Game Thread: Hawks vs Lakers -- 2/12

[Jamaaliver]

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Hawks host Lakers in search of streak-busting win

LeBron and company are in town



The Hawks enter this contest as five-point underdogs after three consecutive home losses and, while the team is generally in a better place than they were in November, Atlanta is scuffling at the moment.

As you may expect, slowing James will be of great importance to the Hawks, and Lloyd Pierce’s team has an unsightly 124.7 defensive rating during this losing streak. If Pierce intends to keep the same starting lineup, Taurean Prince would likely have the first crack at defending James, with DeAndre’ Bembry serving as another option and the potential (at least in my heart) of a specialized role for Justin Anderson as a stopper in reserve duty.

Offensively, this is a favorable match-up for the Hawks, as the Lakers have struggled mightily on that end in recent days. Los Angeles still boasts a league-average defense over the course of the full season but it will be interesting to see which defensive unit shows up for the visitors, particularly as Atlanta is playing well offensively at the moment.

For this particular game, the Hawks could lean on Bembry, Kent Bazemore and Kevin Huerter as primary ball-handlers when Young leaves the floor but, to say the least, it isn’t an ideal situation. The Lakers won’t be at full strength, either, with both Lonzo Ball (ankle) and Josh Hart (knee) out of the lineup for the visitors.

Peachtree Hoops

[Jamaaliver]

Last time these two teams met:

Watch on YouTube

[EazyRoc]

$140 minimum to see LeBron play. Sheesh. It dawned on me then that I’ve never seen the guy play in person. I remember when I could get 2 tickets to the game for like 20-30 bucks.

[High 5]

Maybe our luck will change now that we're back on the road.

[DirtybirdGA]

A ha...

[kg01]

Maybe our luck will change now that we're back on the road.

ISWYDT

[graymule]

The King is coming! The King is coming! Make way! Bow down and kiss his ring! The King is coming!

[Buzzard]

Three things I will be looking for:

Kuzma, LeBron, McGhee, who takes Collins.
How well does Trae deal with a harassing Rondo.
Huerter against the length of Ingram or Kuzma.

This should be a fun one. The Lakers play at a pace that is almost as high as ours.

[ducler]

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[lethalweapon3]

The training wheels are off for Trae Young and our Atlanta Hawks. With LeBron James in town looking to steer the Los Angeles Lakers’ ship in the right direction (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Spectrum SportsNet in La-La Land), the question facing the Hawks is, are all the wheels coming off, too?

Young and John Collins will be headed up I-85 in a few days, two of the league’s top “Rising Stars” that may someday be tabbed to play on Team LeBron – the exhibition version, that is. We’ve often seen it around here, rookies and young upstarts striving and pining for respect and accolades at a national scale, only to wilt when the spotlight starts turning squarely upon them. It’s as reliable as a Jeff Teague blown layup.

When young opponents face the Hawks, with all due respect, they’re not salivating at the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Kent Bazemore or Dewayne Dedmon. They want to get themselves on SportsCenter by blocking Collins thrice at the rim, or by dropping 30-burgers and double-digit assist tallies while Young, who has retaken his claim from rival Collin Sexton as the league’s worst in terms of Defensive Real Plus/Minus, is sharing the floor. They want to make names for themselves, when they’re at State Farm Arena, at the Atlanta’s Rising Stars expense.

It’s not just the youthful peers, either. Veterans with well established names, whether it’s LeBron or Kemba Walker, or non-All-Stars like Marvin Williams or D.J. Augustin, use Atlanta as the palette to paint a picture to the NBA world that they’ve still got it. The challenges ahead for Young, Collins, Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman are to find ways, in front of the home crowd, to seize the Highlight Factory back, in part by doing the little things like winning the basketball when it’s up-for-grabs.

Trae no longer has Jeremy Lin, soon to be bought out and join the Raptors in the Eastern Conference arms race, around to sop up vital minutes. With coach Lloyd Pierce’s backup options at the 1-spot limited to two-way player Jaylen Adams (questionable with an ankle sprain), Point Baze and Point Bembry, one can expect Pierce to bump up Young’s floortime more consistently above 30 minutes per night (below 30 in last four games). Atlanta is 9-6 over the last 15 games where Young exceeded the half-hour mark, 5-23 on the season when his minutes fell short.

That means there ought to around three to five extra minutes every game, especially at crunch time, where Young and, by extension, Collins and Taurean Prince (worst DRPMs among non-rookies at the forward spots), will find themselves exposed on the defensive end. Assuming they don’t foul out, their collective abilities to improve their defensive awareness will govern how deep into the twenties Atlanta’s final win tally will go.

Foul avoidance, for the Hawks, will be a challenge with the league’s once-preeminent foul sponge throwing his weight around tonight. LeBron (probable, “load management”) is being asked to do a LOT, and he may have to if he hopes to get the media attention off his embattled figurehead coach and his failed agent-driven whisper campaign. Lonzo Ball remains out with an ankle sprain, leaving it to the team’s leading dime-droppers, James (7.4 APG), and Rajon Rondo (7.7 APG) to be the Lakers’ literal point men.

Seeking to preserve both James and Rondo (27.7 MPG, most in past three seasons) for the postseason, should there in fact be one for the Lakers (28-28, 2 games behind their 9-seed crosstown rival Clippers and 8-seed Kings), coach Luke Walton placed Rondo on the bench and inserted in the starting lineup Reggie Bullock, the swingman just acquired from Detroit before the Trade Deadline for Svi Mykhailiuk and a future second-rounder. Suffice to say, things did not go well.

Much like the Hawks, the Lakers choose to push the ball at a high tempo (4th in Pace). Much like Atlanta, Los Angeles can let games get away from them when they settle for trading baskets instead of forcing stops. Without the defensively-savvy Ball and Josh Hart (out thru the All-Star Break, PRP-injected knee), LeBrongeles conceded 143 points to the re-tooled Sixers on Sunday, losing by 23. Prior to that, the most regulation points The Lake Show allowed this season occurred five days prior, 136 in a 42-point loss at Oladipo-less Indiana.

The Lakers needed a Celtics collapse, a flubbed Al Horford rebound, and a lucky shot from Rondo at the buzzer to escape with a 129-128 in Beantown last Thursday. But for that fortune, L.A. would be looking to the Hawks to help them snap a four-game losing streak.

Our old friend Mike Muscala found his way from the Sixers to the Lakers, via the Clips, following a pair of trade-deadline deals that sent Ivica Zubac and Mike Beasley to the other STAPLES Center locker room. While he hopefully found time today to catch up with Bazemore and pontificate on a podcast for old time’s sake, he is questionable to play tonight due to a sprained ankle.

Tyson Chandler’s status is the same, thanks to a sprained toe. If neither Moose nor Chandler, both of whom reportedly missed shootaround, is available to contribute, look for wannabe Rising Star Moritz Wagner to try to make some waves, as a primary sub for the overworked JaVale McGee (season-high 21 points and 13 rebounds @ PHI), James, and Kyle Kuzma (39 points, 5-for-8 3FGs @ PHI).

Bullock (39.7 career 3FG%) wasn’t exactly the big mid-season catch that Lakers brain trust Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka hoped for, but he will be valuable in stretching opposing defenses beyond the perimeter. Aside from Kuzma’s hot hand on Sunday, the other Lakers (33.9 team 3FG%, 5th-worst in NBA) sunk just five of 19 three-point attempts.

Naturally, it helps to have guys like Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler around to thwart would-be shooters in the backcourt. But after allowing Charlotte (19-for-42 3FGs) and Orlando (13-for-37 3FGs) to sink lightly-contested threes at above a 35 percent clip this past weekend, Atlanta could use a wayward-shooting break from the Lakers tonight. Funneling the Lakers into drives, off-balance shots and passes -- and turnovers (7.8 TO% off drives, 4th-highest in NBA) -- without earning free trips to the foul line, could work to the Hawks’ advantage.

In L.A. back in November, the Lakers could not shake a Hawks team that did not yet have Collins available. They could not shake off the Hawks despite a 13-point second-half lead, and they needed a dunk from LeBron, after a bunch of second-chance shots, and a heroic block of Young (12 assists, 11 fourth-quarter points, 4-for-8 3FGs @ LAL on Nov. 11) from Chandler in the closing seconds to escape with a 107-106 victory.

Young benefitted not only on the offensive end from Bazemore and Prince in that game (44 combined points, 8-for-13 3FGs), but on the defensive end as well (7 combined steals). The team that gets more positive production out of their younger players, especially with respect to rebounding and defense, is likely to have the edge in the rematch this evening.

Even before a Laker-friendly crowd at The Farm, the Hawks have the depth advantage and, unlike against Charlotte, the energy advantage versus a Laker team that’s trying to get off their heels. But if Atlanta comes out with another listless defensive effort, easing King James' path back into the playoffs, they may find themselves at the Commissioner’s Office, under investigation for collusion and tampering.


Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[HMFFL]

LA is favored by 6 points.
I expect this game to be a blowout and for us to go on a long losing streak.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

[kg01]

LA is favored by 6 points.
I expect this game to be a blowout and for us to go on a long losing streak.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

One thing to keep in mind is this is getaway day for Bro-Bron. He's likely to head from here down to MIA for his typical hiatus prior to attending All-star activities.

I'm expecting the LakeShow to be half-checked out tonite.

I'm sure Magic City has been putting up extra shots in anticipation of this matchup.

[jayu70]

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[jayu70]

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[Spud2nique]

Lw3, you’re gonna hit us with Lebrongeles? That combined with Gramps call of the King is coming pretty much sums it up for me!

Go Hawks!!!

[Spud2nique]

LA is favored by 6 points.
I expect this game to be a blowout and for us to go on a long losing streak.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

One thing to keep in mind is this is getaway day for Bro-Bron. He's likely to head from here down to MIA for his typical hiatus prior to attending All-star activities.

I'm expecting the LakeShow to be half-checked out tonite.

I'm sure Magic City has been putting up extra shots in anticipation of this matchup.

Bob n Nique made a lil comment about the Lakers exploring the town or somewhere along those lines. They might be stripper tired! Is that a thing?

[HMFFL]

LA is favored by 6 points.
I expect this game to be a blowout and for us to go on a long losing streak.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

One thing to keep in mind is this is getaway day for Bro-Bron. He's likely to head from here down to MIA for his typical hiatus prior to attending All-star activities.

I'm expecting the LakeShow to be half-checked out tonite.

I'm sure Magic City has been putting up extra shots in anticipation of this matchup.

Bob n Nique made a lil comment about the Lakers exploring the town or somewhere along those lines. They might be stripper tired! Is that a thing?

Stripped tired..lol
Well, we shall sew what happens. Atlanta does have the best strip clubs!

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

[EazyRoc]

Vince just waits on the wings to gun people down lol

[DirtybirdGA]

G-damn Trae....(not gonna say much about it, but I hope it comes)

[jayu70]

Good 1st quarter.