“Just Keep Truckin’ On!”
Coach Mike Budenholzer found himself thoroughly outcoached on Friday night, at the hands of his former lead assistant. Quin Snyder’s visiting opponents played right into the strengths of his Utah Jazz team along the way to a 95-68 rout, an Atlanta output that was offensive in only one sense of the word.
Coach Bud and his Atlanta Hawks will seek to bounce back today, but they’ll have to do it against the reigning Coach of the Year’s former lead assistant: Luke Walton, formerly of Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors, now head honcho for the Los Angeles Lakers (9:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL), who already has one W against Atlanta under his belt. Oh, and Kerr’s Warriors await these Hawks for a game tomorrow night as well. Keep those replacement whiteboards handy!
Both teams come in having dropped four of their last five, but the circumstances are a bit different in the case of Los Angeles (8-9). This remains a season of nurture for Walton’s Lakers, whose sole victory in the past week was a two-point win at Staples Center versus OKC. They embark on another high-mileage four-game road trip after tonight’s game.
“I want the basketball to be fun for our players and for our fans, something that’s fun and exciting to watch,” Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told USA Today recently. “And I want the team to get better as the year progresses. I don’t know what that means in terms of wins and losses, but if we’re a better team a month from now, or three months from now, or five months from now, than we are today, and we’re fun to watch, I think our fans, our partners, will be on board, and I think we’d have something to build on.”
L.A.’s recent losses were at home to the Spurs and Bulls, then during a home-and-home series against the Warriors, the Western Conference champs winning games by margins of 149-106 and 109-85. Amid that 5-game stretch, D’Angelo Russell (team-high 4.8 APG) was shelved for a few weeks, having received a PRP injection for his sore left knee. Julius Randle (team-high 8.1 RPG; 3.9 APG, second on team) missed the series with the Dubs due to a hip pointer. Larry Nance, Jr. remains questionable after spraining a thumb against Golden State.
This season remains about bringing along these younger Lakers (including rookies Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac, the latter on D-League assignment, plus guard Jordan Clarkson), allowing them to cut their teeth and build up their confidence while slowly mastering Walton’s gameplans.
With the injuries piling up, plus Nick Young (sprained toe, returning tonight) sitting out the last game, Walton has turned to Jose Calderon to man the point, and shifted Luol Deng to power forward while granting Ingram the first starts of his career against Golden State. Ingram scored 16 points in Oakland during the bigger blowout loss, and was harassed into 3-for-18 shooting but contributed 9 rebounds in the rematch at Staples.
Another schedule inversion is in the works for the Hawks, shifting from a plodding Utah team (last in pace) that prides itself on defense (second to Atlanta in D-Rating) to a high-tempo Laker team (4th in pace) that isn’t totally sure how that defensive side of the floor works (next-to-last in D-Rating).
Since scratching out an impressive 6-4 start to the year, the Lakers have allowed at least 109 points in each of the past seven games (2-5). They’ve needed to score at least that many points in all but one of their eight victories, including the 123-116 win at Philips Arena on November 2, when they outscored the Hawks 72-56 in the second half to overtake the lead. It’s been tougher to keep up the pace (and get stops) with Russell on the mend and Calderon (six assists in each game vs. GSW) pushing the ball.
While player development remains the theme, at the ends of games Walton will incorporate his veterans to help the Lakers close out close contests. Their leading scorer is sixth-man extraordinaire Lou Williams (16.4 PPG, 41.0 3FG%, team-high 4.2 FTAs per game), who made himself right at home by spraying the Hawks with 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter of L.A.’s win at the Highlight Factory.
Much like the Lakers with Russell, Atlanta’s coaching staff and veteran teammates are responsible for ensuring their young starting point guard doesn’t suffer from a crisis of confidence. Dennis Schröder’s 43.8 2FG%, 76.5 FT%, 29.5 assist percentage, 1.1 steal percentage, and 5.9 rebound percentage are the lowest marks since his short-leashed rookie year. Dennis has led the team in assists just three times during the Hawks’ last nine games.
His hot start versus Utah (12 first-quarter points) was not rewarded in kind by his teammates stepping up their play (31.3 team FG%, lowest since January 2013 @ CHI, third-lowest by NBA team this season), and his production wilted (6-for-19 FGs, two assists, two TOs in 29 minutes) trying in vain to carry the team.
Unlike past seasons with Al Horford (16.7 assists percentage last season, highest among non-point guard Hawks) at center, Schröder’s passes into Dwight Howard (6.3 assist percentage, lowest since 2007-08) are usually one-way propositions. Howard registered zero assists against the Lakers in Atlanta, the loss spoiling his 31-point, 11-rebound effort versus his old club. The Hawks (10-6) are 1-4 when Howard comes away with no assists, a record inclusive of each of the Hawks’ last three defeats.
Do-it-all Paul Millsap (career-best 18.2 assist%) and fellow starters Kyle Korver and Kent Bazemore have elevated their assist rates from last season to help out. But Atlanta’s slip-sliding offense (21st in O-Rating) will get a boost if Howard and Schröder go beyond mere lob-hunting to improve their 2-man game. Allowing league-highs of 26.1 assists per game and 50.0 paint PPG, the Lakers serve as an ideal palate for Atlanta’s starting center and point guard to hone their mutual skillsets.
Howard can “assist” by doing more than just passing the ball out of the post when the double-team comes. The Hawks’ 9.1 screen assists rank just 18th in the league, and their 0.84 points per possession on off-screen plays rank 26th.
Versus Utah, Atlanta’s wing players failed to beat their assignments down the floor in transition, allowing the Jazz to set the tone with their brand of basketball. The Lakers don’t provide the same scale of effort, and it’s on the Hawks to produce on the fastbreak. This includes not only Bazemore, Thabo Sefolosha, and Taurean Prince, but also Kyle Korver hustling down to the corner-3 spots.
L.A. allows 16.8 fastbreak points per game, third-most in the league. The Lakers are one of just five teams that have opponents hitting 40.0 3FG% or better from each corner; Utah is among that quintet, but Atlanta (2-for-5 corner 3s on Friday) failed to exploit that. The Hawks’ are shooting just 31.8 3FG% above-the-break (26th in NBA), so until their mechanics improve, the closer corner shots are where it’s at.
The Hawks have the talent, experience and skills to beat the Lake Show at their own high-tempo game. The trick is doing it early and sustaining it long enough (well beyond the opening half) that the Lakers’ top stat-padders can’t impact the outcome as the contest draws to a close. Breaking the Lakers’ will with the fervor that Kris Humphries uses to break backboards would take away the bad taste of Utah and turn momentum upward as the scene quickly shifts to Oakland tomorrow night.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
