Official Game Thread: Hawks - Blazers

[lethalweapon3]

^{"'No days off. Or No playoffs.' Okay, that's one bar..."}

The Portland Trail Blazers are in Atlanta to take on our half-baked Hawks (7:30 PM, SportSouth, CSN Northwest), and looking forward to being the latest team to stop their own three-game slide.

Portland has dropped eight of their last 11 games, the last seven without All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge (back contusion). During their trek across the Dirty South, they got throttled in Charlotte by 30 points, and on Monday got sunk by the lumbering Miami HEAT in the closing seconds on a LeBron layup. Then on Tuesday, they lost on the road to a Magic team that had previously lost nine in a row.

As a result, the Blazers (45-27) have gone from a playoff lock and possible 4-seed to an unwilling participant in the game of Western Conference Musical Chairs. As it stands, they’re two games ahead of Dallas for the 9^th seed, Golden State, Memphis, and Phoenix wedged in between. But when the music stops…?

You’ll hear no cries from the Blazers fans to see their team tank, because their would-be draft pick (Top-12 protected) will go to Charlotte if they fail to get into the playoffs. Either way, Blazers and ex-Hawks Head Coach Terry Stotts is all but assured of a new contract this summer, given the way this team has transformed under his watch.

Portland will be thrilled to have Aldridge return tonight, but they will likely limit his minutes and bring him along slowly as he’s still dealing with some soreness. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and perhaps the most endeared Blazer to Portland fans is second-year center Joel Freeland, who sprained his MCL a month-and-a-half ago and has yet to return. Aldridge’s and Freeland’s absences further thinned their defensively-deficient frontline, causing them to rely more on Thomas Robinson and Meyers Leonard than they would like. There’s also a report that guard Mo Williams will try to go tonight despite a sore knee.

As for the Hawks? Well…

Pero Antić had a very Hawksian moment went he tripped over a coach after sinking one of the rare three-pointers in last night’s debacle in Minnesota (7-for-28 team 3FG), tweaking his ankle. Perhaps the hoops gods were trying to tell Antić (1-for-4 3FGs in 16 minutes last night, 4-for-22 his last five games) something about his shot selection of late. His status remains a cloudy gametime decision for tonight, along with Kyle Korver.

It appears that without Korver screenin’ outta control and providing some measure of defensive help along the way, Head Coach Mike Budenholzer runs completely out of tricks to pull by the second half of games during Atlanta’s latest swoon. Atlanta’s opponents have rung up 60.5 PPG in second halves of the last four games, fire-roasting the Hawks by an average of 14.7 second-half points in the last three.

The beatings will continue if they intend to play the way they did up in Rip City three weeks ago, the 102-78 game that concluded Korver’s (previous) legendary Threak. Atlanta shot a season-low 33.3 FG% and an Antician 4-for-27 on the night from three-point range, as the team had to rely on Cartier Martin to provide the garbage-time offense. Portland hardly needed Aldridge (1-for-13 FGs) to show up at all.

Without Korver to chase around and Antić at least ineffective from the perimeter if he plays at all, Nicolas Batum (career-high 18 defensive rebounds on March 5) and Wesley Matthews will find themselves freed up to expend more energy on the offensive end. Matthews in particular wants an opportunity to fix his broken jumper. Since the All-Star Break, Matthews is shooting 39.6 FG% and 35.7 3FG%, down significantly from 45.9 FG% and 41.0 3FG% pre-Break.

Jeff Teague did his best Claude Rains impersonation in Minnesota (0-for-5 FGs and no FTs in 19 minutes), and the Hawks’ so-called “lead” guards largely left it to teammates to get the offense going. The result was a brutal 25 turnovers (2^nd most this season, most in a game since mid-December), 17 by Minnesota steals. Against a soft Timberwolves interior, the Hawks failed to get shots inside (eight attempts within 5 feet in the second-half). When the Wolves started taking their offense outside (9-for-18 3FGs in the second half, after 0-for-4 in the first), the Hawks tried to keep up and only went 2-for-14.

To keep doing the same thing over and over again (#3BallThursday!)and getting the same result, they can try avoiding the defensively-limited Robin Lopez and the hobbled Aldridge in the paint, and just hang out on the perimeter like Daft Punk hoping to get lucky. In part due to defensive pressure at the wing spots, Blazer foes shoot the fewest three-point attempts (18.0 3FGA per game), but take the most two-pointers (69.7 2FGAs per game), while Portland is the only NBA team stealing the ball less than six times per game (5.5 SPG). Stotts’ gang would love nothing more than to compete with Atlanta in a contested-three battle and scoop up all the rebounds from missed shots (NBA-high 46.3 RPG).

Teague should be nothing if not well-rested after getting a short hook last night, and should be better able to attack the basket and set up Paul Millsap and Mike Scott around the rim. On defense, Aldridge will be quite satisfied settling for his signature mid-range jumper, so Millsap has to properly defend that shot (no fouling!) and depend on his teammates to box out and secure rebounds.

Meanwhile, Teague cannot afford to have Damian Lillard dictate the pace of the action the way Ricky Rubio (10 assists, 2 turnovers, 6 steals) was able to last night. Lillard is not a pass-first pass-last PG like Rubio, but his Blazers are 11-2 when he manages at least 8 assists. You do want Lillard to play hero-ball and settle for shots at the end of the clock, as he has averaged 20.8 PPG but shot just 33.9 FG% and 20.9 3FG% in the past six games. Don’t bail out Lillard with trips to the free throw line.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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[Guest]

No Pero or Korver tonight!

[capstone21]

Best part about the Hawks season is LW3's pre game threads

[Guest]

Best part about the Hawks season is LW3's pre game threads

LW3 is a consummate pro no doubt

[Guest]

I'm scared Nique is going blind ...he is saying he is the same height as Lamarcus....ummmm ..I love you to death Nique but hell nah

[Guest]

So my 6yo son and 7yo daughter come and sit with me as I watch the game. Both decide they are rooting for the Hawks. I didn't even tell them who to root for. Am I a bad father if I let them go down this road?

They don't like Teague and have decided he and Lou are brothers.

I feel like half of the posters on here became Hawks fans the same way. Poor parenting.

[DJlaysitup]

So my 6yo son and 7yo daughter come and sit with me as I watch the game. Both decide they are rooting for the Hawks. I didn't even tell them who to root for. Am I a bad father if I let them go down this road?

Depends on how smart they are and what they expect out of life...

[Sothron]

So can these damn Knicks show up and overtake us or what?

[capstone21]

So can these damn Knicks show up and overtake us or what?

scheduling favors us big time....I don't think they can

[benhillboy]

I think we get rolled at Washington. The most national attention we'll get all year will be about Philly actually having a chance to snap their historic losing streak against us. They have a good chance to beat Detroit before us, although surprisingly the metrics said their best chance is Brooklyn.

[Jody23]

Several of those earlier wins aren't looking so meaningful anymore.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I think we get rolled at Washington. The most national attention we'll get all year will be about Philly actually having a chance to snap their historic losing streak against us. They have a good chance to beat Detroit before us, although surprisingly the metrics said their best chance is Brooklyn.

That would be the worst case scenario for this team . . . to lose to a team that would have lost 28 games in a row . . on our home floor.

God only knows what the attendance for that game will be. On a Monday night vs Philly?

8,000 maybe?

[LamarHampton]

We're only up, what, 1.5 games? We still have WASH CHI IND BKN MIA & CHA. We might also not fare too well vs. CLE DET or BOS since we've had all these injuries.

Knicks are 8-2 in their last 10 (I think), so I wouldn't count them out.

There's still hope for missing the playoffs for all of you who want that. I'm still on the fence, but I'll be fine either way.

[Gray Mule]

Years ago, there was a game and part of it had the question,

"How low can you go?"

Sounds like our current Hawk team. For all you tank people,

is this what you've been wanting?

Yes, I remember that 13 win season. When I think of that team

and then watch us today, I shudder at the memory.

Injuries continue to devastate us. Key players keep going down.

Right now, we're so pitiful it's hard to even feel sorry for our

beloved Hawks. We can't seem to do anything right.

Over and over we watch as our opponent, whoever it happens

to be, close out each quarter by hitting the final shot with a

fraction of a second left.

We saw it twice last night. We see our own shots, especially the

three ball, refuse to go. Many times they roll around, then pop out

and we sure don't get a lot of rebounds of these misses.

If anything can go wrong, it does. If there is a bad call to be made,

we get it. If there is a candidate for the next injury, we're in the

front of the line.

Ah, well. Next season looks better and better. Hopefully, everyone

lives long enough to enjoy it.

GO ATL !!

[BrazilianHawk]

I feel like half of the posters on here became Hawks fans the same way. Poor parenting.

I for one became a Hawks fan the first time I watched an NBA game (back in 1986, we had our first NBA broadcasting to Brazil IIRC).

Those pacman unis were the best ever. When you add Nique to one of them... there you go, instant fandom.

[Guest]

I think we get rolled at Washington. The most national attention we'll get all year will be about Philly actually having a chance to snap their historic losing streak against us. They have a good chance to beat Detroit before us, although surprisingly the metrics said their best chance is Brooklyn.

We got National attention last night on ESPN: said we were free falling but it was more about the Knicks catching and passing us.

[AUhawksfan]

Best part about the Hawks season is LW3's pre game threads

Agreed. If I knew someone in the sportswriting biz I'd be sending them LW3's material. So much better than a lot of the crap out there.

[macdaddy]

I've been against tanking but I do not want this hawks team in the playoffs. we've just got nothing left this season. I'd say though that this was the most enjoyable season with 40+ losses ever.

[benhillboy]

We got National attention last night on ESPN: said we were free falling but it was more about the Knicks catching and passing us.

Yeah I saw that and they actually did some homework on us. I said after the Suns game we're the worst defensive team in the league in the last seconds of a quarter. What do you know, they showed 3 scores from the Blazers at the end of 3 quarters.

I know you'd probably have to get Elias on it or something, but I'd bet we've given up far more in the last 10 seconds of quarters than anybody. Lakers, Sixers, Bucks, all of the Tankmasters. Coast to coast layups, 3/4 court, halfcourt, dunks, open jumpers, fouls, every possible and impossible way to score we've allowed it.

[Plainview1981]

Years ago, there was a game and part of it had the question,

"How low can you go?"

Sounds like our current Hawk team. For all you tank people,

is this what you've been wanting?

Yes, I remember that 13 win season. When I think of that team

and then watch us today, I shudder at the memory.

Injuries continue to devastate us. Key players keep going down.

Right now, we're so pitiful it's hard to even feel sorry for our

beloved Hawks. We can't seem to do anything right.

Over and over we watch as our opponent, whoever it happens

to be, close out each quarter by hitting the final shot with a

fraction of a second left.

We saw it twice last night. We see our own shots, especially the

three ball, refuse to go. Many times they roll around, then pop out

and we sure don't get a lot of rebounds of these misses.

If anything can go wrong, it does. If there is a bad call to be made,

we get it. If there is a candidate for the next injury, we're in the

front of the line.

Ah, well. Next season looks better and better. Hopefully, everyone

lives long enough to enjoy it.

GO ATL !!

30 something wins and the 12th-15th pick IS NOT what I wanted.