Game Thread: Hawks @ Celtics -- 12/14

[Jamaaliver]

Preview: Hawks square off against red-hot Celtics



The Celtics enter this particular contest playing their best basketball of the season, as Kyrie Irving and company are riding a seven-game winning streak. That stretch also doubles as the best active streak in the NBA and, as a result, the Hawks enter this game as 13-point underdogs in Las Vegas.

Boston will be without Al Horford in this game as a result of injury, leveling the playing field a bit, and the Hawks could have the benefit of Jeremy Lin’s return in this match-up. The veteran guard is currently listed as questionable and, even if he can’t go against the Celtics, that upgrade (after missing three of the last five games) should be seen as a positive.

Still, the Hawks will be short-handed whether Lin can play or not, with 4 of 17 players (headlined by Taurean Prince and Omari Spellman) already ruled out for Friday night’s action. Slowing Boston’s improving offense will be critical but, in the same breath, it is the Celtics’ defense that has been tremendous for much of the season and producing efficient offense could be the make-or-break factor in this game.

Peachtree Hoops

[Jamaaliver]

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[Spud2nique]

Trae has circled the date to play Kyrie...look for his best effort tonight!

[hawkmanreturns]

Trae has circled the date to play Kyrie...look for his best effort tonight!

If he plays like he did against Dallas, I'm all for it. Hopefully he plays under control and picks his spots because Kyrie isn't the best defender. I really want to see the young'n string a few solid games together. I'd also like to see a few plays run for Huerter as well. The kid can flat out shoot and I want to see him build on that very impressive performance he had versus Dallas. I don't expect a win tonight, but player development will make this an interesting game.

[ATL Boy]

I'm not expecting a win either but hopefully we can get some nice performances from Young, Huerter and Collins.

[Jamaaliver]

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[lethalweapon3]

What is it with these ex-Hawks getting ghost when it comes time to play the Hawks?

Sorry, Devin Harris, you’re cool and all. But the legendary starting cast from the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks are avoiding us like the plague. Is it our deodorant or something? First, Kyle Korver was held hostage by the Cavs in our first meeting. Than, Paul Millsap blew a tire one night before making his return trip to Atlanta. Now, it’s Al Horford’s turn to bow out. Again.

I worried that years of pump-faking from the three-point line was having deleterious effects, and now, here we are. Al joins Dwight Horford with one of those Wheel of Fortune contestant-ruining injuries, so he’ll be at home in his green Snuggie tonight, woofing down baked beans while his Boston Celtics take on the Hawks at TD Garden (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Boston). Buy all the vowels you want, you won’t ever come up with “patellofemoral pain syndrome” to win that all-expenses-paid trip to Santo Domingo.

Horf hasn’t turned the town he plays in now into Bawse-ton since leaving the Hawks in free agency back in the summer of 2016. Still, things worked out for the best, for all parties involved. I want you to imagine the scorched earth around The Gulch, these days, had Atlanta gone all-in on Al back then.

Imagine, a 6-foot-10 fellow putting up 13-and-7 for the Hawks, making less than half his shots, and raking in around $30 million at age 32. Now, imagine the same guy registering even lower numbers than that (12.4 PPG, career-low 6.4 RPG, 17.3 D-Reb%), with a contract sum that would be guaranteed to go up even higher next year. And imagine, he’s competing with Millsap as the team’s headliner. Oh my, all the patellofemoral jokes that would ensue!

Yet, you will hear no talk of free agent misgivings up in Beantown, not a single New Englander ragging on Horford’s bag the way folks are Chi-town are doing with Jabari The Hut right now. Horford was a cat-Al-yst for the Hawks’ resurgence on the court, and he has served draft pick whore Danny Ainge quite well as a catalyst off of it.

His arrival begat the arrival of a fresh-legged Gordon Hayward plus Al’s starting replacement, Aron Baynes (season-high 16 points and 4 assists, 9 boards in relief of Horford @ ATL in a 114-96 win on Nov. 23), one offseason later. It also ushered the effective replacement of Isaiah Thomas with Kyrie Irving.

Uncle Drew might be sincere, as his heartfelt Nike commercial hints, about wanting his #11 up in the Gahden rafters someday. Ainge certainly hopes that’s the case. After all, did you hear the “M-V-P!” chants on Wednesday, when Irving went Super Saiyan on John Wall and the Wizards in OT, lifting the Celtics (17-10) to their seventh-straight victory? That was an actual thing going on in the District of Columbia.

While the chants were attributed to the j-riding Capital City transplants, front-runners and bandwagoneers in the stands, there were more than a few “Mmmph-Veemmph-Peemmph!” muttered under the breaths of long-suffering Wizard fans in attendance, too. For all the jibber-jabber over injury susceptibility, the magic that Irving (22.5 PPG, career-highs of 6.4 APG and 1.6 SPG) can bring to the floor on any given night will be in high demand this summer, especially in locales like Washington. Just change the first ‘D’ to an ‘I’ in KD2DC, and Wiz fans are good to go.

I’ve had way too much free time to play around on Tankathon lately, and I’m fascinated to see what grand scheme Ainge is concocting, with what is shaping up to be four – FOUR! – mid-tier first-rounders in the draft. As it stands, the picks the C’s swindled from Sacramento (unprotected, better of Kings/Sixers), Memphis (top-8 protected), and the Clippers (lottery-protected) all sit there together at spots 19-through-21, competing with the one Atlanta’s likely getting from the Mavs (thanks, Luka. Nice game last night!).

All three 2019 picks were anticipated to become lottery selections, and they may still become such, given the volatility in the NBA West. For now, though, they’re not all that much better than the Celtics’ current slot at 23. Danny may need to keep them all, since it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that this season is his carefully crafted team’s one big swing at Chip #18, and next year becomes the big rebuild under coach Brad Stevens.

If Irving finds an irresistible suitor, and Horford puts himself back on the market for a final big-money deal, the lights may come up on 2019-20 with the Celtics as Jayson Tatum’s Team. One with Hayward (available tonight, after missing time due to illness) firmly joining one of Marcus Smart and restricted free agent Terry Rozier off the bench. One with maybe as many as four rookies behind Jaylen Brown (last three games: 21.0 PPG, 58.3 3FG%), Robert Williams, and Guerschon “Dancing Bear” Yabusele on the depth chart.

You could do worse than featuring Tatum (16.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 84.4 FT%) and Brown front-and-center in what would be their third seasons as Celtics. And Horford may return on his player option, with his problematic pecs and knee, for one more go-round. But it won’t necessarily change the calculus for the better if Irving bails, and top-notch free agents see the pile of green youngsters in green and elect not to become a LeBron-style babysitter.

Even in this season, I’m already concerned Stevens is a bit overwhelmed with the calculus of making this roster a title contender. Hayward (12.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.6 APG in eight non-starts) has struggled to provide consistency in his return from last season’s catastrophic injury, no matter whether he starts or not (4-for-15 FGs in past two games), while Tatum and Brown often disappear for stretches.

There remains enough depth and defense (102.5 D-Rating, 3rd in NBA) for Boston (9-4 vs. teams below .500) to lap underwhelming opponents like the Hawks (6-21), even without Horford and possibly Brown (questionable, illness) suiting up. But the three-legged stool of Irving, Hayward and Horford needs to be healthy, consistent and playing together by springtime, or Boston will likely face problems in seven-game series versus the Greek Freaks, Embiids and Kawhis of the Eastern universe.

In the interim, Stevens seems satisfied with Tatum (6th in isolation possessions in NBA; 0.73 points per iso possession), Marcus Morris, Irving, Smart, and Rozier applying their individual artistic flair to scoring for the Celtics. Boston, as a collective, ranks 6th in iso play frequency (9.3%), but their 0.80 points per possession has them tied with the Wizards among the NBA’s bottom-ten. The lack of a cohesive offensive approach can become more stark with Horford out of the picture.

While many were focused on the prized rookies on Wednesday, Coach Lloyd Pierce tried to rely on his reserves during the second half to pull off the victory. Turning to the non-starters proved to be a non-starter (combined 5-for-20 FGs; DeAndre’ Bembry 0-for-4 with 4 TOs) as Atlanta fell 114-107 to the Mavs. The loss came despite four starters providing at least 19 points, including John Collins (career-high 17 rebounds plus 20 points), Kent Bazemore (22 points, 3-for-5 3FGs) and Kevin Huerter (rookie-high 19 points in 37 minutes, 4-for-6 3FGs).

Keeping Kyrie off the free throw line, in ways the Hawks could not with Luka (15 of Dallas’ 43 FTAs to Atlanta’s 14) and company, and narrowing the turnover and bench-scoring margins, will help Atlanta make a more competitive contest with Boston than when last these teams met. The Celts plateaued after lathering up a 45-23 lead in the first quarter back on November 23. Jeremy Lin was crucial to stemming Boston’s momentum (team-high 19 points and 10 assists, 5-for-7 FTs, 3 steals, 1 TO off the bench), and will help Trae Young and company level the playing court a little more tonight in his return from a back strain.

Atlanta concludes this brief road trip on Sunday in… Brooklyn? Somebody go put Junkyard Dawg in bubble wrap for me now, please.

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[ducler]

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[lethalweapon3]

Both Jaylen and Hayward (illnesses) are a go tonight, and both will come off the bench.

Starter Baynes has been on a 12-15 minute restriction and that continues today.

(as per Celtics beat writer Scott Souza, via Twitter)

~lw3

[Jamaaliver]

6 minutes in...a;ready down 17?

[hawkmanreturns]

I expected better than this. They reverted right back to what keeps getting them blown out. I don't get it.

[hawkmanreturns]

Kevin "Red Klay" Huerter is legit!!!!

[Jamaaliver]

Kevin "Red Klay" Huerter is legit!!!!

Yes. Yes he is.

NOTE: Celtic announcers actually referred to him as 'Red Mamba'.

[bws94]

Hawks came back. Bench did well and then the whole team stabilized. Down 11 is good for what it looked like at the end of the 1Q.

[ATL Boy]

Huerter! 4 3-pointers in that first half!

I'm sticking with Red Mamba, it was his nickname in College as well. He's gonna be a player.

[bws94]

Terrible start of the 3Q.

[DirtybirdGA]

I'm liking velvet, I think Jerome called him that. But this is unwatchable... good night

[hawkmanreturns]

I'm liking velvet, I think Jerome called him that. But this is unwatchable... good night

The only reason to watch right now is to see Huerter get a new career high.

[Vol4ever]

We are in bad shape boys

[Jamaaliver]

Celtics defense is smothering. And they score ridiculously easy buckets off all of our turnovers.