back?!

[Gray Mule]

Really too bad AJ Griffin didn't go to the Skyhawks with the rookies.

[lethalweapon3]

A.J. may sneak some minutes in today, out of necessity, along with One T Mathews trading places with Two Ts:

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Warriors' sole up-in-the-air player status was Dario Saric (illness) who is declared Out. Moses Moody had been practicing with the club but remains Out along with CP3 and GP2.

~lw3

[kg01]

48 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

A.J. may sneak some minutes in today, out of necessity, along with One T Mathews trading places with Two Ts

"Not on my watch!" - Kwin

[lethalweapon3]

It looked like former lotto pick Hilton Armstrong's NBA odyssey was going to end with the Hawks back in 2011, appearing in a dozen games and a couple playoff rounds after arriving at the Trade Deadline in the Bibby-for-Kirk deal. But after playing in Europe and Asia he was invited back to the D-League with the Santa Cruz Warriors, then got elevated for one last run with Golden State in 2013-14.

Armstrong got into the video coordinating biz with the Warriors in 2021, and now he's among the player development assistants on Steve Kerr's staff.

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Dubs clocked out of January with the NBA's least-efficient defense (NBA-worst 124.3 January D-Rating), but their rating improved significantly with Green's return from suspension. Enhanced by playing what's left of the Grizzlies in Memphis twice, including last night, GSW's D-Rating since January 15 (114.8) ranks a modest 12th in the league (incl. 52.9 opponent eFG%, 4th-best)

FWIW, ATL's 116.7 D-Rating since Jan. 15 ranks a more palatable 17th. While the 57.3 opponent eFG% remains bottom-5, the Hawks' 25.4 opponent O-Reb% is 6th-lowest (11.1 opponent 2nd-chance points per-48, 3rd-lowest).

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

6 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Junior Mike Dunleavy

He’s only half of Dunmurphy. Therein lies the issue..  

 

6 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Curry’s 2.5 miles traveled per game this season (just 1.0 on defense), as per Second Spectrum stats, tracks about even with Atlanta’s corner-running Saddiq Bey, significantly less than All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey’s league-leading 2.9 MPG.

How far has @kg01 traveled squawk this season?  

 

6 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

greyhound in Jalen Johnson

Ooohhhh special lady friend said gazelle last night. Both good.

 

6 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

They’re the last NBA team with over 20 road games left to play, a status which doesn’t change after today.

{insert Rappaport’s evil laugh}

 

Thanks lw3 as always! 
 

If y’all don’t know me my name is Spud and I’ve hated the Warriors longer than you or anyone on here. I have circled them on the schedule since 1985. Faced the Winston Garland’s, Chris Gatling guns, the David Wood’s, the Adonal Foyle’s, the Sprees and everything before and after run TMC…

The end.  

GO HAWKS!!!!
 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Garrison Mathews is going to get at least 6 good shots from the corner 3.

Can he make 3 of them?

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[terrell]

JJ passing on point..

[JayBirdHawk]

CC 

[hawkman]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

CC 

How hard is it to just pass the ball back out after getting the rebound?

[hawkman]

Keep going to JJ while GSW is playing small.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Time to start forcing some offense Trae.

Hawks can't get anything done offensively right now.