Game Thread: Sixers at Hawks, 04-03-19

[Spud2nique]

[Jamaaliver]

^I don't get it...

[Spud2nique]

^I don't get it...

Is Jim from Atlanta and Michael from Philly? I watched the show but I’m not sure either.

[Spud2nique]

^I don't get it...

Somebody gonna explain it to us or....

KG, clean up on isle 9...

[Jamaaliver]

^I don't get it...

Is Jim from Atlanta and Michael from Philly? I watched the show but I’m not sure either.

I know Mike Scott now plays for Philly. But, um...I don't get it.

Wacky millennials and their social media.

[DirtybirdGA]

Got me too

[King Ken]

Lets go Hawks! I don't mind a win tonight

[Hazer]

Mike Scott I get, Jim Halpert I do not

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[kg01]

Heh heh. I totally get it ... 'cause ya know, I'm ... lit?

[Spud2nique]

Heh heh. I totally get it ... 'cause ya know, I'm ... lit?

I waited an hour for your expert millennial take and that’s all I get?

[fuzzy1]

Jim was good at basketball and Mike Scott was bad at basketball? Did the Office debut today or something?

[Spud2nique]

:dontknow: Jim was good at basketball and Mike Scott was bad at basketball? Did the Office debut today or something?

Mystery still unsolved!!! Who will unveil the truth to us?

[ATL Boy]

The office setting is in Scranton, Pennsylvania; I think it's a play on that.

As for the game, this is one I hope we win. Ben Simmons annoys me and we have the room to win the last two home games.

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[DirtybirdGA]

I heard Vince is taking off tonight, and will be on the broadcast tonight, so y'all enjoy.


[tweet]

Read on Twitter

?s=19/tweet]

[DirtybirdGA]

[tweet]

Read on Twitter

?s=19/tweet]

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

[lethalweapon3]

The Sixers get one last chance at a do-over!

Hopefully, Ben Simmons has found enough time to put the controller down and gameplan for the Atlanta Hawks, who have returned from their pit stop in San Antonio to face a Philadelphia 76ers team (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philly) that they’ve bested twice in a row.

Popovich disciple Brett Brown doesn’t need the Spurs’ head coach to call to remind him the Hawks (28-50) are ready to outlast anybody who gets caught slippin’ out here in this league. And Atlanta will do it with Isaac Humphries and Jaylen Adams, if they feel they have to.

Trae Young had a bad-hair day as a perimeter shooter last night (0-for-6 3FGs, but 15 points, 6 assists, and no TOs vs. SAS), and he was far from alone (backup Jaylen Adams 0-for-8 FGs, but 7 assists in 19 minutes, zero TOs), as six teammates aside from Kent Bazemore and Alex Len combined to go 3-for-16 on triples.

Yet, with assertive help defense (9 of 10 Hawks with at least one steal, incl. Baze’s 3 thefts), and a commitment to keep everyone aside from LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan off the charity stripe (0-for-0 FTAs for the other Spurs), the Hawks stayed neck-and-neck with San Antonio virtually throughout Tuesday’s game. Coach Lloyd Pierce called off the proverbial dogs in the closing minutes to disallow the game from coming down to the proverbial wire.

Without Joel Embiid, Philadelphia succumbed to a 12-29 Hawks team back in January by a 123-121 score. Embiid returned to the lineup to create the full squad that’s expected to win 50 games and compete for the Eastern Conference crown on March 23. Yet they still found themselves at the mercy of Young at the close of the contest, and the buzzer-beating layup to end the game at 129-127 confirmed Trae wasn’t about to let them off the hook.

Now, Embiid (load mgmt., DNP’d for this concluding road trip ahead of tomorrow’s home game vs. MIL) is back on the pine again, while tightness in Jimmy Butler’s back (show some compassion for his plight, T’Wolves fans!) has his status questionable for today.

That would mean a lot of the onus will be on Ben Simmons to not simply double-digitize his own boxscore line (dedicate it to Meek Mill or somebody, I dunno), but to make defensive plays for Philly (49-23) that keep the ball out of the Hawks’ passing wizards’ hands and on his side of the court. The Sixers seek to clinch their first consecutive pair of 50-plus-win seasons since Sir Charles Barkley’s breakout in 1985-86. They’d love to enjoy that on the plane ride home before facing the Bucks tomorrow.

The Hawks’ Legion of Load Management tag-team has John Collins subbing in for Vince Carter, who gets to don the headset and hang out alongside fellow living legends Dominique Wilkins and Bob Rathbun tonight. What a Rush!

Alex Len (questionable) must have spent too much time perfecting the Kid ‘n Play Kick Step with Taurean Prince, because now the former shares Prince’s bilateral foot soreness. Assuming Deyonta Davis (hitchhiked back to ATL) can overcome his sore thumb, he’ll be the top candidate if Pierce needs someone to replace Len (3+ 3FGs in past 3 games) in Atlanta’s starting five.

A moment or two on the therapy couch for me, if you will.

As a mostly reformed ex-Philly sports fan, I strain to recall a time where so many Philly teams were treated like the Death Star, particularly all at once. There’d be times when we’d be treated to Rocky-style, ultimately lovable losers led by quixotic tilters named Iverson, Dykstra, Cunningham, Lindros, McNabb. But never had I imagined a time where the convergence of fan loathing and media fawning, at a national scale, would become so stark.

Being ignored and overlooked by media pundits and free agents alike, with full deference to more accomplished markets up and down the Eastern seaboard, was once what bonded Atlanta and Philadelphia. Mike Scott on the Hawks is a peculiarity. Mike Scott on the Sixers is The Final Piece of The Puzzle. Then again, maybe it's Greg Monroe.

We remember the environment during all those strung-together years Atlanta reached the playoffs, where every minor setback confirmed the Hawks weren’t worth wasting breath about: “They’re through as a team, because Childress ran off to Greece.” The weak opening rounds and semifinal flops of ’09 and ’10 left indelible scars in the minds of the larger NBA universe, creating a mindset where #eventhehawks proved to be a handy meme.

The know-it-all’s judgement wouldn’t change, no matter whether Atlanta won 60 games or made it to a Conference Finals: Also-Ran, stamped on the Hawks’ foreheads, until they proved otherwise. If such nonchalance was applied evenly regardless of the geographic sports market, I could come to understand the default sentiment.

In virtually every calendar year of this sun-setting decade, we were told THIS was going to be The Year of John Wall. Yes, Ernie Grunfeld’s Wizards, Randy Wittman’s Wizards, were going to be the antidote to the chokehold LeBron had on the conference and come out of the East. Peaked at 49 wins and second-round exits the whole time, if they got into the playoffs at all. But, oh, oh, oh, Certified Finals Contender, stamped on their foreheads until they finally get there, because Wall and Beal, or something.

Nah, I won’t even get started on the Knicks. Or Prokhorov’s old Nets.

I can get it with the Celtics, given their past two seasons reaching the Conference Finals under the watch of a GM that helped hang their last banner. But the attention the Sixers, who lost 4-1 to Boston last year in the second round, have been getting lately? Let’s see them actually get something DONE, first, before we break the C.F.C. stamp out. If they get bounced decisively before the Conference Finals, will they get the #eventhesixers treatment from the 3- and 4-Letter Networks, going forward? I doubt it.

I think the Sixers got lucky, and not just with lottery balls after five seasons of Processing. The ’18 Eagles finally winning it all, still fresh in the heads of fans and media, re-kindled the Spirit of ’76 for basketball in ways not seen since the 70’s Broad Street Bullies and ’80 Phillies.

Like the alluring odor of soft pretzels, Titletown Fever has seeped it’s magic into Philly’s baseball clubhouse as well: Bat-flipping free agents rarely look at New York and L.A.’s glitz-and-glam appeals and then decide, “hmm, you know what? I’m taking my talents to Broad and Pattison.”

So it goes with basketball. And the Northeastern-heavy media, needing a steady foil for the Celtics, are more than happy to fan the flames. Besides, who up there is going to waste time covering the Knicks and Wizards right now?

Here in The ATL, we’ve been living without teams in any sport who win titles, plural, not just every other blue moon. We’ve had our Bobby Cox years (get well, soon!) but we need some Joe Torre years, too. We have our Matt Ryan success, but we deserve some Tom Brady dominance to last for a little while. We won’t know if the Hawks can build up the bones for a multi-season romp through the NBA for a couple more years. But, if we do, I do hope we won’t have to drag the sports world, kicking and screaming, into the future with us.

The sports world isn’t sitting around and waiting for Simmons to discover a jumpshot, first, before declaring the Sixers are definitively in the running for championships, every year, for the foreseeable future. Sooner than later, I hope they’ll Keep That Same Energy, when it comes to the evolving defense of Trae Young and these emerging #alsothehawks.


Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[fuzzy1]

The Sixers get one last chance at a do-over!

Hopefully, Ben Simmons has found enough time to put the controller down and gameplan for the Atlanta Hawks, who have returned from their pit stop in San Antonio to face a Philadelphia 76ers team (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philly) that they’ve bested twice in a row.

Popovich disciple Brett Brown doesn’t need the Spurs’ head coach to call to remind him the Hawks (28-50) are ready to outlast anybody who gets caught slippin’ out here in this league. And Atlanta will do it with Isaac Humphries and Jaylen Adams, if they feel they have to.

Trae Young had a bad-hair day as a perimeter shooter last night (0-for-6 3FGs, but 15 points, 6 assists, and no TOs vs. SAS), and he was far from alone (backup Jaylen Adams 0-for-8 FGs, but 7 assists in 19 minutes, zero TOs), as six teammates aside from Kent Bazemore and Alex Len combined to go 3-for-16 on triples.

Yet, with assertive help defense (9 of 10 Hawks with at least one steal, incl. Baze’s 3 thefts), and a commitment to keep everyone aside from LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan off the charity stripe (0-for-0 FTAs for the other Spurs), the Hawks stayed neck-and-neck with San Antonio virtually throughout Tuesday’s roas game. Coach Lloyd Pierce called off the proverbial dogs in the closing minutes to disallow the game from coming down to the proverbial wire.

Without Joel Embiid, Philadelphia succumbed to a 12-29 Hawks team back in January by a 123-121 score. Embiid returned to the lineup to create the full squad that’s expected to win 50 games and compete for the Eastern Conference crown on March 23. Yet they still found themselves at the mercy of Young at the close of the contest, and the buzzer-beating layup to end the game at 129-127 confirmed Trae wasn’t about to let them off the hook.

Now, Embiid (load mgmt., DNP’d for this concluding road trip ahead of tomorrow’s home game vs. MIL) is back on the pine again, while tightness in Jimmy Butler’s back (show some compassion for his plight, T’Wolves fans!) has his status questionable for today.

That would mean a lot of the onus will be on Ben Simmons to not simply double-digitize his own boxscore line (dedicate it to Meek Mill or somebody, I dunno), but to make defensive plays for Philly (49-23) that keep the ball out of the Hawks’ passing wizards’ hands and on his side of the court. The Sixers seek to clinch their first consecutive pair of 50-plus-win seasons since Sir Charles Barkley’s breakout in 1985-86. They’d love to enjoy that on the plane ride home before facing the Bucks tomorrow.

The Hawks’ Legion of Load Management tag-team has John Collins subbing in for Vince Carter, who gets to don the headset and hang out alongside fellow living legends Dominique Wilkins and Bob Rathbun tonight. What a Rush!

Alex Len (questionable) must have spent too much time perfecting the Kid ‘n Play Kick Step with Taurean Prince, because now the former shares Prince’s bilateral foot soreness. Assuming Deyonta Davis (hitchhiked back to ATL) can overcome his sore thumb, he’ll be the top candidate if Pierce needs someone to replace Len (3+ 3FGs in past 3 games) in Atlanta’s starting five.

A moment or two on the therapy couch for me, if you will.

As a mostly reformed ex-Philly sports fan, I strain to recall a time where so many Philly teams were treated like the Death Star, particularly all at once. There’d be times when we’d be treated to Rocky-style, ultimately lovable losers led by quixotic tilters named Iverson, Dykstra, Cunningham, Lindros, McNabb. But never had I imagined a time where the convergence of fan loathing and media fawning, at a national scale, would become so stark.

Being ignored and overlooked by media pundits and free agents alike, with full deference to more accomplished markets up and down the Eastern seaboard, was once what bonded Atlanta and Philadelphia. Mike Scott on the Hawks is a peculiarity. Mike Scott on the Sixers is The Final Piece of The Puzzle. Then again, maybe it's Greg Monroe.

We remember the environment during all those strung-together years Atlanta reached the playoffs, where every minor setback confirmed the Hawks weren’t worth wasting breath about: “They’re through as a team, because Childress ran off to Greece.” The weak opening rounds and semifinal flops of ’09 and ’10 left indelible scars in the minds of the larger NBA universe, creating a mindset where #eventhehawks proved to be a handy meme.

The know-it-all’s judgement wouldn’t change, no matter whether Atlanta won 60 games or made it to a Conference Finals: Also-Ran, stamped on the Hawks’ foreheads, until they proved otherwise. If such nonchalance was applied evenly regardless of the geographic sports market, I could come to understand the default sentiment.

In virtually every calendar year of this sun-setting decade, we were told THIS was going to be The Year of John Wall. Yes, Ernie Grunfeld’s Wizards, Randy Wittman’s Wizards, were going to be the antidote to the chokehold LeBron had on the conference and come out of the East. Peaked at 49 wins and second-round exits the whole time, if they got into the playoffs at all. But, oh, oh, oh, Certified Finals Contender, stamped on their foreheads until they finally get there, because Wall and Beal, or something.

Nah, I won’t even get started on the Knicks. Or Prokhorov’s old Nets.

I can get it with the Celtics, given their past two seasons reaching the Conference Finals under the watch of a GM that helped hang their last banner. But the attention the Sixers, who lost 4-1 to Boston last year in the second round, have been getting lately? Let’s see them actually get something DONE, first, before we break the C.F.C. stamp out. If they get bounced decisively before the Conference Finals, will they get the #eventhesixers treatment from the 3- and 4-Letter Networks, going forward? I doubt it.

I think the Sixers got lucky, and not just with lottery balls after five seasons of Processing. The ’18 Eagles finally winning it all, still fresh in the heads of fans and media, re-kindled the Spirit of ’76 for basketball in ways not seen since the 70’s Broad Street Bullies and ’80 Phillies.

Like the alluring odor of soft pretzels, Titletown Fever has seeped it’s magic into Philly’s baseball clubhouse as well: Bat-flipping free agents rarely look at New York and L.A.’s glitz-and-glam appeals and then decide, “hmm, you know what? I’m taking my talents to Broad and Pattison.”

So it goes with basketball. And the Northeastern-heavy media, needing a steady foil for the Celtics, are more than happy to fan the flames. Besides, who up there is going to waste time covering the Knicks and Wizards right now?

Here in The ATL, we’ve been living without teams in any sport who win titles, plural, not just every other blue moon. We’ve had our Bobby Cox years (get well, soon!) but we need some Joe Torre years, too. We have our Matt Ryan success, but we deserve some Tom Brady dominance to last for a little while. We won’t know if the Hawks can build up the bones for a multi-season romp through the NBA for a couple more years. But, if we do, I do hope we won’t have to drag the sports world, kicking and screaming, into the future with us.

The sports world isn’t sitting around and waiting for Simmons to discover a jumpshot, first, before declaring the Sixers are definitively in the running for championships, every year, for the foreseeable future. Sooner than later, I hope they’ll Keep That Same Energy, when it comes to the evolving defense of Trae Young and these emerging #alsothehawks.


Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

Something happened to my and1, so wanted to make sure you knew this ish rocks. Gets me hype every time.