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  • Hawks at Pelicans

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    lethalweapon3

     

    “This me guarding Bazemore’s jumper. Ayyyy!”

     

    Dealing with the bigs won’t be easy in The Big Easy, as our Atlanta Hawks wrangle with All-Star talents Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins of the New Orleans Pelicans (8:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports New Orleans).

    Former Pelican Luke Babbitt and fellow Hawks starter Dewayne Dedmon are sure to have their hands full as Boogie and The Brow take turns pounding away in the paint and lofting open perimeter jumpers. Barring an off-shooting night, there’s no conceivable way these Hawks can keep New Orleans’ dynamic duo from filling up the box score with ungodly pinball-game numbers. The key for Atlanta’s big men to hang in there tonight is, when those titans tug and pull, to simply let go of the rope.

    The Pelicans’ injury report isn’t exactly brief. Rajon Rondo remains out after dealing all season with a sports hernia, and he’ll be joined by fellow backup guard Tony Allen (knee inflammation) and rookie Frank Jackson (foot fracture) as no-goes. Up front, the Pellies (7-6) have been making-do without Solomon Hill (torn hammy), Omer Asik (Crohn’s disease), and Alexis Ajinca (knee tendinitis). All that medical leave has coach Alvin Gentry fielding rosters 8-to-9 deep on most nights.

    Cousins (28.7 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 5.7 APG, 1.8 BPG, 1.5 SPG) is downright otherworldly. But Boogie will grant opponents chances to get back in games with a high number of turnovers (5.2 per game; 8 during Saturday’s 111-103 home win over the Clippers), hacks (3.9 personal fouls per game), ill-advised three-point shots (5.2 missed 3FGs per game), and distracted pleas to the refs when a call isn’t going his way. Recently-departed Pelican Josh Smith hopefully imparted some wisdom on the efficacy of those antics on his way out the door.

    Davis is every bit as much a marvel (27.3 PPG, 59.2 2FG%, 39.4 3FG%, 12.1 RPG, 2.1 BPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.1 TOs/game), particularly for as long as he can be paired with Cousins (2-man lineup: +8.1 points per 100 possessions). But the occasional dive to the floor by Unibrow leaves everyone at Smoothie King Center and fantasy owners holding their breaths. When either exits for the rare breather, the depth chart for N’Awlins leaves Gentry to turn solely to Cheick Diallo, who Atlanta’s John Collins will surely recall from Summer League had he bothered to look down on his way to the rim.

    The backcourt injuries have Jrue Holiday (37.2 MPG, most since 2012-13), E’Twaun Moore (31.3 MPG, up from a career-high 24.9 last season), and especially Jameer Nelson (27.5 MPG, most since his Orlando days) playing crazy minutes. To bounce back from a horrid performance in Washington, Dennis Schröder (2-for-16 FGs, 5 assists, 4 TOs on Saturday) must wear down the Pellies by coming off screens instead of going for straight-line drives. Dennis should be prepared to loft some floaters when the big Bayou Birds are packing the paint, rather than force the issue in hopes of some fortuitous whistles. And, as always, the Hawks (2-11) tend to be at their competitive zenith when Schröder is active and engaged defensively.

    The wear-and-tear on the Pelicans’ starters will lead to copious errors (16.2 TO%, 23rd in NBA). It is up to the Hawks to swoop in and take advantage of every possible opportunity to convert those errors into scores, especially live-ball turnovers that could have Davis and Cousins chasing Schröder and the Hawk guards from the rear. When those bigs do manage to get back in transition, Schröder and Isaiah Taylor need to find their own wings (including another ex-Pelican, Marco Belinelli) waiting in the proverbial wings. For all its offensive woes, Atlanta remains hot shooting above-the-break on 3s (39.6 3FG%, a shave off from 2nd in the NBA) and from the right corner (48.8 3FG%, tied-6th in NBA).

    Even without three PF/C’s at their own disposal, the Hawks close out their three-game road swing finally against a team that is as shallow in the frontcourt as they are. With minutes carefully distributed by coach Mike Budenholzer, a steady rotation of Hawk guards that understand their roles and execute properly could offset any frontcourt advantage by New Orleans and make for a compelling, four-quarter contest. As demonstrated six times already this season, Davis and Cousins going bananas in the box score does not, in and of itself, translate into victory on the scoreboard.

    Let’s Go Hawks!

    ~lw3


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