Atlanta Hawks: Hawks vs. Grizzlies Pre Game Report

The Atlanta Hawks travel north to take on the Memphis Grizzlies  Friday night in a matchup of two teams headed in opposite directions of late.

The Grizzlies, after starting the season 3-6, have won six of their last seven while the Hawks, who started the season 7-1, have struggled of late having lost six of their last nine.

The Hawks are coming off a road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 99-95, on Wednesday night.  The T-Wolves swept the season series with the Hawks, and did so in the second game without much output from their starters.  The Wolves’ bench outscored Atlanta’s reserves 58 to 18 in a game that the Hawks should have won.  When another team’s stars are being held in check, the game should be easy to take for a veteran team like the Hawks.  Wiggins, Towns and Rubio finished with a combined 26 points.  Tell me that stat line before the game and I would have said the Hawks blow them out.  But that simply wasn’t the case.

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The Grizzlies on the other hand, are coming off of an impressive 102-93 road win against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday evening.  All five starters scored in double figures for the Grizz, who held most of the Rockets in check all night, while allowing Harden to do his thing, realizing that he alone isn’t enough if they keep the rest of the team from getting going.  Sounds like a strategy that the Hawks need to implement when they play a certain Eastern Conference foe.  The Grizzlies have been a historically good defensive unit and that hasn’t changed this season.

This will be the first of two games between these two clubs, and should be a good one as both teams have aspirations of appearing in their respective Conference Finals series with their eyes on the ultimate prize, an NBA Championship.  Neither team is there quite yet but both teams have the pieces to do so if they can just starting putting it all together.  Both teams are a little banged up heading into this one and that will play a huge role in the outcome.  If Bazemore and Randolph both sit this one out then both units will be missing a starter and a key cog in their rotation.  I’d give the nod to the Hawks on that one as Randolph has been one of the better big men in the NBA during his time in Memphis while Bazemore is still young and hasn’t developed into that type of player just yet.

Keys to the Game:

Get Out & Run: The Grizzlies are a team that likes to slow the pace of the game down.  They like to get into half court sets and they like to feed the ball to their two bigs on the interior.  The Hawks

Nov 25, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver (26) shoots the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Timberwolves won 99-95. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

need to take them out of that rhythm by running whenever they get a chance on offense.  No disrespect to either Randolph or Gasol but neither player is great in transition defense.  Vince Carter is getting a little long in the tooth and can’t get up and down like he used to so the Hawks should take advantage and go mid-2000’s Phoenix Suns on the Grizzlies tonight.  Find that weakness, in this case transition D, and exploit it.  Try and suck the Grizzlies into that style of play that doesn’t play to their strengths or what they do effectively on offense.

Double Gasol: I’m not a guy who likes the idea of double teaming or triple teaming players.  As I’ve stated many times before, I like to let “stars” get theirs while controlling the rest of the team.  But if Randolph doesn’t play tonight then the Grizzlies will have virtually zero post presence which is how they like to set up their offensive sets.  The Grizzlies rank in the bottom five of the NBA in both three’s attempted as well as three point percentage.  Don’t let Gasol beat you tonight and force the ball out of his hands to shooters on the perimeter.  The Grizzlies know they struggle to shoot from distance which will force them to get out of their comfort zone and potentially get them to fall into the trap of getting into an up-tempo style of play.

Projected Starting Lineups:

Atlanta Hawks

• PG: Jeff Teague
• SG: Kyle Korver
• SF: Thabo Sefolosha
• PF: Paul Millsap
• C: Al Horford

Notes: Kent Bazemore (ankle) has been upgraded to questionable and could return tonight. Tiago Splitter has been ruled out with a hip injury.

Memphis Grizzlies

• PG: Mike Conley
• SG: Tony Allen
• SF: Jeff Green
• PF: Zach Randolph
• C: Marc Gasol

Notes: Zach Randolph is questionable for tonight’s game.  If he is unable to go, look for Matt Barnes to get the start.

Other News & Notes:

• Korver Watch: Kyle needs just three more three pointers to pass Peja Stojakovic for 10th place all time
• Thabo Sefolosha is shooting 11-12 over his last two games
• The Hawks are 6-2 when Millsap notches a double-double and 4-5 when he doesn’t
• Tim Hardaway Jr. has now played 12 minutes in each of the last two games after not playing at all in the teams’ first 15 games
• Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Fox Sports South (TV) and 92.9 The Game (Radio)

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