NBA Games Thread: 2017 season in review

[ATL Boy]

That Cleveland-Miami game is one to watch tonight. Heat are at home and fighting for their playoff lives while the Cavs are coming off of an emotional defeat, on a back to back where Lebron, Love, and Kyrie each played over 40 mins.

Should Miami win it then Boston control its own destiny for the 1-seed if they win out. That has 2nd round implications for us if we secure 5th and get past a Wizards team that I was far more scared of about a month ago than I am now.

[jayu70]

That Cleveland-Miami game is one to watch tonight. Heat are at home and fighting for their playoff lives while the Cavs are coming off of an emotional defeat, on a back to back where Lebron, Love, and Kyrie each played over 40 mins.

Should Miami win it then Boston control its own destiny for the 1-seed if they win out. That has 2nd round implications for us if we secure 5th and get past a Wizards team that I was far more scared of about a month ago than I am now.

LeBron, Love and Irving are all sitting tonight.

[Jamaaliver]

With three days to go in the regular season, BPI odds for Boston's potential first-round opponents: Bulls 42.5% ... Pacers 33.7% ... Heat 13.5% ... Bucks 8.3% ... Hawks 2.1%

[Jamaaliver]

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[ATL Boy]

That Cleveland-Miami game is one to watch tonight. Heat are at home and fighting for their playoff lives while the Cavs are coming off of an emotional defeat, on a back to back where Lebron, Love, and Kyrie each played over 40 mins.

Should Miami win it then Boston control its own destiny for the 1-seed if they win out. That has 2nd round implications for us if we secure 5th and get past a Wizards team that I was far more scared of about a month ago than I am now.

LeBron, Love and Irving are all sitting tonight.

So the Hawks have single handedly give Boston the inside track to the 1-seed.


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[Jamaaliver]

So the Hawks have single handedly give Boston the inside track to the 1-seed.

In more ways than one, my friend...

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

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The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs and are the two teams to rank in the top-10 in both Offensive and Defensive Efficiency to finish the 16-17 NBA season. The Warriors and Spurs also rank first and second in net rating.

The Rockets finish the season ranked third in Net Rating with the second ranked offense and 18th ranked defense.

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors, Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Clippers and Spurs finished in the top-10 on both sides of the floor. Real GM

[Jamaaliver]

Player Rankings for 2017 Season

Dwight falls just outside of the top 10...falling only a few spots behind his predecessor.

11. Dwight Howard, Atlanta Hawks (Previous Ranking: No. 12)

Age: 31

Per-Game Stats: 13.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.2 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 20.7 PER, 1.02 RPM, 101.56 TPA

While playing for the Hawks, Dwight Howard won't ever reach the offensive levels he ascended to during his Magic career. But his impact hasn't come solely on the defensive side, either. The 31-year-old big man has helped change head coach Mike Budenholzer's philosophy, which no longer requires his troops to always eschew offensive rebounds for transition defense. With Howard on the court, the Hawks have collected 26.3 percent of the available offensive boards, which would leave them sitting at No. 6 in the season-long standings.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

2017 Season Review: Atlanta Hawks

Heading into the 2016-17 NBA season, nobody really knew what to expect of the new-look Atlanta Hawks. Most experts expected the Hawks to show flashes of solid play throughout the year but ultimately be worse off than the previous two seasons. They were correct...

[Fans] were ecstatic to see their Hawks bolt out to a 9-2 start to the season, including a big-time win against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. After the torrid start, however, the Hawks proceeded to lose 10 out of their next 11 games. The Hawks now end the season in a similar manner as how they started it..

The team’s ceiling seems fairly low, and there are more questions than answers heading into the offseason.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• Rookie first-round picks Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry showed flashes
• Millsap’s fourth straight All-Star selection in a row was thoroughly deserved
• Tim Hardaway Jr. grew into a new role when Korver was traded, and he often shined
• The playoff streak continues, even if many experts and fans felt that it was best to start over with the roster construction

If the Hawks can manage an upset in the first-round, then it makes sense to continue building this roster. If the first-round ends in a sweep, then there should be some major changes going forward.

Vavel

Atlanta Hawks: B

Record: 43-38 | Midseason Grade: B+ | Off. Rating: 27 | Def. Rating: 4 | Net: 19

In its second year of backsliding and its first season after Al Horford’s departure, Atlanta managed to avoid a total collapse, for better or worse. The Hawks churned out their 10th straight postseason appearance but enter the playoffs without much of a ceiling. The magical offense that defined the franchise in 2015 has been replaced by Dennis Schroder’s nightly blood pressure tests and way too many missed three-pointers from a revolving cast of wings. Atlanta’s long-term interests would have been better served by a midseason trade of Paul Millsap. The versatile forward and upcoming free agent makes more sense as a complementary player on a contender rather than a leading option on a mediocre squad. Instead of rallying for a big post-deadline push, the Hawks meandered along with inconsistent play, looking positively dreadful when Millsap missed a good chunk of March.

While sticking with their All-Star forward this season helped ensure short-term respectability, it now forces a painful decision: to pay big money to the 32-year-old Millsap and remain slightly better than average during his age-related decline, or to watch him leave and slide further down the standings. Without an established superstar or a clear core of young standouts, the Hawks appear stuck in the East’s thick middle for the foreseeable future. The glory days didn’t last long.

Sports Illustrated

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[Jamaaliver]

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The Hawks averaged 25.4 assists in Budenholzer’s first three seasons with the Hawks, prior to the 2016-17 season. But in the 2016-17 season, the Hawks regressed significantly in this department, averaging 23.9 assists per game, dropping to 10th overall in the league.

That’s a very considerable drop off from one year to the next for any team but especially for a team like the Hawks, who have preached ball movement for the last few years. What was the reason behind this drop?

• A new point guard-center relationship
• Dwight Howard’s different skill-set
• The emerging members of roster and their different tendencies

[Jamaaliver]

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