Official Game Thread: Hawks at Lakers

[lethalweapon3]

“The Doctor will see you now.”

 

Three cheers for Skylar Mays! March Madness Selection Show season can be a bit rough for the former senior point guard at LSU. He returned for his senior season, after the Tigers roared to the Sweet Sixteen, and was looking to lead his team to a consecutive trip to The Big Dance for the first time since 2006.

Unfortunately, for them and many others, COVID 2020 happened.

But Mays wouldn’t leave his hometown of Baton Rouge, LA empty handed. He earned not just an All-SEC First Team selection, but a degree in kinesiology, his 3.93 GPA and choice of major a big reason he was named that season’s Division I Academic All-America of the Year.

After starting out his NBA journey with the Skyhawks and Atlanta Hawks, as a second-round draftee on a two-way contract, Mays spent most of the 2022-23 season plying his current trade in the G-League. He caught on with Portland to close out last season, then had his next two-way deal upgraded by the Blazers in November, after he filled in as an injury-replacement starter and averaged nearly nine assists over six games.

Hitting the waiver wire to start this calendar year, the former LSU star now gets to don a different uniform of purple-and-gold. The future doctor went from the franchise that Dr. Jack Ramsay once made insta-champions, to the one whose late owner earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, at Bronny James’ USC, before going on to salvage Southern California’s favorite NBA team.

The star-studded Clippers did nothing last night, against the visiting Atlanta Hawks, to loosen the Los Angeles Lakers’ ironclad grip on its superior basketball status around Tinseltown. The Hawks are getting hit with a Schedule Loss x SEGABABA combo in their return to STAPLES Center aka The Crypt tonight (10:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Spectrum SportsNet in That Other LA). But at least Mays’ team didn’t try to pull any shenanigans like an early start time. The Lake Show also has a pair of Questionable, in terms of injury status, superstars to tend to before propping up any NOW SHOWING signs on the marquee.

Anthony Davis suffered an abrased cornea early in the Saturday Showcase home loss to Steph Curry’s Warriors. LeBron James has sat out games to deal with ankle peroneal tendinopathy, and the sense that the Lakers might use the next three off-days on top of a DNP tonight to heal up the heel of the league’s all-time scorer is palpable.

AD and Bron could add to an injury sheet that includes, relative to Mays, a more-prized former Hawks draftee, Cam Reddish (out, sore ankle, seven appearances and no starts since mid-January), along with frontline mates Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood, and guard Gabe Vincent.

The array of absences puts a lot more pressure on defensively deficient guards D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves (team-high 28 points @ ATL on Jan. 30, a 138-122 loss to the Hawks) to carry the day, and on Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes and another ex-Hawks rookie, Taurean Prince, to stay clear of foul trouble. Defensively, the Lakers’ general reluctance to hack opponents (league-low 15.9 personals/game) is perhaps their one saving grace.

Defensive tenacity was already at a premium for Los Angeles (120.4 post-All-Star D-Rating and 56.9 post-Break opponent eFG%, each 3^rd-worst in NBA, ahead of only WAS and UTA). Post-Trade Deadline waiver-wire pickup Spencer Dinwiddie has yet to make a meaningful imprint, and the organization figures that rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino, touted as a defensive specialist at Draft time, is better suited closing out the season for South Bay in the G-League.

So, coach Darvin Ham, would you care for my diagnosis? It seems you’re not getting enough Mays in your rotation diet.

Losers of two straight and four of this month’s past seven games, the Lakers will need an infusion of something, and fast, after the loss to current 9-seed Golden State shifted Los Angeles in the NBA West to #10. Because the hottest team in that conference is nipping at their heels.

As last night’s resounding 110-93 victory over the Clippers stiffened the Hawks’ arm against the NBA East’s 11-seed (30-37 for ATL, 4.5 games ahead of BRK), the Houston Rockets have won five straight games, now even closer to making the season finale for the Lakers (36-32, 3.5 games ahead of HOU) more abrupt than most anyone planned.

Keeping James Harden and the Clippers’ big three reasonably inefficient and off-balance for long stretches in both halves, while catching them all flat-footed in transition repeatedly, coach Quin Snyder’s Hawks were able to rest his most prominent starters for the final 5-to-7 minutes of last night’s game. Jalen Johnson (11 D-Rebs and 3 steals @ LAC) and Dejounte Murray continuing to press for defensive stops and offensive paint pressure early in tonight’s contest, the latter opening up good perimeter looks for Bogi Bogdanovic, Wesley Matthews, and De’Andre Hunter, will be a determining factor as to whether Ham turns to Mays for a vital mid-game house call or, otherwise, for just another garbage-time fun run.

How will this Hawks fan be faring by the time Ham’s crucial decision needs to be made? ***Yawn*** Probably not amazzzzing well for this East Coaster. I get it that kinesiology is your thing, Skylar. But, is there a somnologist in the house?

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Hawks are taking their sweet time before submitting their Boo-Boo Report. They technically have until 4 PM EST, but we'll see if it populates as of 3:30.

The Lakers do get off until Friday, and they'll stay in Tinseltown for the Sixers and the Whoiburton Pacers through the weekend. Their bigger challenges begin on Tuesday, when Milwaukee kicks off a six-game road swing for a Laker club that is just 12-20 in away games, and will have just three home games left, all in April (vs. CLE, MIN, GSW), when this weekend concludes. Los Angeles' last non-STAPLES road Dub came on Valentine's Day in Utah, the last one versus an above-.500 team back on February 3. Far for a Hawks fan to tell it, but 'tis not an ideal scenario for a probable 9/10 seed.

 

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

15 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

 

Here we go.  OO upgraded to questionable, which means to me that he has a 75/25 chance of playing tonight.

Let's see if Quin has him on a minutes restriction.

But the big thing is to see if OO takes all of Bruno's minutes.

[mountainjim]

Bogi not on there - good. 

[warcore]

1 hour ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

But the big thing is to see if OO takes all of Bruno's minutes.

Bruno deserves to keep getting burn. He's been great during this stretch. 

[HawksNWaffles]

[JayBirdHawk]

He's Baaaack!!!

 

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

OMG JJ . . . . ALREADY??

WOW!!

[kg01]

ZOMG Johnson!

Somebody arrest that man! 

[MaceCase]

Jalen is on timing right now

[TheNorthCydeRises]

What a start!

[kg01]

@Spud2nique when you see what JJ just did to Reeves, you might literally die. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

For those who missed it

 

Edited March 19 by TheNorthCydeRises

[MaceCase]

The Murray layup

[terrell]

Kevin Huerter with another shoulder injury..

It didnt look good either.

His shoulder has never looked the same since he hurt it here..

We need the KIngs healthy.. Damn

Antman just baptized John Collins.. Geez

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 minute ago, terrell said:

Kevin Huerter with another shoulder injury..

It didnt look good either.

His shoulder has never looked the same since he hurt it here..

We need the KIngs healthy.. Damn

Antman just baptized John Collins.. Geez

 

Collins didn't have a chance.

 

 

 

[MaceCase]

Damn, he caught Clint with the LeFuqu 3

[TheNorthCydeRises]

And there it is . . . the return of OO.

Now, let's see what happens with the 2nd unit, and if Bruno is still a part of the rotation.

[MaceCase]

3 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Collins didn't have a chance.

 

 

 

Oh naw, you can't grab your head after you got dunked on, Johnny....