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Official Game Thread: Hawks - Mavericks

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Yippee Ki Yay! The Atlanta Hawks look to build on a big Sunday night win in Brooklyn by hogtieing the Dallas Mavericks this evening at the Highlight Factory.

It’s getting close enough to the end of the season where one can shamelessly start looking at Magic Numbers. The Hawks’ Magic Number to guarantee the playoffs is 5 (combo of wins and/or Toronto losses). A win tonight brings the Magic Number for the Heat-avoiding 7-seed down to 10 (combo of wins and/or Milwaukee losses) while also offering a chance for some momentary separation from both Boston and Chicago. Those teams host the two hottest NBA ballclubs (Miami and Denver, respectively) tonight.

The Mavericks, 11th-seeded in the West, have an abysmal record on the road (13-22), but are playing much better as of late away from American Airlines Center, winning three of their last four road contests while falling short by just one point at San Antonio last Thursday. Dallas is not dead yet playoffs-wise, just four games behind the Lakers. They’re hoping to climb closer to the eighth-seed by exacting a measure of payback against an Atlanta team whose Medium Three of Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Jeff Teague each scored 20+ points on their way to a 105-101 victory in Big D on February 11.

As expected, Dallas had a rough go of things at home last night versus Oklahoma City. They were able to contain Kevin Durant for up to three quarters (just 12 points) but he still finished with 31 as the Thunder prevailed by six points. They couldn’t do much defensively when Russell Westbrook took the ball inside the arc. Westbrook lit them up with 35 points, and he and KD nailed all 18 of their free throw attempts, two more than Dallas’ roster. Meanwhile, OKC’s defense clamped down on Dirk Nowitzki (ten field goals the whole game) and forced the Mavs to find another hero for the final quarter.

Dirk has put his seven-foot frame to work on the defensive side of the ball lately. He’s averaging 8.8 defensive boards per game in his last six contests, and last month posted back-to-back tallies of 13 and 17 defensive rebounds. In sobering reality, that’s probably not the main thing they should be looking for Dirk to do.

Mike “Check My Stats” James is more than happy to oblige if Heroball is called for. He had a season-high 14 points against OKC, plus he has a nice little Korveresque streak of his own going. He’s got at least one three-pointer in nine consecutive games. The streak will get to ten tonight, but it’s just a matter of how many shots the point guard will take at his team’s expense to get it.

James went from subsistence on ten-day contracts to inexplicably starting at point guard ahead of Darren Collison (the offseason acquisition traded by Indiana to Dallas along with Dahntay Jones, for the low-low price of Ian Mahinmi). He and Collison (2.25 APG in his last 4 games) must do a better job of getting the ball to Hasslehoff, even if it’s earlier in the shot clock. Roddy Beaubois was not much more of a passing threat, but he’ll be out of action indefinitely after breaking an index finger last night. Dominique Jones, waived two weeks ago by the Mavs and now in the D-League, probably wishes Roddy B’s misfortune had happened sooner.

Compounding the steepness of their uphill climb, the Mavs have had to play without Shawn Marion recently due to a calf strain. Villa Rica-native rookie Jae Crowder gets the starting nod in the Matrix’s absence. Crowder gets a little too happy with his three-point shot, shooting 1-for-7 in his past two games, 0-for-3 in 12 minutes against Atlanta in February, and 33.1% on the season. However, he is figuring out his importance as a help rebounder, snagging 14 boards against Cleveland on Friday night.

Also back in the starting lineup yesterday, for the first time in about a month, was Elton Brand. The Starting-Bernard-James-at-Center experiment in February proved to be virtually fruitless, yet Coach Rick Carlisle is struggling to find a steady contributor at the 5-spot, so it’s Brand by default. Back from a prolonged concussion, Chris Kaman had been starting but is nowhere near the floor time or production from earlier in the season. Brandan Wright has been given more looks but is not trusted defensively.

Winning the rebounding edge against this group of bigs (unlike Brooklyn, with their one man rebounding crew of Reggie Evans) will go a long way toward putting another W in Atlanta’s pocket. Atlanta’s 20-10 when they out-rebound their opponents, and 15-17 when it’s the other way around. Dallas, meanwhile, concedes to opponents the second-most total rebounds (and most defensive rebounds) per game of any NBA team.

Among the pleasant surprises last night, on offense, was new acquisition Dahntay Jones (13 points on 6-for-7 shooting). He’ll be useful for crimping the style of one of his former teammates, either O.J. Mayo or Vince Carter, both of whom are in the top 20 of the NBA for 3-point percentage.

The Mavericks once liked DeShawn Stevenson enough to put a ring on him, but despite his brief heroics in last night’s game against the Nets, he hasn’t played on back-to-back nights since December 19. Expect Stevenson to be a spectator against his other former team, unless he’s absolutely needed in a pinch. Don’t expect to see former Hawk Anthony Morrow in action tonight for Dallas, as he continues to nurse a sore hip.

Sharing is caring! On the strength of Teague’s 15 assists when pressed into action last night, the Hawks now lead the NBA in assist percentage (65.4 assists per 100 field goals). Last night’s victory made it 14 occasions this year where Atlanta got 30 or more assists in a game. That’s more than the combined total of the last two Iso-Joe seasons (six in 2011-12, five in 2010-11).

The edge tonight will likely go to the team that makes the most of its fast break opportunities. Atlanta and Dallas are 3rd and 4th in the NBA in fast break points per game (17.4 and 17.0 PPG, respectively). But while Dallas is among the bottom ten defensively for opponent fast break scoring (14.0 PPG, 8th most), the Hawks are happily nested in the top-third of the league (12.9 PPG, 6th fewest).

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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Gray Mule Grand Master

Gray Mule

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Some games you're just destined to lose. This was one of them.

We knew, when Dallas hit four three's in a row to open the quarter,

then had something like seven of the next eight, it was over.

Every ttime, throughout the game, when the Hawks just thought of

closing the gap to single figures, Mavericks would explode again.

They scored long. They scored short. They scored medium. Everything,

literally, that they threw ar the basket went in.

Hawks had a great offensive night. Dallas was just too hot shooting

all night. Whatever they did worked. A monsoon of shots going in.

Forget this one. Let's get that next one. Get well Zaza!

GO HAWKS!!

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Jody23 Mentor

Jody23

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Horf's comments via AJC:"I felt we played hard we just had too many deflating plays, said Horford, who also had 11 rebounds for a double-double. That is the only thing that sticks out to me. We are about to score in transition and we throw the ball away. Or we take an ill-advised 3-point shot on the break. Things against a team like that, they were making us pay. I felt we had decent energy, considering the situation. They just played better."Enough said.

Edited by Jody23
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