Official Game Thread: Hunk-o'-Hawks at Lakers

[lethalweapon3]

“Me? I totally get Derulo. I’m ready to throw hands anytime some bozos confuse me for Chance the Rapper!”

 

Eureka! It’s the state motto of California. It’s also the Greek word Travis Schlenk will use when finding a trading partner eager to cleave a little something off of the offensive juggernauts* that we know as our Atlanta Hawks.

*Juggernauts with Trae Young on the floor, that is (113.0 team O-Rating, 2^nd in NBA). Trae’s 117.1 is the highest in the league among any non-Jazz player.

There are a handful of teams, at the wrong end of The Association’s offensive efficiency rankings, that could use a jolt of electricity. For now, two of those clubs conserve energy by splitting the same So Cal Edison bill, in the building where the Hawks (17-20) will perform over the next three days.

Sunday afternoon’s opponent, Ty Lue’s Clippers have been a top-five defensive unit, even with Kawhi Leonard and, lately, Paul George unavailable. But the Clips and Pat Bev’s T’Wolves are the only top-ten teams for D-Rating that suffer a negative overall Net Rating. They’re also the only teams on that shortlist in the NBA West with a sub-.500 record, LA floundering even weeks before George got shelved with his hyperextended elbow.

The NBA’s Play-In rounds were built with teams like Sacramento’s Kings in mind. Not the other Cali clubs, like the Warriors or the Clippers. Assuredly, not the Clippers’ more heralded and hyped co-tenants.

The Lakers and Dubs fell into 2021’s inaugural Play-In rounds simply by circumstance. It’s barely mid-season, we hope. Yet as the Warriors are back to contending, and likely getting stronger in the coming weeks, the Lakers (20-19) find themselves playing musical chairs with the Clips, T’Wolves, and two other teams for the West’s final two Play-In-avoiding seats.

A plurality of active NBA players who were in the vicinity as LeBron James toiled through his Wonder Years in Cleveland suit up alongside him in Laker purple ‘n gold. LeBron knows, though, that as he strives to get his team unmoored from the morass of mediocrity, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, DeAndre Jordan, Avery Bradley and Kent Bazemore will be of limited assistance. Carmelo Anthony’s nightly contributions are ephemeral, too.

In Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles already has one beyond-the-hill guard who cranks out more turnovers-per-minute than Pepperidge Farm. They don’t need two, which is part of the reason why Rajon Rondo’s third term with a Tinseltown team was cut short this week by shadow GM Rob Pelinka. Although he’s been out all season with a bruised knee, Kendrick Nunn has long been second to some, and whether he’ll be at least an adequate replacement for Rondo remains an uncertainty.

As the Lakers seek to elevate further above the .500 line today, versus a Hawks team (10 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM, ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet in LAX) that hopes to begin rounding into form with returnees on the way, Coach Frank Vogel is finding some non-Bron solutions. The only questions are, how reliable they can be at Playoff, or Play-In, time? And are there other offensive options out there to diminish the view that the Lakers are wasting LeBron’s post-prime time?

Los Angeles has won four of their past five games, most recently dispatching the Kings behind a rare turnover-free game by Russ, Talen Horton-Tucker’s most efficient game in weeks, and 24 points from Malik Monk (last five games: 20.8 PPG, 45.9 3FG%). While sidelined with You Know What, Monk took time to tweet “Free Me” around Christmastime, before Vogel would gift him steady starter’s minutes.

Melo came alive in the fourth quarter Sunday with nine bench points to help the Lakers avoid a deflating loss to the depleted T’Wolves. A victory tonight would have the Lakers at 4-0 during this homestand at the newly re-christened Crypto.com Arena, with the red-hot Grizzlies on the way after being hosted by the Clippers tomorrow.

Youth has been served, but the Lakers had been relying too heavily on THT (39.7 FG%, 22.2% on 5.3 3FGAs/game) to be a ready-for-prime-time third wheel. His replacement in the starting five, Monk can still be hot-and-cold. Sixth-man rookie Austin “Fletch” Reaves, who once transferred from Wichita State to help replace Young’s scoring prowess at Oklahoma, has been basically Tony Snell with empty-calorie minutes when the ball doesn’t swing his way.

Le... excuse me... Pelinka’s uneven roster construction leaves the Lake Show bereft of active players in the above-25, below-30 age range. A team with limited know-how, on one end, but long in the tooth on the other, is being pushed by Vogel to play at high tempos (101.1 Pace, 2^nd-highest in NBA), its newly 37-year-old superstar leading the charge. The result, thus far, is a collective that is either first-shot-made, or bust (23^rd in team TO%, 22^nd in O-Reb%, 28^th in FT%; 23^rd in O-Rating) on its NBA-high 4,028 possessions (eight more than Sacramento, who have played one more game than LAL after losing to ATL).

Most measures of strength-of-schedule have the Lakers’ slate among the top-three toughest going forward. The good news is that LeBron (probable, strained abs), shape-shifting into MVP-quality play (28.6 PPG, most since 2009-10; 3.3 TOs/game, fewest since 2015-16; 1.1 BPG, most since 2008-09) at four different positions on the floor, has no Solomon Hill in his way and appears to be conditioned for the long haul.

On the downside, LBJ is logging a ton of minutes at the Five, what with reti-center Anthony Davis (out, sprained MCL) on the mend, and top-line pairings with Dwight proving futile versus decent opponents. They’re no spring chickens, but Atlanta’s Danilo Gallinari and Gorgui Dieng might reinforce the Laker backup frontcourt spots more effectively than Ariza, Anthony, Howard, and Jordan. If Pelinka’s capologists can swing it, Schlenk’s cellie may be blowing up soon.

Even when Gallo’s jumper isn’t golden, he knows to get to the free throw line, where he’s not going to tarnish (1-for-5 3FGs, 7-for-7 FTs @ SAC). Also 1-for-5 on threes Wednesday in Sactown was Atlanta’s Kevin Huerter, who nevertheless found ways to favorably impact the outcome (10-for-13 2FGs, 5 assists, 11 D-Rebs tying the Hawks’ Clint Capela for the team lead @ SAC), in a game where Trae (questionable for today, bruised back) wasn’t coming to save anyone.

Huerter’s perimeter shot ought to come around, soon (17.9 3FG% in last five appearances). The timing would be welcome, as Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter work to return and replenish Atlanta’s options at the wing.

Schlenk’s main Deadline deal last season was with the Clippers, exchanging Rondo for Lou Williams and a pair of future second-rounders. While that alone should be enough to scare off L.A.’s basketball execs, perhaps a flyer for LouWill in a mutli-team deal, or the soon-to-be-guaranteed contract of Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, or a steady ball-caddie like Delon Wright, could be a palatable upgrade over what passes as reserves for the Lakers (6.0 bench TOs/game, 2^nd-worst in NBA) and Clippers (5.7 bench TOs/game).

When Los Angeles’ offense does thrive, it creates havoc on the fastbreak (14.7 points per-48, 5^th in NBA), with either Westbrook (18.0 drives/game, 5^th in NBA) or James finding lanes to the hoop and catching defenders either flat-footed or on their heels. Monk, Horton-Tucker and Reaves are among the biggest beneficiaries, fastbreak points accounting for over 15 percent of their individual scoring.

Including L.A. native Onyeka Okongwu, Hawk bigs will be tasked with either keeping up with James in transition downcourt, or at least getting back to deflect outlet passes from Bron and Russ when the wings converge to stop the ball. Who actually appears in this game is a crapshoot, but there’s enough clarity for Atlanta players to know their defensive assignments, creating enough disruption to keep the Lakers’ overall scoring low.

As we’ve come to expect year-round, other NBA fans love to imagine prying a struggling Hawks team of key players, without so much of a thought as to what Atlanta would demand in return. It’s not clear what, if anything, the Lakers or Clippers legitimately have to offer. But one can be sure that Schlenk will be assertive enough to get what he feels can substantively upgrade his team, or he’ll politely hang up the phone.

In the city of good ol’ Watts, two NBA teams are in dire need of offensive kilowatts to power their charge up the standings. With all due respect to the late Tupac, might Trader Trav be the one who’s got the Juice?

 

Let’s Go… Hawks?!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Fooled around with some Crypto calculations, and didn't come up with much noteworthy this season, when the Lakers and Clippers pass around the same opponent in consecutive matchups.

* To date, Lakers and Clippers are each 4-2 when visitors arrive to play them in that order (ea. team losing once to the Wolves and the Nets). The teams are each 4-4 when the Clips get first dibs. There has been no clear edge for either host when there were 0, 1, or 2 intervening days between the home games,

* Through six games, the Lakers have scored, and allowed, 109.5 PPG when they've been tasked with playing at The Crypt first (skewed by an OT win over the heat and that 24-point loss to the Wolves). When the Clippers have had second-crack, their average margin wasn't much greater (112.2 to 110.0).

 

~lw3

[Sothron]

Surprise stay over guests at the Casa de Sothron tonight. Can't say no to friends in need. Will try to watch tonight.

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Sothron said:

Surprise stay over guests at the Casa de Sothron tonight. Can't say no to friends in need. Will try to watch tonight.

Say hi to Spud for us!

[ATLHawks3]

Can the Hawks maintain their defensive intensity 2 games in a row? Find out on the next Dragonball Z.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Peoriabird]

8 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

This is so Hawk like...Players clear protocol and are still questionable to return

[Gray Mule]

I do not like the Lakers.  I'm not a great King James fan.  

I expect a 10 point Laker win.

Why?  Because the Lakers have a "touch-me-not" player on their team.  He runs over and through all opponents and usually gets that "and one" call.

Hawks have too many game time decision players.  And, coaches out also.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

9 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

This is so Hawk like...Players clear protocol and are still questionable to return

But it's not Hawk specific, other teams have done this. Several teams have had their players 'ramp up' snd held them out after clearing protocols.

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

But it's not Hawk specific, other teams have done this. Several teams have had their player 'ramp up' after clearing protocols.

John and Bogi cleared protocol on Wednesday.  How many day are needed to ramp up.  I don't think John had any symptoms

[GameTime]

15 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

If Trae feels good enough to do trick shots he should play:

 

[Spud2nique]

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

While sidelined with You Know What, Monk took time to tweet “Free Me” around Christmastime, before Vogel would gift him steady starter’s minutes.

 that’s awesome.

 

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Anthony Davis

2k refuses to sit him! 

 

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

They’re no spring chickens,

Wait where’s our guy, the gaze.. lol.

 

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Le... excuse me..

 

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

In the city of good ol’ Watts,

Lw3 gits all the love and I thought you knew it, this is how we do it. 

 

5 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

With all due respect to the late Tupac,

 

Awesome preview as always! 
 

ps Ronnie 2K is a Laker fan, I couldn’t deliver the win in 2K but hoping we do better on the real court tonight! I see u Ronnie Lakers got me by a dozen.

[marco102]

 

[terrell]

8 minutes ago, marco102 said:

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by terrell

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, LongTimeFan said:

Say hi to Spud for us!

I’m actually in LA this weekend. Not trying to shake down the Hawks or anything! Lol. Watching the game with Soth would be a pleasure though for sure. 

1 minute ago, terrell said:

That’s my gif!!!! @JayBirdHawk HE STOLE ITTTT!!!  

[GameTime]

9 minutes ago, marco102 said:

 

[terrell]

5 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

I’m actually in LA this weekend. Not trying to shake down the Hawks or anything! Lol. Watching the game with Soth would be a pleasure though for sure. 

That’s my gif!!!! @JayBirdHawk HE STOLE ITTTT!!!  

You can have it.... lol

[RedDawg#8]

Covid absences will make you forget that we haven't been this healthy since around Thanksgiving when we lost Bogi and Cam against the Knicks.

And even then we still didn't have Dre or OO. We played 8 games with Kev as the only 1 out of our 4 main rotation wings. Then Covid hit.

We are almost back to full strength tonight. More healthy than we have been in the past 16 games.

Let's make it mean something tonight.