Official Game Thread: Pistons at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“Soon as you and me make it back to Brookhaven? IT’S BLOODLINE RULES!!!”

 

Oh, I am SO here for The Passion of The Bogi! Right on time after Easter weekend, too? Whoo-whee. We might be watching our Atlanta Hawks morphing into Firebirds at just the right time.

Nearing an NBA Season Finale, coach Quin Snyder is pilot-lighting quite the flame under his players, and vice versa. I don’t recall it clearly, but the Hawks were heading to the halftime locker room amid last week’s homestand when, of all people, Dejounte Murray had to intensely intercede to keep Bogi (not “Bogey”, as he is quick to remind people) Bogdanovic from angrily pouncing a referee (happy retirement, Rondo, btw).

There is holding one another accountable. And then, there’s the pervading threat that these Hawks may put literal holds on one another, staff included, before the curtain closes on 2023-24.

It was nice, the added dash of spice, between Snyder and the bottle-spewing Bogdanovic at the close of Monday’s victorious Play-In practice in Chicago. The final RAW setup for Wale/Wrestlemania was a timely coincidence.

What WWE does, so brilliantly, is to build up their biggest, baddest heel factions, and leave the internal tensions on simmer. Surely, Big Dwayne wouldn’t double-cross his universal champion, tribal-chief blood brethren… would he? Bayley isn’t about to triple-cross somebody in Damage CTRL, is she? Is someone about to get the heave-ho from Mami Ripley, Dirty Dom and The Judgement Day?

You never want to be right in front of the pressure cooker when it’s about to blow. But it is awfully cool to watch when you’re comfortably far enough away. Onyeka seems to know just the right distance to keep for viewing pleasure. Seriously, don’t hog the popcorn, Orville Okongwu. Munch, munch, pass!

From an outsider perspective, though, internal strife is most entertaining when the squabbling squawkers are at the tippy-top of their collective game. We adored Winning Time because it was a peek behind the scenes of Showtime, tap-danced our way through every cringey moment of The Last Dance. Shaq rap-beefing with K.O.B.E.? We ate it right up. The punchy Warriors feuding in practice? Tell me more!

The Hawks, hopefully, have not quite reached their peak competitive basketball form, and maybe we will be treated to see that unfold at Play-In time. But at least for now, they’ve given even casual hoop fans reasons to consider tuning in, and locking in. Just in case something, or someone, is about to go down along the sidelines.

They’re beating opponents, especially the jobbers, with greater frequency. Guys formerly well outside the ring, like Fleet-Feet Vit Krejci, are seizing the mic confidently at center stage. And maybe, just maybe, somebody within their ranks is thinking about delivering a steel-chair shot. Somebody please see if Cowboy Jim Ross can give Bob Rathbun a fourth-quarter breather.

As the cool kids like to abbreviate these days, IDGAF if it’s the jobbers that are at one another’s necks. No intrepid Detroit Pistons fan-transplant is heading to State Farm Arena tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Detroit), on the off chance a fed-up Jaden Ivey will pull a mid-game Sprewell on head coach Monty Williams. By a similar token, no paying Hawks supporters in attendance care to watch Cade Cunningham, Ivey and/or Jalen Duren improve their team’s record to an NBA-worst 14-62 while the Hawks (35-40) are too busy standing-off in a circular firing squad.

Steve Clifford’s Hornets being the exception, Detroit has caught Ls from every team in The Association. Aside from Portland, Utah, and Atlanta, they have lost by double-digits versus every other team.

While Trae Young (for paternity leave) missed the trip to Motown for the Hawks’ IST game in November, the Hawks blew a 12-point opening-quarter lead by halftime. They needed fourth-quarter heroics from ex-Piston Saddiq Bey to secure the 126-120 win and remain precariously above-.500.

Detroit’s notoriously record-setting skid was well underway by the time they arrived the next month in Atlanta. Yet Cunningham (43 points, incl. 20 in the fourth-quarter, 7 assists, 3 steals @ ATL on Dec. 18) nearly ended their 23-game losing skid at Young (31 points, 15 assists but 5 TOs) and the Hawks’ expense. The Pistons kept within a couple scoring possessions of Atlanta in the clutch before bowing out with the 130-124 defeat.

Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks and Marvin Bagley are long gone from the Pistons, having been shipped out before the Deadline in what is surely the swan song of Troy Weaver’s managerial tenure. Rookie Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Stanley Umude, and probably ex-Knick pickup Quentin Grimes are out for the remainder of this season. But the Pistons (1.5 GB the lukewarm Wizards) still have something to play for, and I don’t refer to Lottery odds.

Even after the disastrous 2-29 season start, and one win over the past ten games, a 4-3 close to Detroit’s season remains accessible. That’s relevant for Coach Monty, who can still check out of 2023-24 with a better record than d*ck Vitale and his pal Richie Adubato’s 1979-80 team that went 16-66. His Pistons could even match last season’s NBA-worst 17-65 finish, Detroit’s since-Clifforded Dwane Casey at the coaching helm at the time.

Like the Hawks, the Pistons, too, have a road victory in Chicago since the All-Star Break as a notch on their belts, winning 105-95 over the Bulls back in February. No Gatorade squeeze bottles were harmed in the process, I’m told.

Detroit’s four-game road trip includes stops in Memphis and Brooklyn after tonight’s game in Atlanta. By the time they return for their home finale, the visiting Bulls may rest key players ahead of the near-certain Play-In tourney. The season concludes, ironically, at San Antonio, and the club that snatched Wemby from Detroit’s ironclad grasp at Lottery time wouldn’t mind improving their odds for a double-French dip ahead of next month’s edition.

Duren is still literally cutting his teeth. The promising Piston (20-and-17, plus 3 steals and 3 swats, in Friday’s ugly 96-87 win @ WAS) pivot had a Chiclet shaken loose by a wayward Jaren Jackson shoulder on Monday and exited just over five minutes into Monday’s game against the Grizzlies. He and his incisor will be back in place for tonight’s tipoff, possibly to help Cunningham (questionable, knee injury management), who scored 36 points (third-straight game scoring 30-plus) but missed a would-be game-tying middy as Detroit narrowly lost to Memphis.

Tosan Evbuonman (“eh-WOAH-muh.” You’re welcome) has gone from preseason Piston waiver cut and Motor City G-Leaguer, to 10-day contractor, to two-way signee, to everyday starter following the injuries to Thompson and Stewart, plus the continually doubtful status of Simone Fontecchio and POTUS-eligible late-season pickup Taj Gibson. Atlanta’s returning Jalen Johnson ought to be capable of fully entangling the former Ivy League star. If Johnson and Clint Capela can induce foul trouble, Williams may have to turn to recent pickups Chimezie Metu and Jaylen Nowell to pick up the slack.

Even without Bey, and with Young and Okongwu continuing to heal their injured appendages, the Hawks have enough horses in the stable to lap the Pistons by playing their A-Game – clogging the paint, defending without fouling, boxing out, and unselfish execution in transition. Anything less than an A-Team performance (at least in the closing minutes of tonight’s episode), and I pity the fools that have to watch the Hawks fool around with the Pistons in the fourth.

With all respect due to Jay-Z, I am not looking at Brooklyn, I’m looking past them. Yet there ought not be any farsightedness for Atlanta when it comes to facing down these Pistons. Even with the positive on-court momentum of late, if the Hawks are bickering and backsliding ahead of big games coming up versus the Nuggets, Mavs, and heat, we may catch a glimpse of the internal fight to find out who around Atlanta is, truly, The Final Boss.

 

Congrats to Vince Carter. Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[AHF]

With Detroit battling Washington for that top spot in the lottery, I'm going to predict that we finally get our double digit win against the tanking Pistons.  Let's say 122-105.

[lethalweapon3]

Trae, Gwu Tang and the DNP Gees (Griffin and Gueye) remain among the Outs for Atlanta on the pregame Boo-Boo Report.

As for the Pistons, the Outs potentially outnumber the Ins, and not completely by intention. MotorCade (knee injury management) and Marcus Sasser (respiratory illness) remain Questionable. Taj Gibson (strained hammy) is Doubtful, Simone Fontecchio (bruised toe) is Out, while Quentin Grimes, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson and Stanley Umude's statuses are Been Out.

Happy 20th anniversary to Pistons assistant Jarrett Jack, who on this day helped lead Georgia Tech to peak Yellow Jacket-dom in the 2004 Final Four. Thanks to future Piston Will Bynum's big-time bucket, the 3-seed edged Tony Allen's favored Oklahoma State at the Alamodome to lead Tech to the national championship game. As Lindsey Vonn would agree, it was all downhill from there.

 

~lw3

[HawksNWaffles]

.....it's been a minute...LETS GET THIS DUB

 

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

As of the 6:30 BBR, Marcus Sasser has been upgraded to Available. Taj is Out, Cade remains Questionable, although Monty spoke of him, and of pressure, during his pregame presser.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[RedDawg#8]

Props to Dylan Windler for shouting out my alma mater Tennessee State during his pre game feature with Garrison and Bob.

It was focused on the Belmont v Lipscomb rivalry as the schools are virtually a mile apart, same road, and Garrison and Dylan played each other in college.

He made a point to mention Vandy and TSU as well considering how close each campus is to one another in Nashville and all the students interacting.

We used to sneak in to the Lipscomb gym after hours and play hoops as they had very minimal campus security.

Funny part was when Garrison (Lipscomb) mentioned that Dylan's (Belmont) wife played on the Lipscomb Women's team and Bob's first response was "Lot's of cross pollination in Nashville" and both dudes just kind of looked down lol

Dylan looking like "they better not have been pollinating my girl" lol

[Nash]

I hope the guys continue to share the ball as they've been doing it lately and not fall into an iso slug fest trying to prove that each of them can beat Pistons alone. We've seen it in the pass and I absolutely hate that type of basketball. Let's beat the scrubs and keep winning the right way

[thecampster]

Settled in, hoping we don't look past these guys.

[Peoriabird]

10 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Settled in, hoping we don't look past these guys.

Playing defense makes you so much more consistent!

[thecampster]

10 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Playing defense makes you so much more consistent!

A little loose with the ball but effort looks good.

[JayBirdHawk]

The Bunny Man cometh.

[hylndr11]

guess we taking the night off?

[thecampster]

They fooled around in that 1st quarter and found out that you can't look past any team in the NBA.

[JayBirdHawk]

This is looking like a Trap Game!

Get it together guys.

2-12 from 3 

[thecampster]

4 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

This is looking like a Trap Game!

Get it together guys.

2-12 from 3 

That 3 possession series by Jalen just changed the game. 2 baskets out of it, but should have been 3.

[Nash]

Dre lol

[Peoriabird]

Keep playing defense and this team will cough it up

[givemesome1ce1]

Jalen is at 9/7/9 right now…TRIPLE DOUBLE INCOMING COME ON NOW