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Official Game Thread: Hawks at Knicks

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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usatsi_9874421.jpg

Ujiri ain’t fixin’ this.

 

Live, from New York, it’s Stupor Bowl II! Our defending champion Atlanta Hawks conquered the Rusty State Warriors in SBI just over two weeks ago. Now, a new challenger arises, summoning the Hawks to Madison Square Garden to wage a titanktic clash for the ages. There can be only one loser!

Alright, fine, things need not seem so dire. That is, unless these Hawks choose to make it so.

Each defeat, to a team as bad as the New York Knicks (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, MSG Network) have been, increases the certainty that these teams will be participants in subsequent Stupor Bowls. At least Jay-Z’s got David Hasselhoff locked down for the halftime shows.

The Hawks have suffered through one bad-beat in the early schedule after another, and now they don’t even get the freefalling, Fizdale-firing version of the Knickerbockers (6-21) as a reward. The new guy in charge, Mike “Two Shoes” Miller, has his team at least grasping some twigs along their descent to the NBA bottom. On the road, New York escaped San Francisco and Sacramento with close-shave wins, then put a scare into the 17-8 Nuggets, a short Julius Randle jumper putting the Knicks up by two with under six minutes left to play.

Nuggets fans can confirm these aren’t quite the Same Old Knicks. Denver Post beat writer Michael Singer sensed the alarm before the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game when a Pepsi Center fan mentioned aloud, “you know who else has six wins? The Atlanta Hawks.” Good point.

It’s Miller Time for New York, in a good way, as the interim coach is basically getting the Knicks to play to their strengths, if you will. The Knicks are packing the paint (2nd in O-Reb% last three games; all six wins w/ O-Reb percentages above 25%) with their excess of power forwardly bigs, and relying on the guards, especially Frank Ntilikina (4 steals @ DEN) to pester ballhandlers around the perimeter. That strategy is just good enough to upend lousy-shooting, sloppy teams with weakened interiors, teams like… oh, hey, look who’s here!

Sailing sure has been rough for the Hawks (6-21) without John Collins aboard, and the gashing inside at merciless opponents’ hands have been more severe lately (66.7 opp. paint points per-48 in last three games, 9.7 points more than the 2nd-worst). But also, try winning games without 2016’s Mr. New York State Basketball, Shenendehowa’s Kevin Huerter, healthy and on deck.

Not many NBA players can say they are their own high school player’s logo, and the Hawks guard returns a few hours downstate from where his high school silhouetted one of his literal-trademark tomahawk dunks.

Five of Atlanta’s six wins came with Red Velvet contributing in some capacity, the exception being Golden State. The lack of cream threes icing kept Atlanta from sweetening the final eight minutes of Sunday’s 101-96 home loss to the Lakers. Fortunately for the Hawks, the shoulder he re-injured during that game is merely stiff, and he is probable to play tonight.

MIROY-candidates Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter will have a chance to outshine Reddish’s former Duke teammate RJ Barrett, who isn’t much more of a ready-for-primetime player than they are (38.3 FG%, 29.2 3FG%, 54.6 FT%; 22-and-10, though, @ GSW last Wednesday).

Burned by Kristaps Porzingis, bummed by Kevin Knox, Knicks fans have been through the lottery ringer enough in the past half-decade to understand that, so long as they’re run by meddling owner Jimmy Dolan, tanking only produces more teenaged hopefuls for the team to grind into ruin.

Drafted in 2018, second-round seven-footer Mitchell Robinson (NBA-high 68.5 FG% and 7.9 block%) has been a saving grace. But the Knicks should know that, by now, racing to the bottom for first-dibs at draft time won’t bring a savior to the squad, and shaky organizational leadership won’t bring any via free agency, no matter how big “NEW YORK” is emblazoned on the team jerseys.

The man who literally had people singing about concrete jungles made the Nets his first NBA investment. If the league’s top players love being associated with that town so much, they’ll sign for multiple guaranteed years with Brooklyn as free agents, and then go catch “Hamilton” on Broadway. At least, until something significant changes in the office above the front office.

It’s mind-boggling what Dolan thinks he can do with his Manhattan moolah. To the extent rumors are true, he is asking Masai Ujiri to stop re-building the reigning-champion Raptors, a division rival, in order to come to NYC. He’s willing to offer “Phil Jackson money” to woo Ujiri away, since Phil and his Triangle thingy worked out oh-so-well. Oh, is that all? In 2020, A.D.? Is a fella named A.D. coming through the door with Masai? Suffice to say, I have my doubts, and I suspect Ujiri does, too.

New York’s plodding style doesn’t put up many points on the board, unless the Warriors are somehow involved (112 vs. GSW in regulation before prevailing in OT). The Knicks have exceeded 110 points just twice in 27 games and, discounting G-State, not once since beating Cleveland at MSG nearly a calendar month ago.

Atlanta (under 105 points in last three games) looks forward to speeding up the offensive playmaking, and they’ll want to keep centers Damian Jones and Alex Len, and forward Jabari Parker, active in keeping the Knicks’ bigs busy running the full floor. But the Hawks must avoid giveaways, particularly those of the mindless dribbling, three-second camping, and charge-delivering variety, that suck away otherwise valuable possessions.

Out-stealing the opponent in just one of their past 11 games, if one again counts Golden State as a game, the Hawks’ guards and wings must be more disruptive of the Knicks’ drives and passes into the paint. When Atlanta forces 20 opposing-player turnovers, as they did in forcing the Lakers into a team-high 22, and doesn’t return favors in kind, they make it easier on themselves to be in position to win ballgames. While all eyes are on Trae Young, it’s going to be Huerter, Hunter and Reddish who can have the biggest impact on Atlanta defending its Stupor Bowl crown.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, from border to border and coast to coast, and all the ships at sea, for the thousands in attendance and the tens of thousands watching around the world… Let’s get ready to stumble!

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

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Post of the Year.

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Spud2nique Grand Master

Spud2nique

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27 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

It’s Miller Time for New York, in a good way,

😂 Somewhere Spike just 🤢 a little. Nice work lw3! I loved the pic of Dolan and the x Knicks. They look 👀...well not great. 
 

Knicks -2  o/u 225.5

Go Hawks!

31 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Rusty State Warriors i

Yesss 😊 

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Spud2nique Grand Master

Spud2nique

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31 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

MIROY-candidates Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter will have a chance to outshine Reddish’s former Duke teammate RJ Barrett, who isn’t much more of a ready-for-primetime player than they are (38.3 FG%, 29.2 3FG%, 54.6 FT%; 22-and-10, though, @ GSW last Wednesday).

This should be fun. One of them has to come alive soon? 🧐 

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