Official Game Thread: Hawks at Grizzlies

[lethalweapon3]

“We sent out a personnel scout to find you some more Grizzlies, Coach Jenkins. As soon as she reports back, we’ll let you know!”

 

Can you think of a team that could not care less about your favorite team’s piddly injury woes?

There’s no need to overthink it. You’ll just have to see them this evening, when your Atlanta Hawks face the remnants of the Grizzlies in Memphis (8 PM Eastern, Peachtree TV, Peachtree Sports Network and 92.9 FM in ATL, Bally Sports Southeast in MEM).

Around this time last year, Taylor Jenkins learning he’d have to be without Brandon Clarke for the umpteenth time was the least of his issues. Ja Morant was posted up in Da Club waving a gat, a bad enough look for the nightclub in question. Oh, yeah, the Grizzlies’ head coach likely thought, Ja’s gonna miss some time. Suspended for eight games, Morant returned to a basketball club that figured out how to soldier on without their No Limit Soldier.

With sharpshooter Desmond Bane and eventual Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson, Jr. leading the charge, Memphis went 19-10 to close out a 51-31 regular season, good for 2^nd in the NBA West. Despite the dream season ending in six playoff games to LeBron’s 7-seed Lakers, the Grizzlies roared into the offseason with, probably, an overinflated sense of confidence. Morant, in particular.

Mere weeks later, Morant was caught boldly riding dirty on a livestream. Now, he’d be forced by The Commish to sit out this season’s opener, along with 24 more. The added problem for Jenkins was, the purported enhancements to his roster in the offseason, by Zach Kleiman’s front office, were tenuous at best.

We’re letting it be known: we won’t need your services any further, Dillon The Villain, because we’re going all-in on Marcus Smart. We’re shipping off Golden State’s first-rounder, plus Tyus Jones and their own draftee, Marcus Sasser, to pry Smart free from Boston. But we won’t completely clean out our backcourt cupboard. We’ll woo Derrick Rose back to Memphis, if for nothing more than to teach Morant what not to do with his newfound fame.

Dillon Brooks’ sign-and-trade to Houston, for the subsequently waived Josh Christopher and a Euro-stash, freed up cap space for Memphis, but it didn’t make the Griz demonstrably better as a G-unit. The limited offseason action left Memphis’ prospects, without Morant to start the season, hinging upon the returns of center Steven Adams and Clarke, and the health of Smart, and break-glass-in-case-of-emergency backup guard Rose. Welp.

Kleiman used some of the Brooks TPE to acquire Isaiah Todd, only to cut him loose before training camp. Signing Bismack Biyombo in Adams’ absence, then waiving Biyombo to elevate guard Vince Williams to a regular contract, had the Grizzlies hard-capped going into the deadline. But who cares about such trivialities? Because Morant is back in the fold, just in time to help the Griz rebound from its 6-19 stumble out of the gates. Welp.

Dejounte Murray’s road-weary Hawks, coming home from Miami for a SEGABABA, had the misfortune of drawing a rested Morant (30 points, 11 assists @ ATL in a 125-119 win) in one of his first contests rejoining Bane (37 points, 6 assists) and Jackson (8-for-10 FGs) right before the Christmas Break. We would not know that it would be just one of nine games before Ja was gone again.

While there was some relief that Morant’s absence, this time around, had nothing to do with misinterpreting Memphis’ need for a shooting guard, season-ending surgery on his torn shoulder had Memphis going from mid-season Grand Opening to Grand Closing with the quickness.

Unable to rationally manage Bane’s load, Jenkins hasn’t had Bane (out, sprained ankle) available since mid-January, either, while Smart (out, torn finger) has been In-N-Out like a burger. Same with D-Rose, as something called osteitis pubis (out, pelvic injury recovery) was the case they gave him.

The downturn is not entirely Jackson’s fault. But it would be less steep if the reigning DPOY’s block tally wasn’t halved (3.0 BPG last season, up to 1.6 this season after a half-dozen swats @ PHI on Wednesday). The player Memphis selected ahead of Trae Young by Dallas in 2018, Jackson’s shooting has plummeted to 44.5 FG% (32.4 3FG%, down from 50.6 and 35.5, respectively, in 2022-23) while his rebounding has dropped from 6.8 to 5.6. Despite Jackson’s career-high 22.6 PPG by default, Jenkins’ need to rely on him as a pick-but-no-pop playmaker, in the absence of experienced guards and the franchise face, threatens to keep Triple-J in the running for the Julius Randle Award as the league’s most-regressed player.

Not helping Jackson’s cause at all, Kleiman used the Trade Deadline to rid Memphis of the injured Adams’ contract, along with Xavier Tillman and David Roddy in separate deals, the latter bringing back Yuta Watanabe who – surprise! – is injured (out, sprained wrist). Precocious rookie GG Jackson is questionable to play, tonight, due to a sore knee. And everyone is still waiting for Clarke (out, Achilles tear recovery) to make his season debut. Any day, now.

Welcome back to the NBA, Wenyen Gabriel! You’ll be the 27^th player to hit the floor in a Grizzlies jersey this season. On a ten-day contract, though, you likely won’t be the last.

Nobody told the former Coach Bud assistant that he must stop chasing wins, though. Since Ja’s cameo, Memphis (22-41) has tended to win in clusters. The victory in Atlanta was the Grizzlies’ third of a four-game tear. With, then without, Morant and Bane, the Grizzlies pulled off a pair of three-game win streaks in January.

The Griz stole a pair of wins here at FedEx Forum right before the All-Star Break, where Williams (last 25 starts: 6.2 RPG, 4.9 APG, 40.3 3FG%), much like Trae, solely represented his club as an injury replacement during the weekend, in Vince’s case via the Rising Stars Game. And they’re at it again.

Even without Jackson, Memphis knocked off the Nets in Brooklyn on Monday, shortly after the hosts had an easy time versus their conference-rival Hawks. Triple-J returned on Wednesday and the Grizzlies outscored the Sixers 34-16 to collect a second-straight victory on the road. With the chance for another three-game streak, nobody around Beale Street is trying to hear talk of how different those outcomes could have been if their opponents had a healthy Joel Embiid, or Tyrese Maxey, or especially Ben Simmons.

Hopefully, the Hawks have figured out how not to be all Woe-is-We when their guys, be it Young, Onyeka Okongwu, or Jalen Johnson (sprained ankle, thankfully day-to-day) get shelved due to injuries. With the Chicago Bulls showing no signs of relinquishing the 9-spot in the NBA East, Atlanta (28-34, 2.5 GB CHI, 3.5 ahead of BRK) has to perform as they did in their 112-101 win versus the Mitchell-and-Mobley-and-Strus-less Cavs on Wednesday. It is especially vital as the Hawks, following Sunday’s home game against the Pelicans, plunge deeper into the West Coast next week for a five-game road excursion.

Throttling perimeter threats (CLE 22.7 team 3FG%, season-low for an ATL opponent) like Luke Kennard, and defenders helping Clint Capela and Bruno Fernando to secure defensive boards when not on-ball, is enough to keep foes like the Griz (29^th in 2FG% and 3FG%; NBA-low 47.9 post-Break eFG%) cool for long stretches. Persistent pressure on Memphis’ ballhandlers (MEM NBA-high 18.2 post-Break TO%, NBA-low 1.19 post-Break assist/TO ratio) ought to help Atlanta win the transition battle.

Also shorthanded without a functional De’Andre Hunter (last 9 games: 18.9 PPG on 52.4/46.5/85.1 shooting splits) back in December, these Hawks blew the chance to sweep the season series. But it is not too late, tonight, for Atlanta to sweep the leg.

 

Rest Easy, Akira Toriyama. Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Aside from Jackson, Memphis' other frontcourt hero in Wednesday's win at Philly was Jake LaRavia, who posted career-bests of 13 rebounds and 3 blocks off the bench. Griz GameNotes cites former Hawks legend Gorgui Dieng, back in 2020, as the last Memphis reserve to post consecutive double-dubs.

Drafted-and-traded all the way back in 2001 by Atlanta, it took Pau Gasol almost five seasons before the future HOF'er recorded his first triple-dub. His 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists (plus 4 steals and 3 blocks) helped the Grizzlies thump Coach Bob Weiss' SuperSonics in Seattle on this day back in 2006.

Beyond working together briefly under Coach Bud, Jenkins was also an assistant for Snyder's D-League Austin Toros for two seasons. His team has won three-straight over Atlanta, narrowing the Hawks' All-Time head-to-head lead to 32-23.

Bogi is 2 points shy of the first 1,000-point campaign of his NBA career, as per Hawks' Game Notes. They may come from a bucket, or they could come at the charity stripe, where his 92.3 FT% is behind only Damian Lillard's 92.7 among NBA'ers.

Among the many injuries Memphis is dealing with, I missed out on Kennard (sore knee, like the Questionable G.G. Jackson), who is listed as Doubtful on the Boo-Boo Report. Ziaiare Williams has been Out with a strained hip while two-way Scotty Pippen is Out a bulged disc in his back. Recent two-way pickup Vit Krejci made the trip and is Available for the Hawks.

 

~lw3

[warcore]

9 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

helped the Grizzlies thump Coach Bob Weiss' SuperSonics in Seattle on this day back in 2006

it is so INSANE to rationalize that that guy was still a head coach in the NBA in 2006. I wasn't impressed with him during his time here. 

[Spud2nique]

Thanks lw3! Let’s get thareeeeeee !!!

Go Hawks!

Ps 2K got Hawks by 8!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

While there was some relief that Morant’s absence, this time around, had nothing to do with misinterpreting Memphis’ need for a shooting guard

 

This was cleverly written, even if it wasn't intentional.

[Spud2nique]

I got duped by folks flooding the Cavs thread!  

 

GAMETIME BABY LETS GO HAWKS!!!!  

[MaceCase]

Vit is starting?!  Oh, I see, we're at THAT part of the season.

[MaceCase]

Lefties never know how to guard left

[Vol4ever]

They spanking us on the glass

[MaceCase]

Vit actually played well

[Nash]

Cap 0 for 3 . I mean whatever 

[MaceCase]

Clint...

[MaceCase]

Shake them boots, DJ

[thecampster]

Why do we keep throwing bounce passes at peoples' feet?.... especially at Clint?

[MaceCase]

Losing to a GLeague squad so far

[Nash]

I like a lot Cap and Bay going 0 for 9 fg lol. 

[MaceCase]

Save us, Bruno

[Nash]

Bey, Cap and Dre 0 for 14 lol. That is hard to record

[NBASupes]

We are shooting really bad outside of Murray

[hawkman]

Is anybody going to help DJ? Anybody?