Post#13 » by lethalweapon3 » Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:16 pm
“BANNNNG! BANNNNG! OH, WHAT A SHOT FROM CURRY!”
February 27, 2016. You remember the game. Fresh off a light 51-point game, Curry waltzes into Oklahoma City, before a national audience and his old coach on ESPN, determined to Ruin The Game.
No OKC defender, not Kevin Durant, not Kyle Singler, not Russell Westbrook, was safe from the onslaught. There was no safe space on the floor from Curry’s deadly deadeye, not even the back side of the halfcourt, behind the “R” in THUNDER with seconds to spare in a tied overtime game.
As Curry walked it out on the Chesapeake Energy Arena floor, moments after his 43rd point of the night snatched the air out of the building, as Durant began to reconsider his lot in life, as Anderson Varejao and Andrew Bogut couldn’t believe their own fortune, as Mike Breen had a near-conniption on live TV, don’t think Curry’s magnum opus wasn’t noticed a half-hour south of town.
The Gatorade Player of the Year for the Sooner State, a high school junior, probably had to take his eye off the performance just long enough to ace his world history homework.
Curry shattered his own NBA record for made threes in that game, with 12, but just a couple weeks before, Trae Young collected his own dirty dozen treys in a win at rival Yukon High, putting up 60 points with dozens of scouts in attendance. Within a couple more weeks, the junior would lead North to within a point of the Boys’ Class 6A state title.
It was getting hard to figure out whom was inspiring whom. Young makes his first official trip to the Chesapeake Energy floor as his Atlanta Hawks try to summon the energy to topple the red-hot host OKC Thunder (8:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Oklahoma).
Westbrook had just won All-Star Game MVP weeks before that pivotal Golden State game, then followed that up the next year with the league-wide honor. Trae will get plenty of time going head-to-head with not only Russ, but the point guard on the Hawks who he effectively replaced.
Dennis Schroder was pressed back into starting duty as Westbrook was sidelined with injury to start the season, and was getting panned as the Thunder went 0-4 to kick off the season, including what seemed like inexcusable losses, at the time, to the Clippers and Kings. But Westbrook’s return allowed The Menace to alternate off-ball duties, and so far the returns have been pleasant for coach Billy Donovan’s club.
As a 2-man lineup, Westbrook (107th triple-double vs. CLE on 11/28, 3rd-most all-time; 100th came @ ATL last March) and Schroder have outscored the opposition by 11.0 points per 100 possessions, and they have produced 3.8 extra assists per-100. It’s near-coincidental with the Thunder going 13-3 since that initial losing streak, with Dennis’ TS% raised from 40.1 to 53.5.
Imagine, in lieu of Taurean Prince, who tries hard, defensive assignments blowing by Schroder only to find themselves haggled by Paul George (career-high 2.2 SPG and 0.9 BPG, plus career-best 23.7 PPG and 4.4 APG), for whom there is no “try”. If that’s not enough, center Steven Adams (1.5 SPG) is waiting in the wings looking to pick off passes in the paint.
Even Schroder (career-best 1.6 steals per-36) and Westbrook (career-high 2.2 steals per-36) are getting in the act. They’ve helped make OKC the surprising league-leader in defensive efficiency (101.8 opponent points per-100; NBA-best 17.3 opponent TO% and 21.3 PPG off TOs), even as they continue awaiting the return of swingman Andre Roberson (knee), whose midseason absence short-circuited their playoff contention plans last season.
The defensive intensity has arrived at a good time, since the field-goal shooting (49.7 eFG%, 3rd-worst in NBA) has been less than desirable, particularly in the halfcourt offense. Having professional board-crashers like Adams and Nerlens Noel helps ensure OKC gets ample second-chances (NBA-best 32.2 O-Reb%, 17.0 second-chance PPG, 2nd in NBA). But ankle injuries for swingmen Terrence Ferguson and Hamidou Diallo is requiring more hustle and marksmanship out of Alex Abrines (1-for-8 3FGs vs. CLE) and Jerami Grant (4 blocks vs. CLE).
Coming in off a back-to-back, Atlanta (5-17) simply ran out of gas in their 108-94 loss at Charlotte on Wednesday, unable to finish inside or outside as the Hornets re-gathered their steam after a lackluster opening quarter. The Hawks surely could have used Jeremy Lin (ankle), a late scratch on Wednesday, and the same could be said tonight against the Thunder.
With Lin out of action, wings Kevin Huerter, Kent Bazemore and DeAndre’ Bembry will again have to fill in. Baze (2.6 assists per-36, lowest since 2014-15) will need to rediscover his lost art of finding his Hawk bigs for quality finishes in the paint. The Hawks are 3-1 when Bazemore contributes at least four assists in games this season, and they were a respectable 9-9 in games where Baze dished five or more dimes last season (15-47 otherwise).
The Cavaliers have even fewer horses in their stable than the Hawks, but they were able to spread the Thunder out and pick them apart early on Wednesday, riding the efforts from rookie Collin Sexton (21 points, 10 rebounds @ OKC) and reserve guard Jordan Clarkson (25 points, 4-for-8 3FGs @ OKC) to a 28-21 first-quarter lead. Despite their 100-83 victory, the Thunder could manage just five steals (season-low) and 12 opposing-player turnovers (2nd-fewest this season) against eight-deep Cleveland.
You can bet that Young has done a great deal of homework ahead of his matchup with Westbrook and Schroder, the latter already attuned to chasing Atlanta’s new waterbug all across the court after a preseason meeting. Young’s 15.7 drives per game (5th-most in NBA) is just a shade ahead of Russ’ 15.6. While Young still struggles to draw fouls (0.5 PFs drawn per game) on drives to the hoop, Westbrook has struggled to take advantage of the whistles he’s given (52.4 FT% off drives).
Mr. Got Heem, unsurprisingly, leads the way among NBA backups with 13.4 per game. But Dennis has been equally as haphazard as Trae on drive plays (9.3 TO%), and he has struggled with finishing buckets (46.0 drive-play FG%, 2nd-lowest in league among 19 active players with 12.0+ drives per game).
Atlanta will need a solid box-out effort from its bigs, including Dewayne Dedmon (active despite a sore ankle) and Alex Len, to neutralize Adams’ ability to mop-up his teammates’ many misses. The Hawks’ swingmen need to be cognizant of Westbrook and George out on the break, and they must help keep passing lanes open so Young doesn’t have to be Houdini. The Thunder don’t really have an advantageous matchup for John Collins (team-high 10 rebounds and 4 assists @ CHA), so the more they can draw George away to deal with the power forward, the more to Atlanta’s advantage.
Whether it’s Trae (25.4 3FG%) lofting shots from the halfcourt line against the Spurs in preseason, just past the Hawk logo with his team up two points late, or from the “E” in THUNDER tonight, there is little doubt that Wardell Stephen Curry’s Thunder-plundering had an unmistakable hand in shaping Young’s mindset as an offensive attacker. Those shots may not come at the wisest times, but Trae’s learning when and how to unsheathe those daggers, and it may not be long before he finds an opponent screaming, “ouch!”
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
"Dunking is better than sex." - Shawn Kemp, 1996
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I don't expect a very competitive game.
