Hawks vs. Blazers Live Notebook
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The Hawks kick off a five-game road trip Sunday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, who have lost six of their first nine games on the young season. Portland overhauled much of its rotation this season, swapping versatile, defensive-minded forwards for wings with more offensive verve and touch from the outside. The constants are head coach Terry Stotts and the dynamic backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Lillard, averaging 33 points and seven assists per game, leads the NBA in scoring at the moment and is among the rare few guards capable of warping a defense's entire gameplan -- or busting it entirely. He dropped 60 points on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday and, like Trae Young, is playing with the most poise and command of his career. His 3-point percentage -- 37 percent over the last three seasons -- doesn't fully capture just how lethal Lillard is from beyond the arc. He takes some of the deepest and most difficult shots in the NBA, which stirs the entire Portland offense.
At his best Lillard warrants double-teams virtually anywhere inside halfcourt and has gradually added to his passing arsenal each year. Like Young, he has seen every defensive look imaginable and learned to make reads necessary to punish them. He has improved his touch and dexterity around the rim, and has the strength to get to his spots against defensive resistance.
As a product of Lillard's shooting and ball-handling, the Blazers lead the NBA in pick-and-roll frequency and have the 11-most efficient offense in the league. Yet something has been off in the team's first nine games. Portland owns the 11-worst defense in the league and has the talent to run a top-five offense. It hasn't yet found its high gear, and could have a tougher time doing so if and when Lillard cools off.
At present, he is clearly in a different class from Young, but could represent something of a best-case scenario for the Hawks' point guard as he rounds into a more complete player in his own right. The similarities will be on display on Sunday, and Young will have a chance to measure himself against the highest of standards.
Follow along for live, updated commentary from the game.
Pregame
Coming off his best game of the season, Kevin Huerter will start against Portland. This move was probably inevitable; Huerter offers more shooting and playmaking than rookie Cam Reddish, who had been starting as Huerter worked his way back from a preseason knee injury. He'll join Young, De'Andre Hunter, Jabary Parker, and Alex Len in the starting five.
Both Kent Bazemore and Mario Hezonja will slot into Portland's starting unit after mostly coming off the bench early in the season.
First Quarter
The Hawks are off to a pretty rough offensive start. Young is 0-for-5 and from the foul line, though most of his looks have been decent, and the rest of the team is 4-of-11. Cam Reddish has made some perplexing offensive decisions off the bench. Atlanta has taken eight free throws but made just four.
Awful defensive sequence from Young as he tries to chase down a loose ball, keeps running even after Anfernee Simons secures it, doesn't get back in the play, and Hassan Whiteside slams it on the other end.
DeAndre' Bembry has really given the Hawks a lift off the bench, providing offensive flow when the team had none. He's found Damian Jones a couple of times for easy looks around the rim and finished a nifty left-handed hook over Simons. Atlanta made a nice push with Young on the bench, even as Lillard remained on the floor.
After a quarter, the Hawks lead 21-20 thanks to a 11-2 run over the last four minutes. It has been a fast, inefficient game thus far; both teams are scoring less than 0.71 points per possession. A shade under half of each side's shots have come at the rim, but Atlanta is 6-of-11 and the Blazers are 4-of-11 at the cup.
Second Quarter
With Lillard and McCollum on the bench, a quick run fueled by a barrage of 3s vaults Portland back on top, 31-23. Gary Trent Jr. and Anthony Tolliver both drilled 3s before Anfernee Simons lofted a floater in off the glass and drilled a step-back triple. The Blazers have tightened up on defense and the Hawks are struggling to create good looks.
Atlanta comes out of a timeout with Young, Huerter, Hunter, Parker, and Fernando on the floor. Huerter creates a look for Fernando out of pick-and-roll that results in a foul, then drills a 3 off the inbound. This may be Atlanta's best lineup at this point in the season; I'm interested to see if the margin changes one way or another with it out there.
Young ends a stretch of bricks from both sides with a deep catch-and-shoot 3, his first of the game. The Hawks need him to settle into the game offensively; Young is just 2-of-9 from the floor after that make.
Both teams are playing small with a rookie wing at power forward -- Hunter for Atlanta and Nassir Little for Portland. Lillard and McCollum have checked back in while Young has gotten into a bit of a rhythm with his floaters.
Kevin Huerter picking up three fouls in 10 minutes has really hurt Atlanta on offense. There's so much on Young's shoulders right now. Portland has defended the pick-and-roll well, and without another playmaker to attack offset defenses, the Hawks just can't generate much offensively. We didn't see Vince Carter in the first half as Pierce went with Hunter at backup power forward instead.
All things considered, Atlanta is in good position to only be down two at halftime. Both offenses are still struggling mightily and struggling to finish around the rim. The Hawks have actually generated better shots than the Blazers, but Portland has hit five 3s to Atlanta's 3, and that's the difference right now. Blazers lead 46-44.
Third Quarter
Hezonja is back in after getting the Keith Bogans treatment in the first half (starting and not re-entering in the same half). He wasn't terribly effective in the seven minutes he did play, which I think is why we saw Little get some time at power forward.
It's been a tough outing for Trae Young, but he is continuing to get to the foul line against Portland's defense. He's up to 11 attempts a minute into the third, though he's just 4-of-15 from the field and has four turnovers.
Alex Len just hasn't been good offensively this season, and isn't good enough on defense to outweigh the damage. He just air-balled another 3 to run him to 0-of-2 from deep in this game, giving him just two makes in 17 attempts this year. He drops far too many passes for a player so frequently involved in pick-and-rolls with Young and lacks the explosion around the rim of someone like Damian Jones. Lloyd Pierce has said that the center rotation is far from finalized, and Len could find himself third in the pecking order if he continues to struggle like this.
Young continues to pressure and draw fouls on the Portland defense, which, along with Jabari Parker's 17 points, is the only sign of life for the Atlanta offense. Young is up to 15 foul shots, two shy of his career-high 17 against Minnesota last season.
Anfernee Simons has caught fire as he goes back-and-forth with Young. Portland's second-year guard scored 10 in a row while Atlanta's is up to 30 points and creating everything for the Hawks offensively. 75-75 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Lillard is starting to feel it with Young on the bench to start the fourth quarter, he's up to 21 points on 14 shots. Young has already played 33 minutes with around eight minutes to play. I'm curious to see if Pierce willing to run him over 40 for the second consecutive game. Meanwhile, Parker just dunked all over Simons in transition as the youngster tried, in vain, to take a charge. Hawks lead 89-87.
I have no data to support this, but Atlanta's rookies seem to get stripped on their way up a lot more than most players. Hunter just had the ball poked away as he tried for a layup, and it's far from the first time it's happened this season.
The Hawks have done some damage with the frontcourt of Hunter and Parker (Carter remains on the bench). This is the smallest Lloyd Pierce as gone all season, and the unit has held up fairly well defensively while generating more space on offense while Young waits to come back into the game.
Young has really turned it on offensively. This second half has been a stark contrast to the first, when Young couldn't seem to buy a bucket. He's hitting floaters, 3s, and free throws to keep Atlanta in the game, and the Hawks are up to a 103 offensive rating -- not great, but a far cry from their 70 mark at halftime. Both teams continue to shoot terribly at the rim and from 3, but timely and impressive shot-making has kept this one watchable. The Blazers lead 103-102 with 1:33 to play.
A key challenge by Terry Stotts reverses a foul called on Hassan Whiteside, who was initially called for fouling Young on a drive to the basket. Young tried to find Parker in the right corner with a baseline pass, but lost control and flew into Whiteside's body. Young missed a layup on the previous possession, and McCollum unleashes a nasty stepback on Portland's next trip to give the Blazers a 3-point lead.
After Parker misses a 3 to tie, McCollum tries to throw the ball off of Huerter in the right corner, but Huerter catches the ball, keeps his feet in bounds, and buries a game-tying 3. 105-105.
We're seeing the difference being healthy makes for Kevin Huerter. He just has more lift and confidence now that his knee is right and he's off his minutes restriction. His defense has been solid tonight, and he hit two clutch shots to help send the game to overtime.
The Hawks have closed this game largely without a true center on the floor, going instead with Parker at the five and Hunter at power forward. Neither player has played much at those spots, respectively, this season, but this look is an intriguing option if the center rotation doesn't come together.
McCollum hits a driving layup off an offensive rebound, Young misses one on the other end, and Hezonja gets an and-one on the other end. That's going to do it. Simple though it is to say, the Blazers simply made shots in the fourth quarter and the Hawks didn't.
Blazers win 124-113.