Hawks Host Nuggets with both teams desperate for a 'W'

Post #1 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 3:56 pm

Defending Champs Come to A-Town for a Beatdown

The Defending Champion Denver Nuggets head out on an East Coast road trip in desperate search of a victory. Their opponent will be the Atlanta Hawks who are also currently mired in a losing streak. Atlanta has dropped their last three games and five of their last six. Led by score first point guard Trae Young, the Hawks continue to be a middle of the pack team despite trying various combinations of cores around Young. Last year they added DeJounte Murray to pair with him in the backcourt. This year they shipped off forward John Collins to get more playing time for talented young forward De’Andre Hunter. Despite the moves, Atlanta sits at 9-12 and looks headed for a play-in tournament at best finish once again.

The Three Things to Watch for:

Energy from the Starters

The Nuggets starters looked pretty flat last week and when Nikola Jokic wasn’t knocking down shots it seemed like many of his teammates didn’t know what to do. I’m looking for a more aggressive game from Aaron Gordon in particular tonight who has a good matchup with Hunter. AG has been struggling mightily since returning from his heel injury and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. In Denver’s game on Friday against the Houston Rockets Gordon ultimately was benched in favor of Peyton Watson down the stretch. Whether it is Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell Pope, Michael Porter Jr or even Jamal Miurray (who is still coming back from an ankle sprain), the Nuggets need some extra juice from the starters not named Nikola.

Jokic doesn’t score a ton on Capela

Nikola’s career high against Clint Capela is 27 points, but since Clint came to Atlanta Jokic has never topped 24 points against him. Early in his career Joker struggled a lot with the athletic big but eventually figured him out like he does everyone. Still, Capela, and the Hawks defense in general, often forces Jokic to be more of a facilitator than a scorer. Given his recent struggles shooting the ball it will be interesting tonight to see if Atlanta switches it up and makes Joker beat them by putting the ball in the basket.

KCP over 1.5 threes and 9.5 points (+130)

DeJounte Murray is the far superior defender of the Hawks two guards and we’ll likely see some Murray on Murray violence with him matching up with Jamal on a regular basis. That means woeful defender Trae Young gets put on Kentavious and that could mean a nice night scoring for KCP. You can take the over on 1.5 threes and get even money but if you add in the over for KCP points it’ll boost it to +130.

Denver Stiffs

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Post #2 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 4:18 pm

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Post #3 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 4:58 pm

Post #4 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 5:48 pm

DeAndre out after a season best performance last week.

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DirtybirdGA · Post #5 » by **DirtybirdGA** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 6:08 pm

Oh well, 9 and 13

jayu70 · Post #6 » by **jayu70** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 11:50 pm

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Now we know why Lundy got called up.

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jayu70 · Post #7 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:13 am

This is unexpected!

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Post #8 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 1:34 am

Hanging in there during the first half.

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Post #9 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:19 am

Second half we're failing.

This team needs a legit all-star talent in the frontcourt. Preferably a 5 (IMO). Until that happens I don't believe we go very far.

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Post #10 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:05 am

Drives me absolutely nuts that we don't make this guy a starter:

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Post #11 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:09 am

There was no reason to eject Trae, but man that kid has got to stop arguing with official's mid game every time he doesn't get a whistle.

Trae Young is ridiculously unlikable.

Also, Ben Taylor shouldn't be reffing games in the NBA anymore.

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jayu70 · Post #12 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:14 am

Ben Taylor and a non-rostered ref (2nd time he's ejected Trae) and gave Denver Too many freethrows, then stopped Bey's rhythm on his 2nd freethrow. Just a clown show.

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Post #13 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:32 am

40 points and 10 made three pointers. Great job Bogdan

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jayu70 · Post #14 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:38 am

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jayu70 · Post #15 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 4:12 am

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Post #16 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:03 pm

This game would have been an easy Hawks victory if this dude hadn't gone off in the st half.

Kudos to Julian for a career night in Atlanta.

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Post #17 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:06 pm

Not entirely sure how to decipher this, but:

jayu70 · Post #18 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:38 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:This game would have been an easy Hawks victory if this dude hadn't gone off in the st half.

Kudos to Julian for a career night in Atlanta.

On the flip side, the rest of our bench is putrid.

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What the hell has happened to AJ. Please send him to the GLeague to regain some confidence. Did Kyle Korver change his shooting mechanics? I hope not!
Let Lundy get some playing time with the NBA team.

Post #19 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:48 pm

jayu70 wrote:What the hell has happened to AJ. Please send him to the GLeague to regain some confidence. Did Kyle Korver change his shooting mechanics?

That's actually a really good theory. Some assistant coach came in, insisted he change his delivery and he is overthinking every time he hits the court.

jayu70 · Post #20 » by **jayu70** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:52 pm

Quin has to be more willing to play the big lineups and have Bogi finish games when he's hot.