Court Vision: Hawks roll over Hornets, win 60th game of season
ATLANTA -- Going inside the Hawks' 104-80 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets at Philips Arena on Friday. Atlanta added to its franchise best win total with win No. 60 on the season.
1. Friday's action wasn't the prettiest of NBA games ever.
Atlanta's normal orchestra of movement wasn't terribly harmonious against the Hornets. It took the Hawks just over eight minutes to break into double digits in scoring, and the game's first quarter ended mercifully at 15-15, and it seemed incredibly tough for the teams to combine for 30 points.
Passes weren't crisp, and often picked off. Rebounds were taken on the floor instead of above the rim (or even in the air) and loose balls weren't fought over, they were collected when the ball stopped near a standing player.
The rhythm was off, and so was the marksmanship from both teams.
At one point early on, the Hornets were shooting just 20 percent but only behind by three points because the Hawks had only nailed 34 percent of their shots and had five turnovers.
As a team the Hawks finished with a respectable 50 percent tally from the floor (41 for 82), and got much more active on the floor in terms of movement. But the Hornets shot terribly, a combination of good defense and poor shot selection proving to be key to their 36.1 field-goal percentage from the floor and lack of focus meant just 67 percent shooting from the charity stripe.
Atlanta held Charlotte to two quarters with scoring under 16 points; the third period with only 12 points was by far the worst.
On a night where the team unveiled its division championship banner, it took a while to find the basket or any sort of team chemistry. But once the flow improved, the Hawks' 60th win came easily.
2. The Moose is definitely loose in Atlanta.
One Hawks player that had no trouble getting started was Mike Muscala, who had a bucket and two boards in the first two minutes of the game. He finished with an extremely productive 17 points and six rebounds as he continued to fill in as the starting forward for Paul Millsap.
Muscala was active on the glass and made his presence felt on defense. His 8-for-9 shooting showed off the fact that his hot hand was of great benefit to the Hawks. His shooting has been fabulous of late.
Since stepping in for Millsap after he hurt his shoulder playing against Brooklyn on April 4, Muscala has been on fire. He scored 17 on Friday and 16 versus Phoenix on April 7. He's averaging 12.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game over his last four, and is shooting 84 percent (21 of 25) from the floor.
What has Muscala's emergence meant for Atlanta?
He led all scorers in Friday's game, and his torrid shooting hasn't gone without great benefit. But where the Hawks will truly gain from this new Muscala is in the playoffs, once Millsap has returned.
This Muscala is a weapon off the bench, not just a fill-in for Millsap when he needs a breather. This Muscala is a big who can be inserted into a rotation during the playoffs, and matched up to Atlanta's benefit. He's proven that he's ready to take on an expanded and much more important playoff role.
3. Atlanta's shot at a lottery pick is getting smaller by the minute.
Atlanta won its 60th game of the season and extended a franchise record in that regard. But outside of everyone remaining healthy over the next three games, the most important aspect of the rest of the regular season to watch is whether or not the Hawks get a lottery pick.
With the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, there's no way Atlanta get's a lottery pick. But they have the option to trade first-round picks with Brooklyn, and the Nets are flirting with the playoff line.
Brooklyn entered the night as the 8-seed in the East with just a one game lead over Indiana. The Nets were tied with Boston at 36-42, but behind because of a tiebreaker scenario.
The Nets did Atlanta zero favors by crushing Washington on Friday. Miami lost on Thursday so they are firmly in 10th place in the East two games out of the playoff race with only three to play.
Boston beat Cleveland to stay ahead of Brooklyn in the 7-seed and the Pacers won to stay within a game of the final spot in the playoffs.
Brooklyn has won eight of it last 10 games. If the Nets continue on this place they might be playing the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, not giving them their lottery pick in the draft.
37.5: After three games of otherworldly shooting (80 percent) from the floor, DeMarre Carroll has slowly came back down to earth. He was 54 percent on Wednesday against the Nets, and shot 3 for 8 (37.5 percent) on Friday.
211 of 218: Kyle Korver was 3 for 7 on 3-pointers against the Hornets. That wasn't his best shooting performance, but his three 3's did extend a rather healthy tally. In 218 games with the Hawks, Korver has nailed a 3-pointer in 211 of them.
"I think he's finding ways to score around the basket. He's putting pressure on the rim and in our pick-and-roll game. He's rolling and hopefully there's good spacing, and there's enough shooting. You have to put pressure on the rim in your offense. He's finding ways to score there. Then he's knocking down a couple of jumpers. He's working the offensive glass." -- Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer on Mike Muscala.
