GT: Game #8 - Charlotte @ Atlanta (Jan 6th)

[DY_nasty]

Couple thoughts from the game.

Hayward has tools to be premier closer, his midrange game makes running plays at the end of the game easy because he can punish a lot of different switches. This is a great game to show why you pay the extra money to him vs a guy like Bogdanovic (1/5 and 2 points).

LaMelo played great, Tae did not. However, when the game gets tight and we need buckets I am not sure I trust LaMelo to score. I feel better with Hayward, Rozier and even Graham to close games right now. Graham hit one of the bigger shots tonight, you trust LaMelo in that spot right now? Not sure I am there yet- he will get there, but he might need a bit more time. Not many rookies close games especially guards.

Thought we did a good job in the first half of frustrating Young and scrambling on defense, but the second half we looked gassed and got beat up on the boards by Capela. I know people are complaining about playing small again, but Atlanta played a lot of small ball tonight as well with Solomon Hill manning the center spot for stretches.

Still hate playing both the Martin Twins at the same time, easily our worst lineup no matter who you piece around them. Still think an elite shooter makes a ton of sense for the second unit (no not talking about Monk), especially if you are going to have LaMelo playing with them. When he has shooting around him you can see the floor opens up and he is able to find them for open shots. Playing with Martins, Bridges and Biz is about the worst spacing you will find in current NBA.

Overall great game, it's the NBA the other team is always going to make a run. This was first game all year we were really put in this position, great experience for young team.

i'm not gonna give graham props for hitting big shots in a game we should've won by 30

i'm getting tired of putting lamelo in positions where he has to constantly save our offense (and the defense) now

[FlatearthZorro]

Couple thoughts from the game.

Hayward has tools to be premier closer, his midrange game makes running plays at the end of the game easy because he can punish a lot of different switches. This is a great game to show why you pay the extra money to him vs a guy like Bogdanovic (1/5 and 2 points).

Btw, happy for you guys. Hope you can make a push for the playoffs. You probably need a center to do so.

Anyways, rooting for you guys, unless you're playing us.

As for Hayward, the guy is an elite offensive player. He runs the PnR like a PG and has all the moves. Only concern is health(the freakish injuries he has sustained the past 3 seasons).

[BigSlam]

LaMelo played great, Tae did not. However, when the game gets tight and we need buckets I am not sure I trust LaMelo to score. I feel better with Hayward, Rozier and even Graham to close games right now. Graham hit one of the bigger shots tonight, you trust LaMelo in that spot right now? Not sure I am there yet- he will get there, but he might need a bit more time. Not many rookies close games especially guards.

This one does:

Tyrese Haliburton started the second half for an injured De'Aaron Fox (hamstring tightness) and went nuts in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points with a key block, a huge steal and a dagger 3-pointer in the Kings 128-124 win over the Bulls on Wednesday.

Haliburton finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and three 3-pointers with seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. The block was against Coby White's late 3-pointer, who had a career-high 36 points, he deflected an inbounds pass with the game on the line and his corner three won the game for the Kings.

[JMAC3]

LaMelo played great, Tae did not. However, when the game gets tight and we need buckets I am not sure I trust LaMelo to score. I feel better with Hayward, Rozier and even Graham to close games right now. Graham hit one of the bigger shots tonight, you trust LaMelo in that spot right now? Not sure I am there yet- he will get there, but he might need a bit more time. Not many rookies close games especially guards.

This one does:

Tyrese Haliburton started the second half for an injured De'Aaron Fox (hamstring tightness) and went nuts in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points with a key block, a huge steal and a dagger 3-pointer in the Kings 128-124 win over the Bulls on Wednesday.

Haliburton finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and three 3-pointers with seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. The block was against Coby White's late 3-pointer, who had a career-high 36 points, he deflected an inbounds pass with the game on the line and his corner three won the game for the Kings.

Haliburton had a great game vs the Bulls last night, I did see he hit a corner three to put his team up 4 (Edit: this shot put them up 6) with 15 seconds left. Fox left the game and played 5 minutes though, so I am not sure Haliburton closing the game is an active decision, but more so out of necessity. He will probably get more opportunities to do so though moving forward based on that performance.

I am sure Ball will get there soon, but I am not sweating it. Graham shot poorly, but he did a decent job last night forcing the action and got to the free-throw line some. Sadly, I thought it was one of his better games of the year. LaMelo should be starting, but Tae is still going to be an important piece, especially closing games.

[BigSlam]

LaMelo played great, Tae did not. However, when the game gets tight and we need buckets I am not sure I trust LaMelo to score. I feel better with Hayward, Rozier and even Graham to close games right now. Graham hit one of the bigger shots tonight, you trust LaMelo in that spot right now? Not sure I am there yet- he will get there, but he might need a bit more time. Not many rookies close games especially guards.

This one does:

Tyrese Haliburton started the second half for an injured De'Aaron Fox (hamstring tightness) and went nuts in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points with a key block, a huge steal and a dagger 3-pointer in the Kings 128-124 win over the Bulls on Wednesday.

Haliburton finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and three 3-pointers with seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. The block was against Coby White's late 3-pointer, who had a career-high 36 points, he deflected an inbounds pass with the game on the line and his corner three won the game for the Kings.

Haliburton had a great game vs the Bulls last night, I did see he hit a corner three to put his team up 4 (Edit: this shot put them up 6) with 15 seconds left. Fox left the game and played 5 minutes though, so I am not sure Haliburton closing the game is an active decision, but more so out of necessity. He will probably get more opportunities to do so though moving forward based on that performance.

From last week:

Tyrese Haliburton scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Sacramento Kings pulled away to beat Denver 125-115 on Tuesday, spoiling a record-setting night for Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic.

The 12th pick in this year’s draft, Haliburton made several sleek plays and gave the Kings a needed lift down the stretch. Sacramento’s rookie guard hit two of his three 3-pointers in the final 9½ minutes and added a steal and fast-break layup during an 11-0 run that put the Kings ahead 120-108.

“Tyrese continues to impress,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “He hit some big shots. He had some big-time playmaking for us. He was a plus-20 on the night. He’s one of those players, you feel confident when the ball’s in his hand.”

Haliburton played the entire fourth quarter, when he also had five of his six assists.

[Liver_Pooty]

Lamelo and Haliburton will be the 2 best players from this class. Kings will find some way to ruin the kid, unfortunately

[James Gatz]

Looks like they gave Ball credit for a Graham 3 in the 3Q with like 2 mins left. I wonder if it will get corrected.

[PerkinsFor3]

LaMelo played great, Tae did not. However, when the game gets tight and we need buckets I am not sure I trust LaMelo to score. I feel better with Hayward, Rozier and even Graham to close games right now. Graham hit one of the bigger shots tonight, you trust LaMelo in that spot right now? Not sure I am there yet- he will get there, but he might need a bit more time. Not many rookies close games especially guards.

This one does:

Tyrese Haliburton started the second half for an injured De'Aaron Fox (hamstring tightness) and went nuts in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points with a key block, a huge steal and a dagger 3-pointer in the Kings 128-124 win over the Bulls on Wednesday.

Haliburton finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and three 3-pointers with seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. The block was against Coby White's late 3-pointer, who had a career-high 36 points, he deflected an inbounds pass with the game on the line and his corner three won the game for the Kings.

Haliburton had a great game vs the Bulls last night, I did see he hit a corner three to put his team up 4 (Edit: this shot put them up 6) with 15 seconds left. Fox left the game and played 5 minutes though, so I am not sure Haliburton closing the game is an active decision, but more so out of necessity. He will probably get more opportunities to do so though moving forward based on that performance.

I am sure Ball will get there soon, but I am not sweating it. Graham shot poorly, but he did a decent job last night forcing the action and got to the free-throw line some. Sadly, I thought it was one of his better games of the year. LaMelo should be starting, but Tae is still going to be an important piece, especially closing games.

Haliburton 100% is a closer for them, and would be for most other teams. He's an incredible player.

Quickley could become a closer for the Knicks in a few games as well. Maledon for OKC. This draft produced a couple of really high floor, high efficiency, reliable guards.