Game Thread: Hawks at Kings 01/30/2019

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

Baze getting closer to returning.

This will be our 2nd game against the Kings, so far this season - we've played teams better the 2nd time around.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Hawks aim for revenge against Kings

The road trip continues

A lot has changed since Nov. 1, when the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings squared off for the first time this season and Sacramento utterly throttled Atlanta (at State Farm Arena) by a 146-115 margin.

it is probably safe to assume that Lloyd Pierce will “remind” his team of that 31-point drubbing before the teams reconvene on Wednesday evening in Sacramento.

The Hawks enter this particular contest on the heels of an impressive win in Los Angeles and, in general, Atlanta is playing very solid basketball.

In terms of match-ups, there are two head-to-head battles that will garner plenty of attention. At point guard, Kings sophomore De’Aaron Fox has been fantastic this season and he’ll be opposed by Trae Young in a battle of up-and-coming players at the position. In the frontcourt, Kings rookie and No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III will see plenty of Collins and, if nothing else, this will be an opportunity to take stock of a few intriguing young talents before they all take the court together again in Charlotte for the Rising Stars Challenge in mid-February.

Peachtree Hoops

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

He's baaaack!

Read on Twitter

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[lethalweapon3]

What a long, strange trip it was for Mike Budenholzer’s 2017-18 Atlanta Hawks. In particular, what a strange scene they found themselves in, here at the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center, merely ten months ago.

Outside, there was A Whole Lotta Protestin’ Goin’ On. While both teams’ owners and PR crews found themselves working in overdrive, inside the smoke-filled arena, there was still a basketball game between two downtrodden teams to be played.
Rehabbing a recent ankle injury, John Collins was in street clothes, as was DeAndre’ Bembry, and the Hawks’ starting point guard and leading scorer. Instead, here was what Coach Bud had at his disposal to roll out onto the hardwood.

Starting alongside Taurean Prince and Dewayne Dedmon: Mike Muscala, Isaiah Taylor, Damion Lee. Backups? How about Tyler Dorsey, Miles Plumlee, Andrew White, Josh “Lil Bud” Magette, and Tyler Cavanaugh? How about ALL of those cagers getting 21-26 minutes of action in that game? How about Vince Carter playing over 20 minutes for the other team, too?

Much has changed for the better among both lottery teams entering tonight’s matchup (10 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports California), especially in the area of consumer confidence among their fans. While the win over Coach Bud’s hemi-Hawks was the Kings’ 24th of the season, this year’s edition already bested that win total, heading into February.

Atlanta generally likes the direction their team is heading, with its young core and its newly formed coaching staff, even if (okay, especially if) the direction is not a surge up the NBA standings. Defeating the Clippers in LA this past Monday night, the Hawks have leveled off at 10-10 since stumbling out of the season’s blocks at 6-23.

Under GM Vlade Divac’s watch for several seasons, Sacramento has been at this tanking business for a while, and now have ten players on their active roster who were acquired either via the draft or during their rookie seasons, many of whom have begun to gel in coach Dave Joerger’s lineups.

Guards Buddy Hield (20.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 45.7 3FG%) and De’Aaron Fox (17.6 PPG, 7.2 APG, 1.7 SPG), plus starting center Willie Cauley-Stein (8.8 RPG, incl. 2.5 O-Rebs per game) have been peaking together at the right time. There has been little need to rush with lottery pick Marvin Bagley (2nd-overall pick in the 2018 Draft, 8th on the team in minutes per game), who is working to improve his perimeter jumpshot. While Atlanta’s lottery-gained Rising Star, Trae Young, prepares to start in his 50th game, Bagley got his first starting nod eight days ago (22 points, 11 rebounds @ TOR).

Meanwhile, former first-rounders Justin Jackson (41 starts last season), Harry Giles, Skal Labissiere (28 starts last season) and Ben McLemore have been developmental luxuries for Joerger to deploy as he desires. This season, only the Hawks (105.1 pace) have pushed the tempo to a higher level in games than Joerger’s Kings (104.1), as Fox and Hield have situated themselves among the top offensive backcourt duos in The Association.

A surprisingly decent start to the Kings’ season eroded fans’ long-held, healthy skepticism. Winning soundly, 146-115 in Atlanta (Fox and Hield combined 58 points, 21 assists, 8-for-11 3FGs) back on November 1 to raise their record to 6-3, Sacramento stayed a few games above .500 in the treacherous Western Conference right up until the Christmastime break.

A critical component to the Kings’ improvement has been their willingness to attack on defense and produce turnovers, then turning to the speedy Fox to key the transition opportunities. Their 20.7 points per-48 scored off TOs, along with 21.2 fastbreak points per-48, lead the league. Last season, those values were 15.1 (24th in NBA) and 10.4 (20th in NBA). The difference has been “Swipa the Fox”. According to Kings’ radio reporter Sean Cunningham, De’Aaron holds the NBA’s longest active streak with at least one steal in a contest (19 consecutive games).

One needs not remind Young (10 assists, but a season-high 8 TOs in the Hawks’ 31-point loss vs. SAC in November) of the Kings’ thievery, unless that one is first-year coach Lloyd Pierce, whose Hawks allow a league-high 22.8 points per-48 off miscues.

Trae carved up the Clipper backcourt with a rookie-season-high 17 assists back in November, but the fifth of his six turnovers allowed LA to re-seize the lead in the final quarter before pulling away. Depriving the Clips of such opportunities on Monday made their rematch more of a cruise for Young (8 assists, 1 TO early in the 2nd quarter) and the Hawks.

As a fan who cherishes every opportunity to stick it to Danny Ainge, the notion that the Kings might pick this season to snap their 12-year-long playoff hex, and in the process leave the Celtics’ GM looking elsewhere for a lottery pick, warmed the cockles of my Georgia Granite Gray heart. Alas, the Kings have begun to level off a bit in the wrong direction, and they’re starting to skeeve me out just a bit.

Among my joys from watching Crunch Time on NBATV over the years were the predictable late-game collapses by the Kings. You just KNEW the Kangz would blow a late lead or a late run, but you’d be surprised by the creativity in which they did so, in the final minutes of games, virtually every time. After such a promising diversion from that dysfunctional history, especially with Fox’s occasionally clutch play, they have begun to make a return to their familiar, hapless, Gilligan’s Island-style form.

In this calendar month, Sacramento’s minus-16.7 net rating in fourth quarters nearly laps the field for futility (the second-worst, Chicago, checks in at minus-10.6 for January; the Hawks’ minus-6.3 ranks 22nd). The Kings (25-25, 2.5 games behind 8-seed LAC) have dropped four of their last six, all on the road, including a 123-94 loss in Brooklyn where the Kings were outscored 30-9 during the final frame.

Contributing factors to the problem have been hero-ball sloppiness on Fox’s part, sketchy shooting at the charity stripe (70.9 team FT%, 3rd-worst in NBA; 68.9% in 4th Quarters), and Joerger’s inability to rely on anyone to adequately plug the paint (51.4 opponent paint points per-48 on the season, 4th-highest in NBA) when Cauley-Stein finds himself in late foul trouble. In any case, Joerger must coax more consistently positive production from the other contributors in his rotation, particularly the few veterans (the permanently excused Zach Randolph excluded) upon which he depends.

One night before the Hawks exasperated the Clippers, LA bested their division rivals at STAPLES Center, 122-108. Among the Kings’ nominees for Worst Supporting Actor were Iman Shumpert (minus-25 plus/minus, 5-for-13 FGs), fellow starter Nemanja Bjelica (minus-12, 1-for-6 FGs), and sixth-man sniper Bogdan Bogdanovic (minus-20, 1-for-7 3FGs).

Literally any turnaround by that trio in tonight’s return to Golden 1 Center would greatly enhance the Kings’ likelihood of extending their home winning streak to five games, as they kickstart a six-game homestand. Prior to that win streak, the Kings began the month with single-digit home losses at the hands of top-4 Western clubs Golden State, Denver and Portland, the latter loss to the Blazers avenged in their last home win on January 14.

Being careful when putting the ball on the deck applies not only to Young, but to the Hawks’ Jeremy Lin (4 TOs vs. LAC) and Taurean Prince (combined 8 TOs w/ Lin vs. SAC on Nov. 1), as well as Kent Bazemore (ankle), who returns to action on a minutes-restricted basis after missing Atlanta’s last 14 games. Excessive dribbling in and around the paint will be essential to avoid when the swipe-happy Cauley-Stein (5th among NBA centers in steals, twice as many steals as blocked shots) is roving around.

Having Baze (team-high 1.7 SPG; tops among Hawks' guards/wings in Defensive Real Plus/Minus) back in the mix, at times alongside DeAndre’ Bembry and on other occasions with Kevin Huerter along the wing, will help the Hawks (16-33) better hold the fort when turnovers have the Kings sprinting to the other end of the floor. But if Atlanta’s offensive ballhandlers keep those Kings runouts to a minimum, they’ll be able to put Sacramento’s shaky late-game execution to the test.

There’s no telling what happens when the smoke clears at night’s end. No matter the final score, folks both inside and outside the arena tonight in Sactown should come away happier than they were when the Hawks and Kings met here last year.

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[jayu70]

Last game against the Kings was brutal.
Trae had 8 TOs, Vince and Len were starters, Poythress was part of the rotation, Dedmon was coming off the bench, Kevin Huerter played 1 minute. No JohnC.

Let's hope we have a better showing in this one. I think/hope we will.

[peoriabird]

Last game against the Kings was brutal.
Trae had 8 TOs, Vince and Len were starters, Poythress was part of the rotation, Dedmon was coming off the bench, Kevin Huerter played 1 minute. No JohnC.

Let's hope we have a better showing in this one. I think/hope we will.

You sound about as confident as that Brad Rowland Guy on Lock on Hawks! No doubt the Hawks will perform better and will probably win the game!

[ATL Boy]

Another late one tonight. Trae vs. Fox should be fun.

[Buzzard]

Another late one tonight. Trae vs. Fox should be fun.

Yes it should be and I recall Fox saying he was the best PG in his draft class. So far so good and I look forward to the match up with our best PG from his draft class!

[personanongrata]

Love these late night games. Look forward to them all day.

[peoriabird]

Trae just can't stop shooting 3's.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Hazer]

Trae just can't stop shooting 3's.

50% this game, I’ll take it

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[DirtybirdGA]

Bench can't keep it up.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[observer1995]

Trae is 1-3 from 3 but none of them were stupid shots. And in today's era, he can't not take 3's. While he's not what he was at Oklahoma, 3 point shooting has always been a part of who he is.

[DirtybirdGA]

More turnovers as usual.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter