Game Thread: Los Hawks vs Los Spurs -- 3/6

[Jamaaliver]

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Spurs looking to carry home success into Atlanta

The San Antonio Spurs carry a modicum of momentum, after wins at home over two of the top three teams in the Western Conference, as they travel to Atlanta to square off against the Hawks on Wednesday.

The Spurs (36-29) head to Atlanta after sweeping a three-game homestand, the final game of which was a down-to-the-last-shot 104-103 victory over Denver on Monday.

The Hawks (22-43) return home after a 114-113 loss at Miami on Monday. Kent Bazemore converted two free throws with 9 seconds remaining for Atlanta, but the Heat were able to run out the clock by playing keep-away with the ball as the Hawks tried unsuccessfully to foul and extend the game.

The Hawks lost two of three games during four-day span that included a quadruple-overtime defeat on Friday at home to Chicago.

Atlanta has not won consecutive contests since beating Phoenix and Washington on the road Feb. 2 and 4. The Hawks are eight games out of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings with 17 games to play.

Wednesday's game will be the first of two between the two teams this season. The Hawks beat San Antonio last season in Atlanta.

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[Jamaaliver]

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The road has been a nightmare for San Antonio all season. An 11-22 record and a -5.2 differential begin to tell the tale of that nightmare. This Spurs team lost a game to the New York Knicks near the end of a 1-7 Rodeo Road Trip where they missed the defensive aptitude of 2nd year guard Derrick White on the perimeter immensely for most of it. With 8 of San Antonio’s 17 remaining games coming on the road, they’ll need to beat the lesser teams if they want to pad their record enough to get into the postseason.

That task starts tonight in Atlanta...the Spurs don’t force the most turnovers per game (they are actually dead last at 12.3), it will be interesting to see if they continue that activity against a Hawks team that has shown to be very generous with the ball to other teams (18.1 turnovers per game, worst in the league).

SB Nation

[jayu70]

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[graymule]

What's wrong with DD?

[shakes0]

Glad to hear Collins is back! Not happy about Dedmon being out. The drop off from Dedmon to Len is pretty significant.

[Jamaaliver]

What's wrong with DD?

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[ATL Boy]

No more massive traps on Trae Young without Collins punishing them

[lethalweapon3]

For coach Gregg Popovich and his San Antonio Spurs, it’s time to get the show on the road.

They’re 25-7 back in the Alamo City, the second-best home record in the rough-and-tumble NBA West. But it’s because of losses piling up in away games, like this one at State Farm Arena versus our Atlanta Hawks (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Southwest in SATX), that the Spurs risk missing the playoffs for the first time since Nique played for them, way back during the Pastel Era (1996-97).

Road resiliency has been a hallmark of Popovich-led teams. In every campaign from 1999-00 through 2016-17, the Spurs had a winning road record with at least 20 victories in away games. That included the strike season of 2011-12, where San Antonio took 22 of 33 possible games.

For kicks and giggles, the Hawks during this same 17-year timeframe, finished with winning road records just three times, including that strike year (going 17-16) and under the watch of Pop’s old protégé, coach Mike Budenholzer (25-16 in the peak season of 2015-16, 21-20 the following season).

It sure helps to have Tim Duncan in tow for such a run. Yet even after Duncan retired, the following season, the Spurs matched their own record for road dominance, going 30-11 in 2016-17. Going from there all the way back to Timmy’s rookie season, there was never a time when a Popovich-coached Spurs squad finished worse than 6th in the Western Conference for away-game success.

The telling difference between Spurs Past and Spurs Present was the annual Rodeo road excursion, one that logistically keeps San Antonio on the move across the country for the better part of a month. The teams of Spurs Past would use this trip to bond and firm up their clockwork-like precision on the court. The 2018 Rodeo Road Trip, by comparison, was disastrous.

The Spurs left for Sacramento on February 4. Twenty-one All-Star-Break-bifurcated days and eight games later, San Antonio returned home with one measly win, a one-point win at then-reeling Memphis, to show for their traveling travails. Road-weary, they had saved the worst for last, scoring a season-low 85 points in a 16-point defeat at Brooklyn. The day before, the Spurs put up 118 points, in Madison Square Garden, yet lost to the Knicks by 12.

Even with stalwart team leaders like Manu Ginobili and, this year, Tony Parker, aging their way out, Coach Pop probably could have kept this roadshow going strong, where it not for Mr. Leonard going all Kawhere’s Kawaldo on them.

Alas, there has been just too much defensive patchwork to supplement leading scorers DeMar DeRozan (4th-fastest Spur to reach 1,000 points in a season), LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay. Too many critical injuries from the jump – losing Dejounte Murray in preseason was an unkind cut, as was not having first-rounder Lonnie Walker available until January. And too much of a need to rely on green players like Bryn Forbes, Derrick White, and Jakob Poeltl to keep from overworking the veterans, including Marco Belinelli and the bought-out Pau Gasol.

Creating a team that embodies the antithesis of Kawhi’s 3-and-D mastery is quite a feat. San An’s defensive efficiency (111.3, 23rd in NBA) is the worst of any Spurs season since Popovich took the reins from Bob Hill back in December 1996. The two leading scorers, DeRozan and Aldridge, combine to take 1.1 threes per game – takes, not makes – leaving perimeter shots largely to the experts in the supporting cast.

And yet, this is an approach that has worked, at least, at home, where they have since won three straight contests. DeRozan (team-high and career-high 6.1 APG) and Aldridge (7 All-Star Games in 8 seasons, career-his 2.7 assists per-36) are committed to smartly passing the ball, keying the offense for a team with the lowest turnover percentage (12.3 TO%) in the league.

By making the most of their trips to the free throw line (NBA-high 82.2 team FT%), the Spurs compensate for infrequent perimeter plays to boast the league’s fifth-best true shooting percentage (57.2 TS%). And when opponents miss shots, the Spurs have done better than most in securing the boards (74.1 D-Reb%, 7th in the NBA).

Those sound elements, combined, have helped this team stay afloat, currently seven games above .500 with a three-game cushion in front of 9-seed Sacramento for the West’s final playoff spot. The 3-through-5 seeds in that conference are nearly as close, just 3.5 games ahead of them. If San Antonio wishes to aim high and take advantage of homecourt advantage at AT&T Center at playoff time, then they absolutely must figure out how to come out on top away from home (11-22 road record, t-10th in NBA West).

Prior to squeaking past the Grizzlies, the last road win for the Spurs came in January, against an Anthony Davis-less Pelicans team that was just beginning to go through some Brow-raising drama. You would have to go back to December 29, a win at LA versus Doc Rivers’ Clippers, to find at least a semi-impressive road win over a team with a winning record. Outscoring the Hawks tonight may not qualify as impressive, but at this stage of the season, Popovich and the Spurs will take any road wins they can get.

The lack of defensive intensity gets more pronounced for the Spurs on the road. Their subpar D-Rating plummets to 115.8 in road games – only the Cavs (116.8) have performed worse. Their opposing hosts hit 38.2 percent of their three-point shots (3rd-highest in NBA), and aren’t being forced to hand the ball over (NBA-low 12.2 opponent TO%). Coach Pop has been deploying more zone defensive schemes to make up for the lack of on-ball defensive skills among his units.

“In general, NBA teams have no clue what to do when somebody plays a zone,” Popovich explained to the media, probably in acerbic fashion, when queried after the Nets loss. “They mostly automatically stand there and the ball moves around the horn and after a while somebody might attack a seam or do a little high-low or overload or something like that. But, basically, players get in mud. It doesn’t matter what team it is, they just get in mud.”

One could argue the shift to more full-time zone has worked, following home wins notched over Detroit, OKC, and Denver in the past week. Most notably, the Thunder (although playing without an injured Paul George) could only make seven of 29 shots beyond the three-point arc, and they tend to play at a Hawks-style pace.

But of the visiting trio, only the Nuggets were a decent perimeter shooting team coming in, and they shot 17-for-40 (42.5 3FG%), five triples in the final four minutes as their comeback from 14 points down fell short by a point. Further, tonight is the first time the Spurs will get to see if their new defensive production will play in Peoria, or anywhere else.

The impulse by opposing offenses, as Popovich notes, is to swing the ball around until somebody gets open from deep, and coach Lloyd Pierce’s Hawks will be happy to play the zone-busting role. Atlanta has taken 38.6 three-point attempts per 48 minutes since the All-Star Break (6th in NBA) and has buried 41.7 percent of them (2nd-best in NBA, behind Detroit’s 42.3 3FG%).

That’s with defenses hounding Trae Young, trapping the youthful playmaker further up the court. If the Spurs are more prone to sitting back (although I trust they recall the preseason game well) and not forcing the issue, Young (47.4/47.3/91.2 shooting splits, 9.1 assists and 4.5 turnovers per-36 post-Break) could have an array of options at his disposal, and not just hoisting shots from the sideline bar.

By relying on his trusty handle, getting into the Spurs’ mushy middle and splitting defenders will allow Young split-seconds to find open jump-shooters like Kevin Huerter (40.7 3FG% post-Break) and the “way too selfless” (his words) new papa Taurean Prince (3-for-6 3FGs before fouling out in his last appearance vs. CHI), cutters to the basket like DeAndre’ Bembry, and bigs who can either catch lobs or sneak out to the corners. Or, the occasional floater will do just nicely.

What Hawks ballhandlers, backup point guards and wings included, cannot do is dither long enough for the Spurs defense to converge inside. Hesitations upon receiving the ball slow the game to a crawl and limit possessions, playing right into San Antonio’s hands. Against the Spurs (four wins this season while playing at the Hawks’ average pace or higher), the first instinct is probably the wisest one.

Atlanta is likely to have two starters back in the lineup, a net change of plus-one. In addition to Prince, John Collins (flu-like symptoms) is probable to return to action. Unfortunately for the Hawks’ revolving frontcourt door, a knee contusion will have Dewayne Dedmon on the shelf, alongside would-be reserves Omari Spellman and Miles Plumlee.

Keeping Alex Len (0-for-6 FGs @ MIA) upright, and Collins and Len active all across the floor without getting into foul trouble will be keys to diversifying the Hawks’ attack. Fortunately for Atlanta, they’re playing a team that is having just as much trouble with frontcourt depth.

Gasol’s buyout, in part, paved the way for additional minutes for Poeltl, the ex-Raptor who started all three games of the Spurs’ homestand. But a sore hamstring is likely to sideline him, at least limiting his effectiveness if he plays at all. The Spurs will rely on Davis Bertans (the forgotten player in the infamous Kawhi/George Hill deal prodded by Coach Bud; 46.7 3FG%) to spell Aldridge and Gay upfront. The Metu Movement continues with the 2019 second-round forward Chimezie recalled from G-League Austin.

Road contests at Houston, Boston and Denver await the Spurs in their final ten regular-season games. The upcoming home schedule for San Antonio is fraught with challenges, too (Milwaukee, Portland, Golden State), so it is important to get their upcoming road matches (here, and at Dallas next week) in the win column. As for Atlanta fans, this really isn’t the Hawks-versus-Spurs matchup we’re eager to see. The big one comes on April 2 in Texas, where the longest-running Hawks Hex has a chance at coming to a merciful end.


Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[Spud2nique]

Nice game preview as always lw3. Kawhere’s Kawaldo is pure gold. Pop might have a point in team’s having trouble and being stuck in the mud when they face a zone D but I wouldn’t try it against us. Not with the range and craftiness of our young (vet like) backcourt. As you said, we’d be glad to see a zone.

This might be one of the worst combine defensive and road Spur team I’ve seen in 22 years. Pre Timmy for sure.

Let the chips fall where they may. Gain experience and learn from our mistakes.

GO HAWKS!!!

[ducler]

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[jayu70]

Nice game preview as always lw3. Kawhere’s Kawaldo is pure gold. Pop might have a point in team’s having trouble and being stuck in the mud when they face a zone D but I wouldn’t try it against us. Not with the range and craftiness of our young (vet like) backcourt. As you said, we’d be glad to see a zone.

This might be one of the worst combine defensive and road Spur team I’ve seen in 22 years. Pre Timmy for sure.

Let the chips fall where they may. Gain experience and learn from our mistakes.

GO HAWKS!!!

Miami threw in a bit of a zone against us last game.

[jayu70]

What's wrong with DD?

He bumped knees last game, was icing before the game finished.

[benhillboy]

A lot of Trae’s tipped passes still find the mark.

[jayu70]

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[DirtybirdGA]

Traes off, I guess he'll have a marginal game.

[DirtybirdGA]

1 for 9, here's the wall I guess.

[King Ken]

Spurs are doing a great job in terms of defending this game but we are still in there due to our fight and tempo that we play with

[benhillboy]

Good for Trae, force his way to the line.

[benhillboy]

Aye Nique, who is Demar Rozan?

[benhillboy]

Trae winning loose balls/ rebounds again. He about to get going.