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Paul Millsap and Al Horford Must Step Up On Offense

By Connor Renfro

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Throughout their historic regular season run, the Atlanta Hawks leaned on their unique pair of All-Star big-men in Paul Millsap and Al Horford.

Through their first-round playoff match-up with Brooklyn Nets however, the story has been quite different.

Neither Horford nor Millsap has been consistently producing for Atlanta thus far in the playoffs. Match-ups, positioning and flat-out bad shooting have a lot to do with that.

In Horford’s case, he was woefully inefficient on offense through the first three games in the series. Posting just 10.3 points per-game on 35.9 percent shooting is a far-cry from his regular season average of 15.2 points per-game on 53.8 percent shooting. His Game 4 performance of 17 points on 8-13 shooting helps him, but overall he still needs to improve.

The reasoning for his playoff woes seems very simple though: his jump-shot isn’t working like it normally does.

While the size of Brooklyn big-men Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee may be contributing to the absence of Horford’s shot, it seems more that the shots he’s made all season long simply aren’t falling. It’s possible he’s lacking in confidence, which is causing a hiccup in his mechanics. If this is the case, he needs to find his stride, and quickly if the Hawks are to make a deep playoff run.

In Game 1 of the series, Horford was quiet, but not completely terrible from the field. He chipped in 10 points on 5-12 shooting — good for 41.7 percent — not terrible, but not the Al Horford we were accustomed to seeing.

Game 2 saw an even less efficient Horford, as he finished with 14 points on 6-15 shooting. Once again, not completely terrible, but for a Hawks team that has leaned on his scoring so much throughout this season and his career, he’ll need to shore up the shooting percentage.

After Saturday’s Game 3 — which saw Brooklyn win 91-83 — Horford’s offense seemed to have deteriorated about as much as it could. Horford went 3-12 from the field for seven points. That game was particularly intriguing since Horford was guarded by the famously-terrible defender that is Brook Lopez. With a significant size advantage, Lopez has accumulated a surprising 1.7 blocks per-game average over the course of the series.

Although Horford’s played as an undersized center for all of his NBA career, he seems to be stumped so far in this series. For the Hawks’ sake I hope he finds his offensive touch soon.

Horford’s counterpart in the front-court, Paul Millsap hasn’t exactly been the star he was in the regular season either. Averaging 14.8 points per-game on 42.6 percent shooting. Not nearly as bad as Horford’s drop-off, but a drop off nonetheless.

While Millsap’s 53.8 percent three-point mark in the Playoffs is great, but his true strength lies — much like Horford — in his mid-range shooting and post-play.

Millsap got off to a rocky start in Game 1, going 2-11 with six points.

While he seems to have figured it out for the most part, Millsap will need to lead this team by example while Horford works his way out of his slump.

Coach Mike Budenholzer’s offense is based on unselfishness, ball-movement, and strong team play, though when that breaks down, it’s Millsap who will need to put this team on his back. Becoming a one-man team is clearly not the M.O. for Atlanta or Budenholzer, though a little more trust should be given to Millsap when the going gets tough.

Statistically, Millsap is the Hawks’ best player, as he averaged team-highs in points (16.7 per-game) and rebounds (7.8 per-game) through the regular season. Many don’t consider him to be a player capable of dominating a game, but he might have to do just that more than a few times for Atlanta in the playoffs. Coach Budenholzer’s game-plan will likely shine through at some point, but until then, Millsap has to make himself the guy that his team can place their faith in.

Only time will tell if this dynamic front-court pairing can shine through in the playoffs, but if they can get going sooner rather than later, the Hawks faithful can exhale that much sooner.

Next: Hawks Need To Stop Panicking And Start Executing

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