Get you a head coach that can do This.
Here comes the Payne! Former Atlanta Hawks first-rounder Adreian Payne will be back in the building, the latest G-League call-up by the visiting Orlando Magic (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Florida) graces us with his presence at Philips Arena.
Payne’s promotion from Lakeland became a necessity because of a concussion sustained by Aaron Gordon in the third quarter of last night’s 103-89 home loss by the Magic (11-6, 5-10 on road) to the shorthanded Nuggets. As was the case in Wednesday night’s 110-106 OT victory over visiting Atlanta (5-19), Orlando was gashed again by a second-unit. Denver’s Kenneth Faried and Emmanuel Mudiay dissected a Magic bench crew that shot a collective 4-for-20 from the field, including Wednesday’s late-game hero D.J. Augustin (1-for-6 FGs, 0-for-4 3FGs vs. DEN).
Augustin (quad contusion) himself is questionable to play tonight, perhaps joining Evan Fournier, who injured his ankle in Wednesday’s extra frame, Jonathan Issac and Terrence Ross on the shelf. Nikola Vucevic (21 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1-for-5 3FGs vs. DEN) and Jonathan Simmons (21 points, 9-for-17 FGs vs. DEN) need better support from the rest of the starting cast, especially Elfrid Payton (33.3 FG% last 3 games; 3-for-11 FGs and 4 TOs vs. ATL), and the reserves to pull off a road win.
On the second night of a back-to-back, look for meaningful minutes out of former Hawk Shelvin Mack (team-high 9.1 assists, 1.9 TOs per-36), who has been used sparingly over the past seven games. Head coach Frank Vogel’s crew is familiar with these next-night road games, winning their first two (at Cleveland and New Orleans) in October before dropping their last three (at Denver, Philly, and Charlotte, all by double digits).
After leading the NBA in the first few weeks of the season, the Hawks have slipped out of the top-ten in free throw percentage (78.8 team FT%, 11th in NBA), the misses becoming more precious for a team that doesn’t draw a lot of trips (28th in FT rate). Dennis Schröder has to find ways to feed his superior free throw shooting wings, notably Kent Bazemore (team-high 3.5 FTAs per game, 80.7 FT%) and Marco Belinelli (94.2 FT%), in the paint, weakening Orlando’s similarly-depleted front line with foul trouble while improving the likelihood of padding the scoreboard in Atlanta’s favor.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
